The 6-5 Wolfpack take on the 5-5 Spartans
NC State took care of business on the diamond this past weekend against Canisius – even if the bullpen did try to epically implode on Saturday – putting the Wolfpack back above the .500 mark on the season. Sitting at 6-5 now, the Pack will hit the road for a Tuesday game at UNCG before heading back to Raleigh for a Wednesday matchup with Campbell (more on that tomorrow night) and the last non-conference series (vs Wright State) before ACC play starts March 14th against Virginia Tech.
First, a quick recap of the weekend series sweep of Canisius:
- State’s starting pitching came to play and was simply outstanding over the weekend. Dominic Fritton (6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 12 K), Heath Andrews (7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K), and Ryan Marohn (7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 K) were all lights out, with Fritton and Marohn each setting career highs in strikeouts while earning wins. That was arguably Fritton’s finest performance since 2023.
- Andrews should have earned his second win of the season, but the bullpen behind him on Saturday completed collapsed, allowing 9 total runs across the 8th and 9th innings to squander the 9-run lead handed them. Thankfully Andrew Shaffner (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K) came on to hold things down so the Pack could walk it off in the bottom of the 9th.
- Canisius pitchers walked 22 batters, plunked 4, and uncorked 8 wild pitches over the weekend while the defense behind them committed 5 errors. While State hitters cranked out 35 hits (including 11 2B and 3 HR) in the series, it’s unclear if the Pack can post huge run totals when the opposing pitchers aren’t helping the cause with freebies.
UNCG will welcome State on Tuesday afternoon for a 4:00pm first pitch (broadcast is on ESPN+). The Spartans (5-5) will be playing their 8th straight game against ACC competition, having pitched a 4-0 shutout against Wake Forest two Tuesdays ago and posted back-to-back 1-2 series marks against Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh over the last two weekends.
The Spartans haven’t posted much in the way of offensive numbers thus far, but that’s very understandable given their schedule to date (their other three games were in a season-opening series against Creighton). They’ve also had a bit of flux with the lineup as only two players have played in all 10 games this year. As a team, the Spartans are hitting just .209/.341/.271 with 13 extra-base hits, a 12.7 BB%, and 32.9 K%. They have stolen 12 bases (on 15 attempts), so they’re staying aggressive when they do get men on.
Freshman 1B Parker Wight (.303/.477/.364, 2 2B, 0 HR, 22.7 BB%, 22.7 K%, 0-1 SB) has paced the offense so far, while JR 2B Jeremy Wolf (250/.424/.333, 2 2B, 0 HR, 17.7 BB%, 20.6 K%, 2-3 SB), SR CF Zach Walsh (.226/.368/.419, 0 2B, 2 HR, 15.0 BB%, 25.0 K%, 2-3 SB), and one-time Wolfpack rosteree (but never saw the field for State) SR RF Trey Truitt (.286/.423/.381, 2 2B, 0 HR, 19.2 BB%, 34.6 K%, 0-0 SB) are the only other players with multiple extra-base hits on the year.
Pitching has held up very well for UNCG, keeping opponents to 4 or fewer runs in half their games. It’s been a very shallow bullpen to date as only 7 pitchers have touched the mound in a relief role, and of those 7, only 4 have tossed more than 1.0 inning on the year. The staff as a whole has posted a 5.44 ERA with a 9.2 BB% and 26.3 K%. Those are solid numbers and will carry this team once they hit SoCon play, but a lack of southpaws (only 3 on the roster, with only 1 having game action thus far) could spell misfortune against more lefty-heavy lineups.
SO LHP Noah Chapman (1-0, 1 SV, 1.26 ERA, 14.1 IP, 7.1 BB%, 33.9 K%) was near unhittable in the win over Wake Forest, going 5.0 innings of 1-hit ball with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. He should be expected to get the start in this one, too, but he did throw 55 pitching over 3.2 relief innings against Pittsburgh on Saturday. One other arm the Pack is sure to see is the Spartan’s closer, SR RHP Danny Thompson (0-0, 2 SV, 0.00 ERA, 10.0 IP, 16.7 BB%, 33.3 K%). It was Thompson who brought home the win over the Demon Deacons with 4.0 innings of 1-hit ball, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts. The New Bern HS alum tossed 49 pitches on Sunday, so his appearance should be brief.