Softball Set to Host USC Upstate, No. 8 Clemson

RALEIGH -- The Wolfpack softball team is set to host USC Upstate and No. 8 Clemson this week. The Spartans will visit Dail Stadium on Tuesday for a single meeting before the nationally ranked Tigers come to town for the fifth ACC series of the season starting on Friday. Three of the four games will be streamed on ACCNX, while Sunday's meeting with the Tigers will be on ACCN.

Scouting USC-Upstate

The Pack leads the all-time series 5-3 but have never won in Raleigh
The Spartans were selected to finish first in the Big South in the preseason poll
Upstate is home of the 2022 Player of the Year and 2023 Preseason Player of the Year, Peyton Darnell (catcher)
Junior catcher Casey Gogtus leads the team with a .389 batting average and is third in the Big South for the stat
Three of the four Spartan pitchers record a sub-three ERA with Alyssa Kelly leads the way (1.25)

Scouting Clemson

The Tigers lead the all-time series 4-0
Clemson has been ranked throughout the season and leads the country for ERA (0.87)
Four of the pitchers record a sub-one ERA, with only one recording an ERA of 1.49
Junior Valerie Caglel leads the Tigers with 14 homers on the season and a .483 batting average
Cagle leads the Tigers from the circle with a 0.68 ERA and 133 strikeouts

Making Adjustments

The Wolfpack recorded four homers in the win over NC A&T on March 29
When the Pack records two or more home runs in a game, they are 11-2
In the NC A&T game, coach Shaner told the team to let the ball come to them and in the sixth inning they started driving the ball to record five runs with three homers
Aisha Weixlmann has continued to improve in the circle throughout the season and she recorded a season high seven strikeouts against the Aggies
Taylor Ensley has made her way into the starting lineup at second base while Libby Whittaker slides into the DP role

Building the Resume

Freshman catcher Amanda Hasler can add pitch caller to her resume -- Coach Boland and Shaner said the freshman knows the pitchers better than anyone, she's a nerd of the game
The freshman called the pitches for all three games against Notre Dame and is only the second catcher to do so in program history (Alyssa Allbritten, '08-'11)
She leads the team in RBI's (18), home runs (7), and putouts (138)
She ranks first in program history for hit by pitch in a freshman campaign (12)

Inked the Record Book

The Wolfpack's 19 runs scored in game one against NC Central was the third most runs scored in program history
The 19 runs scored was one short of tying the second most scored in program history
After recording five stolen bases, three coming from Ellie Goins, the Pack tied the third most in program history in a single game
Amanda Hasler ranks first in freshman program records for hit by pitch with 10
Hasler also is only the second catcher in program history to call pitches

Close Call

Between March 19 and 22, two games for the Pack have come down to the bottom of the seventh
March 19th's meeting with Radford ended after a first pitch, walk off homer from Hannah Goodwin
The final game in the BC series was a nail bitter as there were two outs when Madison Inscoe stepped into the box and singled up the middle to bring home the winning run
The last close call game was April 8 against Syracuse when the Orange made a seventh inning comeback

Setting Her Own Pace

Junior Brooklyn Lucero made an appearance in the circle this season -- something she hadn't been able to do since March 2022
In April 2022 she had to have a pace maker inserted and has been working to come back since
She made her debut against NC Central (G1) after surgery and faced four batters against Louisville (G2) over the weekend
Lucero has entered 10 games for the Pack as a pinch hitter this season and recorded her first hit agaisnt Radford (single up the middle)

Been a While...

The last series sweep was 708 days ago against Pitt (April 10-11, 2021)
The last time the Wolfpack swept Boston College was during the 2013 season
The last time the Pack secured a series win was over BC during the 2022 season
NC State secured the first series win of the season after Saturday's meeting with the Eagles, but secured the sweep after Madison Inscoe singled up the middle in the bottom of the seventh with two out to bring the winning run home

Meant More Than You Know

Freshman outfielder Bailey Edwards recorded her first collegiate home run in game one against NC Central on March 8
As she was rounding third base to tag home, the freshman pointed up at the sky -- those who know her know she was thinking of her mom who she lost in early 2022
Post game, the freshman said her mom was the first person she thought of when she saw the ball go over the fence

#GoPack | @NCStateSoftball

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Players Mentioned

Bailey Edwards

Taylor Ensley

Ellie Goins

Hannah Goodwin

Amanda Hasler

Madison Inscoe

Brooklyn Lucero

Aisha Weixlmann

Libby Whittaker