#Pack9 Hosts No. 11 North Carolina This Weekend

Thursday, April 18

Raleigh, N.C.

7 p.m.

NC State

North Carolina

4/17/2024 2:41:00 PM | Baseball

Watch Listen Live Stats NC State Game Notes

Series Opens Thursday Night on ACC Network

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State baseball team concludes its four-game homestand with a rivalry series against No. 11 North Carolina at Doak Field. This weekend's series against the Tar Heels will run Thursday through Saturday with first pitch times set for 7 p.m., 6 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.

Friday and Saturday's games will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra. Thursday night's series opener will be televised on ACC Network.

A free audio stream will be available on the Varsity Network App for all three contests. All three games will also be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1 with Tony Haynes on the call.

PROJECTED STARTING PITCHING MATCHUPS
Thursday – RHP Sam Highfill (NCSU) vs. RHP Jason DeCaro (UNC)
Friday – LHP Dominic Fritton (NCSU) vs. LHP Shea Sprague (UNC)
Saturday – TBA (NCSU) vs. RHP Aidan Haugh (UNC)

THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST NORTH CAROLINA
NC State holds a 139-175-1 record against North Carolina in the all-time series. More notes from the series against the Tar Heels are listed below:

• NC State's most recent series victory over North Carolina came in style, taking all three games in Chapel Hill with a three-game sweep over the Tar Heels from March 26-29, 2021. The Wolfpack allowed just six runs over three games in a dominant sweep over UNC, outscoring the Tar Heels 23-6 .
• NC State has hosted UNC just twice over the past eight seasons. NC State's most recent home series victory over North Carolina came from May 19-21, 2016. The Wolfpack won the rubber match, claiming the series with a dominant 10-1 victory on May 21.
• North Carolina has won five straight in the series dating back to a series at Doak Field at Dail Park in 2022. NC State's most recent win over the Tar Heels came in game one of a doubleheader on May 8, 2022, cruising to a 9-2 victory over UNC.

SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina (29-8, 14-4 ACC) travels to Doak Field at Dail Park for the seventh ACC series of the season for both teams. The Tar Heels enter this weekend's series after dropping their first game at home since the 2023 season after Coastal Carolina notched a 5-4 victory in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, snapping UNC's 28-game home winning streak. North Carolina is 4-2 in ACC series this season, highlighted by sweeps over Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Pitt and Wake Forest. North Carolina ranks inside the top three in the ACC in walks (210, 3rd), runs (325, 3rd), scoring (8.8, 3rd) and stolen bases (60). Five UNC hitters have slugged 10 homers or more this season, highlighted by Vance Honeycutt's 14 home runs in 2024. Casey Cook leads UNC with 51 RBI, while Honeycutt also paces the Tar Heels with 52 runs scored. UNC's pitching staff ranks fifth in the ACC in WHIP (1.43) and fourth in the league in ERA (4.20).

TOUGH SLATE
NC State (No. 16) and North Carolina (No. 17) are two of six ACC teams with a strength of schedule inside the top 20, according to warrennolan.com. The Wolfpack ranks No. 33 in Warren Nolan's latest RPI poll released on Wednesday. The Tar Heels rank third among ACC programs at No. 6, dropping only one spot after a midweek loss to Coastal Carolina.

NC State finishes its ACC slate with all four series coming against teams ranked inside the top 15 of D1Baseball's most recent poll -- Florida State (No. 8), Virginia (No. 10), North Carolina (No. 11) and Wake Forest (No. 12).

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA ON MY MIND
In this weekend's battle between NC State and North Carolina, the Wolfpack and Tar Heels will have a combined 43 players from the State of North Carolina represented at Doak Field at Dail Park. NC State has 22 student-athletes from North Carolina, while UNC has 21 players from the both schools' home state.

PACK ON NATIONAL TV
Seven NC State baseball games have been selected for national broadcasts. All seven of the Wolfpack's nationally televised contests will be on ACC Network. A full list of the Pack's games on national TV for the 2024 season is listed below. NC State is 3-0 in games broadcasted on ACC Network this season, including a pair of walk-off victories against Duke and Notre Dame, respectively.

March 23 vs. Duke | ACCN (W, 9-8)
March 29 vs. Notre Dame | ACCN (W, 7-6)
April 13 at Clemson | ACCN (W, 4-0)
April 18 vs. North Carolina | 7 p.m. | ACC Network
May 4 at Florida State | 7 p.m. | ACC Network
May 10 at Virginia | 7 p.m. | ACC Network
May 17 vs. Wake Forest | 7 p.m. | ACC Network

MOMENTUM SWING
NC State snapped its five-game losing streak in a huge way behind back-to-back wins on Friday and Saturday night at No. 2 Clemson, notching its second ACC series win over a top-10 opponent this season and improving to 5-3 against ranked teams. Other notes from the Wolfpack's series win at Doug Kingsmore Stadium are listed below:

• NC State ended Clemson's 132-game streak without being shut out by its opponent in Saturday's series-clinching 4-0 victory.
• Saturday's shutout win snapped Clemson's streak of 15 straight series victories and marked the Tigers' first loss on a Saturday the entire season.
• NC State secured its third straight series win at Clemson and its fifth in its past six trips to Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
• Saturday's shutout victory marked NC State's first shutout win over a ranked opponent since April 1, 2023, over No. 11 Louisville.
• This past weekend's series win over Clemson marked the Wolfpack's first series victory against a top-five opponent since the Super Regional series win at Arkansas in 2021.

DOMINANT DOM
Dominic Fritton turned in his best performance of the season on one of the biggest stages in his young career, tossing a season-high 5.2 innings while allowing just three hits and one walk with six strikeouts. Fritton dominated Clemson batters the entire night, helping the Wolfpack shut out the second-ranked Tigers 4-0. Fritton's brilliant performance was a key part in snapping Clemson's 132-game streak without being shut out.

A-MAK AMBIDEXTROUS
Switch-hitting third baseman Alec Makarewicz has shown off his pop throughout the Wolfpack's 2024 campaign, ranking first on the roster with 13 homers. Makarewicz has homered from both the right side of the plate and the left side of the plate twice this season, accomplishing the feat for the second time in April 9's midweek matchup at UNCW. His first time homering from both sides was in the Wolfpack's win at Hawaii on Feb. 23.