NC State and Miami Meet in Pivotal ACC Series

Friday, May 1

Raleigh, NC

3 p.m.

NC State

Miami

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4/30/2026 5:51:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State opens the final month of the regular season with a pivotal ACC series at the Doak, as the Wolfpack prepares to play Miami in a three-game series beginning Friday, May 1st, at 3 p.m.

Due to anticipated inclement weather this weekend, Sunday's game between NC State and Miami will now be played as a doubleheader on Friday, May 1st, with Game 1 scheduled to start at 3 PM and Game 2 slated to begin at 6 PM, or 45 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1.

Tickets for Sunday's game will be valid for the first game at 3 PM tomorrow, and the original ticket for Friday's game will remain valid for the second game of the doubleheader.

Saturday's game against the Hurricanes will be nationally televised on ESPNU at 7:30 p.m. Friday's game will remain on ACCNX. All three games can be heard on WKNC 88.1 FM and the Varsity Network app.

Head coach Elliott Avent looks to make history this weekend, as one Wolfpack win would give him 1,100 for his career as the manager at NC State. He would become the only active head coach to reach the mark at the same school and just the 20th division head coach ever to accomplish the feat.

With 1,323 overall wins in his career, Avent is second among active head coaches and 21st overall. He reached 1,300 career wins after the Wolfpack's 16-1 victory over Princeton. Avent became the 24th D1 baseball head coach to reach at least 1,300 career wins.

NC State will look to end a three-game losing streak to Miami, with the Pack's last win coming in 2023. The Wolfpack is just 2-7 in the last 10 meetings between the two programs, as the Hurricanes make their first trip to Raleigh since the 2021 season, when they won two of three.

The Pack holds a 22-42 record against Miami.

Probable Starting Pitchers:
Friday GM1: RHP Heath Andrews vs. RHP Lazaro Collera
Friday GM2: LHP Cooper Consiglio vs. TBD
Saturday: TBD vs. TBD

Following a season series sweep of East Carolina at the Doak, the Wolfpack moves to 21-7 at home this season. Doak Field at Dail Park has served as a dominant home field advantage for the Wolfpack since 1966. Since head coach Elliott Avent arrived in Raleigh to take over the #Pack9 program in 1997, NC State has posted a 671-244 (.733) record in games at Doak Field at Dail Park. NC State has won 20 or more games at The Doak 26 times since Avent's first year as head coach.

Redshirt freshman Truitt Manuel earned his first collegiate win over the Pirates after going 2.1 innings allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out five. In fact, Manuel combined with fellow freshman Mikey Ragusa and Aiden Kitchings to pitch six innings of scoreless baseball in the victory.

Saturday's game will be the fourth nationally televised game of the season for the Pack, and they are 0-3 in the previous three.

NC State has 62 home runs on the season. Chris McHugh hit his eighth home run of the season in the midweek contest, giving him a new career best for a season. Luke Nixon and Ty Head have also set career bests as Nixon has six, and Ty Head leads the team with 14.

NC State has seen a direct correlation between hitting home runs and getting wins. The Pack is 25-5 when hitting at least one home run, while 3-11 when they hit none.

Head, McHugh, and Nixon are the only three Pack players to appear in every single game this season for the Wolfpack. Head is the only player to start every game at the same position. Nixon made a start at shortstop at Virginia Tech following an injury to Mikey Ryan, who had appeared in every game at shortstop before his injury in the finale against Virginia Tech.

Freshman Rett Johnson comes into the weekend on an 18-game hitting streak. Johnson is second in the ACC and is fifth in the nation in batting average (.428). He is looking to become the first Pack batting champion since Johnny Butler in 2021. Johnson is chasing
the program's highest single-season batting average is held by Chris Cammack, who hit .429 in 1969.

The Pack has not had a hitter hit over .400 since 2005, when Aaron Bates did so. Johnson is the toughest batter to strike out in the ACC, averaging 12.8 at-bats between strikeouts.

Centerfielder Head has done it all this season for the Wolfpack. He leads the team in home runs with 12, tripling his total from his freshman season. Head is also disciplined at the plate with 42 walks this season; he is closing in on surpassing his total from last season (48), placing him sixth in program history.

Devonte Brown is in fifth with 50 in 2022, and Jacob Cozart drew 52 base on balls in 2024 for the second most in history. Pratt Maynard holds the record with 64 in 2010.

Head is also a threat on the basepaths, leading the Pack with 24 and ranking third in the ACC. Head is looking to run down Trea Turner, who has a spot in the top 10 in three different years. Turner had 26 in 2014, 30 in 2013, which is the second most for a season, and 57 in 2012, which is the most by a Pack player.

Ryder Garino, in his first season with the Wolfpack, has been an important piece of the bullpen. Garino is coming off his third win of the season, in which he went three innings, retiring all nine Hokie batters he faced, including a career-best seven strikeouts.

Garino leads all qualified Pack pitchers with a 2.96 ERA in 13 appearances. He has 43 strikeouts and just 11 walks, with opposing batters hitting just .160 against him.

When the Wolfpack scores in the first inning, which they have done 28 times this season, they are 10-2. The Wolfpack holds a record of 15-3 when it is the first team to score, while only 13-13 when it has to come back after allowing its opponents to score first.