Baseball Regular Season Finale – Heels Come to Town

Time’s running out for Wolfpack Baseball (32-17, 13-12 ACC) to distinguish themselves as one of the top 8 teams in the nation as the Pack took it on the chin this past weekend at Louisville. When the dust settled, the Cards had not only swept the Pack, but also limited State to 3 runs in 3 games and never trailed at any point in any of the three games.

‘Twas not a good series for the Pack.

No time like the present for a little home cooking as State returns to the friendly confines of Doak Field to host Carolina for the regular season finale this weekend.

Frankly, both teams are struggling as they approach the finish line. Carolina is fighting to remain in the ACC Tournament field (currently they’d be the #9 seed out of 10). On the other hand, State is fighting to stay in the regional host discussion, hoping to get back into the national seed discussion, all while having lost 6 of their last 7 games.

If the Pack’s bats don’t wake up soon, it could be ugly.

And that could become problematic considering that Carolina, as usual, has one of the best pitching staffs in the nation. As an ENTIRE staff, they sport a 2.98 ERA compared to 3.81 for the Pack.

And while they don’t hit with the same power or average that the Pack does, they do the little things very well to get an extra base or scratch out that extra run. They draw walks better than we do, they don’t strike out nearly as much and they’ve stolen twice as many bases on the year as the Pack.

Boil that all down and it results in a Carolina team with a significantly lower team BA (.285 vs .303) and slgpct (.411 vs .443) still scoring virtually the same number of runs per game as the Pack (6.71 vs 6.75).

Translation….this series is pretty much a toss up.  Fortunately, we have them in Raleigh.

Carolina at NC State Game Schedule

  • Thursday, May 19, 6:00pm – ESPN3
  • Friday, May 20, 6:30pm – ESPN3
  • Saturday, May 21, 1:00pm – ESPN3

*All ACC series this weekend are Thursday thru Saturday (ACCT starts Tuesday)

 

ACC Standings

Atlantic
Schools Conf W-L-T Conf PCT W-L-T PCT
Louisville 19-8-0 .704 43-10-0 .811
Florida State 15-8-0 .652 33-17-0 .660
NC State 13-12-0 .520 32-17-0 .653
Clemson 13-14-0 .481 35-18-0 .660
Wake Forest 13-14-0 .481 32-20-0 .615
Boston College 11-14-0 .440 29-18-0 .617
Notre Dame 11-14-0 .440 27-24-0 .529
Coastal
Schools Conf W-L-T Conf PCT W-L-T PCT
Miami 19-6-0 .760 41-9-0 .820
Virginia 16-11-0 .593 33-18-0 .647
Georgia Tech 12-14-0 .462 34-18-0 .654
North Carolina 12-15-0 .444 33-19-0 .635
Duke 12-15-0 .444 31-21-0 .596
Pitt 10-16-0 .385 25-24-0 .510
Virginia Tech 6-21-0 .222 19-33-0 .365

 

Elsewhere in the ACC this Weekend

  • (3)Miami at (9)FSU
  • (5)Louisville at Wake
  • VT at (8)UVa
  • (19)Clemson at ND
  • BC at (22)GT
  • Duke at Pitt

If the ACC Tourney started today…

This time next week the ACC Baseball Tourney will already be underway. As of the moment of this writing, the seeds/pools would break down as follows.

  1. Miami (19-6)
  2. Louisville (19-8)
  3. Florida State (15-8)
  4. Virginia (16-11)
  5. NC State (13-12)
  6. Clemson (13-14)
  7. Wake (13-14)
  8. Georgia Tech (12-14)
  9. Carolina (12-15)
  10. Duke (12-15)

    ND (11-14)
    BC (11-14)

Pool A would be (1)Miami, (4)UVa, (5)NCSU and the winner of the (8)GT/(9)Carolina play in game.
Pool B would be (2)’Ville, (3)FSU, (6)Clemson and the winner of the (7)Wake/(10)Duke play in game.

But with FSU hosting Miami this weekend, and UVa getting VT at home to end things, even the top spots aren’t set in stone yet. And there will almost assuredly be some shake up of spots 5 thru 10.

Fortunately, anything short of getting swept by Carolina this weekend, and the Pack is pretty safely above the play in game line. As a bonus motivation, sweeping Carolina this weekend could potentially knock them out of the field altogether if either BC or ND could pick up a win vs GT or Clemson, respectively.

But that also works the other way as well. Which is to say that Carolina will be motivated to NOT get knocked out of the field.

Anywhoo…we’ll revisit the ACCT issue after the weekend’s games are over and the field is set.

NCAA Tourney National Seeds (again, if the tourney began today)…

There was a question on another thread regarding how national seeds are determined and how RPI is used for same. Essentially, just like basketball tourney seeding, RPI is only one metric used. To be honest, I don’t know specifically what they weight more or less. They look at RPI as a guide, but it is definitely not the end all be all. Overall record, conference record, record against top 50 RPI, top 100 RPI, SOS etc., all enter into it.

Based only on what I’ve observed in the past, this would be my guess as to who the national seeds would be if the season ended today.

Florida (43-9) – No brainer as #1 overall
Miami (38-9) – Tough call between them and ‘Ville for #2 overall. But the ‘Canes played the tougher schedule and have a better conference record.
Louisville (42-10) – See above
Texas A&M (39-13)
Ole Miss (39-13)
Mississippi State (37-14-1)
Texas Tech (38-13)
South Carolina (38-13)

If you’re keeping score at home, that’s 5 SEC teams, 2 ACC teams, 1 Big12 team.

And in spite of our #6 RPI currently, we are barely even in the first four out right now IMHO. Vandy, LSU, FSU and UVa (D1Baseball has UVa in place of Ole Miss for example) have as good or better cases than we do currently.

Bottom line…we’ve got work to do over the next two weeks if we want a national seed and even if we hope to hang on as a regional host.

‘Twernt a lot of highlights at Louisville, but here’s the two that made the cut….

So I’ll supplement the video selection this week with a flashback from not quite a year ago at the DBAP….

That was a really fun game to be at, FWIW.

Go Pack!!!!!

About Wufpacker

A 2nd generation alumnus and raised since birth to be irrationally dedicated to all things NC State. Class of '88 and '92.

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Home Forums Baseball Regular Season Finale – Heels Come to Town

Viewing 25 posts - 101 through 125 (of 140 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #103774
    ncsu1987
    Participant

    AND we strand two more…

    #103775
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Shoulda tacked on at least one more there.
    Hope we don’t end up regretting that. 5-1 Pack end 5th.

    #103776
    ncsu1987
    Participant

    Tough called 3rd strike on Sheppard, but it was close enough should have fought it off. Is it me, or is the ball/strike calling more consistent than yesterday?

    #103777
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Consistent, yes. But today’s HP ump seems to REALLY like that low strike call. He’s been consistent with it.

    #103778
    Gowolves
    Participant

    Need to get at least one here. There it is.

    #103779
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    Finally someone takes a freakin’ strike. Lead to a walk and a run…but Jesushchristinasidecar! Take a strike!

    #103780
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    Now three stranded. If we blow this, burning that town to the ground and pissing on every square inch.

    #103781
    Gowolves
    Participant

    Kizner at bat was a perfect example to swing at that first pitch. Yeah the last batter walked on four straight but you knew he would be aiming on the first pitch to the next batter. He was taking all the way. That first pitch was money.

    #103782
    Gowolves
    Participant

    Finally someone takes a freakin’ strike. Lead to a walk and a run…but Jesushchristinasidecar! Take a strike!

    Sarcasm? That first pitch was the one. Why take it?

    #103783
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    WTG Weeeeel!!!!
    Also, very nice pick up by Preston.
    Puckering a little less now.
    But only just a little.

    #103784
    ncsu1987
    Participant

    Nice work to close the inning against a strong batter.

    #103785
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    OF COURSE we hit a double after three dudes in a row leave ’em loaded.

    #103786
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    @ Gowolves. Because the kid could not find the plate! That entire inning screamed show me, first.

    #103787
    ncsu1987
    Participant

    There we go!!! Unpuckering, just a bit…

    #103788
    Heelh8r
    Participant

    Got that tinglely feeling going down my leg now

    #103789
    Gowolves
    Participant

    @ Gowolves. Because the kid could not find the plate! That entire inning screamed show me, first.

    Well then I can’t say your wrong. I missed most of that inning. Just Kizners AB and the one before.

    #103790
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    Got that tinglely feeling going down my leg now

    Don’t make me post an old Led Zep song!

    #103791
    ncsu1987
    Participant

    Another tough called 3rd strike, but as Wuf said earlier, today’s HP ump has consistently called it. Gotta fight that off at that pitch count.

    #103792
    Whiteshoes67
    Participant

    Thank you, Cowdog. Selectively attack. You don’t have to whale away every time it’s close. Ain’t no Vlad Guerroros in this bunch

    #103793
    ncsu1987
    Participant

    Now THAT was a beautiful AB by Willard! That’s how you wait and fight for the pitch you want!

    #103794
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Got that tinglely feeling going down my leg now

    Don’t make me post an old Led Zep song!

    Yeah, bcuz that would be terrible.

    #103795
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    Hey…I was not one for extreme patience, but there comes a time where that guy has to prove that he wants to throw a strike.

    No sweep, but it works.

    #103796
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Nicely done Pack.
    10-1 Final.

    #103797
    ncsu1987
    Participant

    Nice! Not sure what to expect going forward, but nice to end with a series win.

    #103798
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    I haven’t gone in and looked closely, so I could be wrong…
    BUT…BC/GT playing a double bill today. BC took game one earlier today. I believe it’s still possible that if BC managed to take game two this afternoon that it could knock Carolina out of the ACCT field. So….go Eagles.

    I’ll double check, but I think I’m correct.

Viewing 25 posts - 101 through 125 (of 140 total)
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