Road Warriors (we hope) – Baseball Heads to Clemson

And so the 2016 NC State Baseball campaign approaches the crux of the situation. Headed down the back stretch. Coming to the meat of it (giggity). And more cliches, from which I’ll spare you.

After a week that included beating ECU and winning a home series vs Duke, Wolfpack Baseball (31-12, 12-7 ACC) finds itself still in the thick of the NCAA Tourney national seed discussion. Unfortunately, with their RPI and all meaningful rankings basically holding steady this week, they’re probably still on the outside looking in.

That could change starting this weekend in Clemson.

State hits the road this week to face the Tiggers (29-15, 11-13 ACC) in Clemson. After that the Pack will travel to what will probably be the toughest series of the year as they visit #2 Louisville, before returning home to close out the regular season by hosting #14 Carolina.

Lots of opportunity.

Clemson is an interesting case. Currently #9 in the latest RPI after taking a series vs FSU last weekend, the Tiggs are only just barely in line for a trip to the ACC Tourney (top 10 teams, they’re currently #9). And while they’re also currently unranked (barely) because of their 3 week rough patch preceding the FSU upset, their RPI can still be of use to us.

Make no mistake though, they’ll be motivated. They’ve still got a shot at hosting a regional, and they would also like to not have to play on ACC Tourney sudden death Tuesday (We’ll have an ACC Tourney format recap in the next couple weeks).

The Tiggs will likely not go down easy this weekend.

They don’t have particularly great starting pitching, but it’s not terrible. They do have a decent bullpen, the gem of which is long setup man Pat Krall (#36,JR,LHP). This big kid is a lot of fun to watch. At least when he’s not pitching against you. He’s 7-1, ERA 0.68, and he holds the opposition to .186 avg.

Offensively, they bat a respectable but far from great .273 as a team. On the other hand, they can score in bunches and hit for power with the best of them. We’ll have to limit base runners, including the freebies, and try to avoid their power guys.

So pretty much business as usual. No big secret what it’s gonna take. Bottom line, is we’re the better team, but it’s at their place sooooo….

What Missing Out on the Duke Sweep Means

Had the Pack not fallen short in their bid to sweep the Devils last weekend, a few interesting things to mention (my use of the word “interesting” is admittedly used loosely here)….

Pack’s current RPI of #8 would have been at #6 at the very least. It was #6 going into that game, so with a win it might even have jumped to #5. But the loss sent it back #8.

Pack’s conference record of 12-7 would instead be 13-6, moving them into a tie with Louisville for 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, and technically ahead by percentage points (which is what ACC Tourney seeding is based upon).

On the other hand, if not for some late inning heroics, we could very well have dropped the opener as well. Losing that series would not have been the national seed death knell, but it wouldn’t have been a plus either. And I did say beforehand that I would be happy with 2 of 3, so not gonna get greedy now.

As an aside, I will also be fine with 2 of 3 in Clemson (had to say it for mojo purposes).

Plus there was one good silver lining type of thing. By virtue of their one win and just in general playing a top ten RPI team (us, that is), Duke moved up into the top 50 of the RPI, giving us two more top 50 wins, presuming they can maintain it. Looking at their remaining schedule I’d say 50/50 shot. They’ll need to steal one from FSU at the DBAP next weekend in any case.

Sadly, we also lost 2 top 50 wins as Bama and somebody else (UNC-G?) dropped below that line.

Superlatives

Evan Mendoza was named ACC POW for the first time in his career this week…

Mendoza Wins Player of the Week (GoPack.com)

Lifting the No. 6 Wolfpack (31-12, 12-7 ACC) to a 3-1 week, Mendoza extended his hitting streak to 17 games, the longest for an NC State batter since Logan Ratledge hit safely in 21-straight during the 2015 campaign.

The sophomore third baseman hits .426 (23-for-54) during the streak with a double, two homers, and 12 RBIs.

Mendoza drove in four runs on two hits including the game-winning homer Monday against ECU, before a 2-for-4 performance on Friday night with a walk-off RBI single, scoring Preston Palmeiro to secure a series-opening win over Duke. Saturday in the series-clincher, Mendoza hit his second home run of the week and scored three times as the Pack rolled 12-2.

Not to be outdone, Andrew Knizner was named first team Academic All-District (take that Carolina Way)…

Knizner Named Academic All-District (GoPack.com)

First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

The first-team recognition grants Knizner a place on the All-America ballot, seeking to become the third Academic All-American for the Wolfpack under Elliott Avent, joining Jason Smith and Jake Weber.

The junior catcher from Glen Allen, Va., hits .290 for sixth-ranked NC State, including four homers, 51 runs, and 22 RBIs. Knizner’s thrown out 12 baserunners, five in ACC play. He earned preseason third team All-America honors from Louisville Slugger.

In the classroom, Knizner boasts a 3.98 GPA in Industrial Engineering and a mention on the 2015 ACC Academic Honor Roll. Knizner also made the honor roll as a freshman in 2014.

 ACC Standings

Atlantic
Schools Conf W-L-T Conf PCT W-L-T PCT
Florida State 14-6-0 .700 29-13-0 .690
Louisville 14-7-0 .667 36-9-0 .800
NC State 12-7-0 .632 31-12-0 .721
Wake Forest 10-11-0 .476 27-17-0 .614
Notre Dame 9-10-0 .474 25-18-0 .581
Clemson 11-13-0 .458 29-15-0 .659
Boston College 9-13-0 .409 24-17-0 .585

 

Coastal
Schools Conf W-L-T Conf PCT W-L-T PCT
Miami 14-5-0 .737 34-8-0 .810
Virginia 14-10-0 .583 31-17-0 .646
Georgia Tech 10-10-0 .500 30-14-0 .682
North Carolina 9-12-0 .429 29-15-0 .659
Duke 10-14-0 .417 25-20-0 .556
Pitt 8-12-0 .400 22-18-0 .550
Virginia Tech 5-19-0 .208 15-31-0 .326

Games Schedule at Clemson

  • Friday, May 6 – 6:30pm – ESPN3
  • Saturday, May 7 – 4:00pm – ESPN3
  • Sunday, May 8 – 1:00pm – ESPN3*

*This is Mother’s Day you thankless spawn. Go see your mother. Call her if seeing her isn’t possible. And then when she’s sick of you, go home and watch baseball.

Elsewhere in the ACC this Weekend (and Whom to root for)

Wake at BC – RPI wash for us mostly, Wake more of a threat, Go BC
Louisville at Carolina – God help me, I will NOT say it out loud.
Pitt at ND – Pitt definitely. Sorry ‘Dog.
Miami at GT – Not a huge impact, but we did win at GT so the better they look…
Bowling Green at FSU – Bowling Green winning even one is unlikely. But it would help.
Alcorn State at VT – Welcome to this weeks who cares?

Some Duke Highlights…

Mendoza had a good week…

Brett Kinneman is still a thing…

This one is gorgeous for baseball purists…plus DEATHERAGE!!!!

Moar Mendoza…because…Mendoza.

OK Pack 2 of 3 please. Unless you win the first two, then you better just go ahead and sweep. Just trying to help.

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 Road Warriors (we hope) – Baseball Heads to Clemson

Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 60 total)
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  • #103140
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    And so the 2016 NC State Baseball campaign approaches the crux of the situation. Headed down the back stretch. Coming to the meat of it (giggity). And
    [See the full post at: Road Warriors (we hope) – Baseball Heads to Clemson]

    #103146
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    Let’s do a thing, wolven nine! Thanks for the always excellent preview.

    #103152
    44rules
    Participant

    Yes, thank you.

    Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy. Mao Zedong

    #103169
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Palmeiro 3 run shot, Pack draws first blood in the 1st.

    #103173
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Well, that escalated quickly.
    Tiggs put up 6 in bottom 2nd, lead 6-3

    #103174
    PackofMac
    Participant

    Of course it did, had time to pull up espn3, put my jersey on, enjoy the 3 run blast which provoked me to hammer three quick beers only to end up pissing me off in perfect NC State fashion.

    #103175
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Yep, tough to watch. But Piedmonte did his job, hopefully Staley can as well and we can push a few across in the last two frames.

    #103176
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Nope and nope.
    Clemson pulls away (more) late, downs the Pack 10-5 to take game one.

    #103180
    PackerInRussia
    Participant

    Man, I had just come off of watching that beautiful 1-0 win by the O’s over the Yanks and was all pumped up to watch the Pack. Bummer.
    Wuf, did you mutiny and take over SFN in the name of baseball or something?

    #103181
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    Man, I had just come off of watching that beautiful 1-0 win by the O’s over the Yanks and was all pumped up to watch the Pack. Bummer.
    Wuf, did you mutiny and take over SFN in the name of baseball or something?

    Somebody had to.

    #103182
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Man, I had just come off of watching that beautiful 1-0 win by the O’s over the Yanks and was all pumped up to watch the Pack. Bummer.
    Wuf, did you mutiny and take over SFN in the name of baseball or something?

    No mutiny. The rest of them locked me in and took off to the beach or something. 😉

    #103183
    PackdatAss
    Participant

    Surprised there hasn’t been a post regarding the amended NOA the Cheats received. Seems to me this site has really been slacking. No Yurtseven post either? Glad baseball has been doing well. Wrestling for that matter too. I miss the bread and butter though…

    #103184
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    It’s not unusual for the main blog posts to slow down once basketball ends. Once baseball ends I’ll take my (at least temporary?) leave as well.

    But even if main blog is lagging, things such as the ANOA are usually being discussed on an as needed basis on the forums.
    http://www.statefansnation.com/forums/

    #103185
    Gowolves
    Participant

    It’s not unusual for the main blog posts to slow down once basketball ends. Once baseball ends I’ll take my (at least temporary?) leave as well.

    But even if main blog is lagging, things such as the ANOA are usually being discussed on an as needed basis on the forums.
    http://www.statefansnation.com/forums/

    I am surprised you even responded to that troll. I did like the lack of care and general “I don’t give a damn” under tone of your response. Well played.

    #103186
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Not so much “I don’t give a damn” as resigned acceptance.

    #103187
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    Khrushchev is much more lenient than Uncle Joe, that’s for sure, comrades!!

    #103188
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    That’s “Darling Nikki” to you.

    (Hmmmmm….this got weird fast, eh?)

    #103189
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Clemson grabs early lead with an Okey solo shot.
    Pack answers with 4 in the top 2nd.

    4-1 Pack mid 2nd.

    #103190
    Gowolves
    Participant

    Pack putting the hammer down!

    #103191
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Yup. Fun to watch.
    Pitching change for Clemson, btw. Pack has plated 6 more so far in the top 3rd. 10-1 at the moment.
    I like the chances of a 9 run cushion with Brown on the hill.
    Having said that, I’ve also just tempted the baseball gods to smite me.

    #103192
    Gowolves
    Participant

    How many have come with two outs? 4 or 5?

    #103193
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    At least.

    #103194
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    11-1 Pack, mid 3rd.

    #103195
    Gowolves
    Participant

    Ok I know it’s early but it may be time to save some runs for tomorrow. Hard to do though when Clemson can’t get out of their own way.

    #103196
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Pack tacks on 3 more in the 4th so far, 14-1, pitching change for Clemson.
    And nah, never say save runs. Let the batters get their go and don’t screw up timing. It’s their job to stop us, considering it’s still in the 4th.
    But it IS time to save pitching, and get some younger arms some mound time. At least until it’s a single digit lead again.

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