#21 Wolfpack Travels to #7 ECU for Midweek Matchup – NC State University Athletics

RALEIGH, N.C. – The No. 21 NC State baseball team plays its final road midweek contest of the 2024 season Tuesday night at No. 7 East Carolina. Tuesday’s contest in Greenville is set for 6 p.m. at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
 
Tuesday’s game will stream live on ESPN+. A free audio stream will be available for Tuesday’s contest on the Varsity Network App and will be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1 with Andrew Sanders on the call.
 
THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST EAST CAROLINA
NC State holds a 71-43 advantage in the series against East Carolina. More notes from the series against the Pirates are listed below:
 
• The Wolfpack and Pirates split this past season’s series a game apiece. In NC State’s win on April 25, Carson Kelly recorded the final four outs to nail down the save, while P.J. Labriola provided a crucial inning out of the bullpen to earn the pitching victory. NC State built a 5-0 lead in the rivalry victory before East Carolina rallied back to make it a one-run game in the seventh inning.
• NC State’s most recent win at ECU came in shutout fashion on March 29, 2022. The Wolfpack blanked the Pirates 2-0 in Greenville behind a complete-game shutout effort from Garrett Payne, Canaan Silver, Baker Nelson and Chris Villaman.
• East Carolina won the first game of the two-game season series back on April 2 in Raleigh. The Pirates never trailed in the 12-4 victory at The Doak.
 
SCOUTING NO. 7 EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina (31-8, 11-4 AAC) posted a 4-0 mark this past week to climb to No. 7 in this week’s D1Baseball Top 25. The Pirates are 3-1 against ranked opponents this season after winning their series against in-state rival North Carolina and winning at The Doak on April 2. ECU’s pitching staff leads the American Athletic Conference and ranks top 10 nationally in ERA (3.61), WHIP (1.18), hits allowed per nine innings (6.99) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.04). The Pirates are 20-2 at Clark-LeClair Stadium this season and haven’t dropped a nonconference home game since March 3 against Southeastern Louisiana. Carter Cunningham leads ECU with nine homers, 44 RBI, 102 total bases, 10 doubles and 61 hits.
 
TOUGH SLATE
NC State has exceled so far during its gauntlet of a finish to ACC play with all of its final five ACC series coming against top 15 teams in this week’s D1Baseball Top 25. The Wolfpack has posted back-to-back series victories over then-No. 2 Clemson and then-No. 11 North Carolina. NC State still has ACC series on the road at No. 10 Florida State and No. 14 Virginia before concluding the season at home against No. 8 Wake Forest.
 
NC State’s strength of schedule checks in at No. 7 nationally, according to warrennolan.com. The Wolfpack also sport a 7-5 record against Quadrant I foes.
 
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 15 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.
 
CARDIAC PACK
NC State has had a flair for the dramatic so far this season, recording its sixth walk-off victory of the year in Thursday’s series opener against UNC. Six of NC State’s 18 home wins have come via the walk-off. A list of NC State’s six walk-off wins are below:
 
• March 1 (W, 6-5 vs. Towson): Drew Lanphere delivers a walk-off RBI single to score Noah Soles in the bottom of the ninth.
• March 8 (W, 5-4 vs. Boston College): Garrett Pennington drops in a walk-off single with two outs in the 11th inning for the Wolfpack’s first ACC win of the year. Again, Noah Soles scores the game-winning run.
• March 23 (W, 9-8 vs. No. 9 Duke): Eli Serrano III’s two-out, two-run homer completes a dramatic ninth-inning comeback as NC State erases a five-run deficit to clinch the series over the Blue Devils.
• March 29 (W, 7-6 vs. Notre Dame): Luke Nixon’s career night ends with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, clinching a series victory for NC State.
• March 30 (W, 7-6 vs. Notre Dame): Garrett Pennington crushes NC State’s second walk-off homer in as many weeks with a two-out, three-run blast to complete the sweep over the Fighting Irish.
• April 18 (W, 9-8 vs. No. 11 North Carolina): After UNC plated three runs between the seventh and eighth innings to tie the score at 8-8, NC State entered the bottom of the ninth with a chance to record its sixth walk-off win of the season. Brandon Butterworth did exactly that, crushing a 2-1 offering over the left-field wall for NC State’s third walk-off homer of the season. Butterworth was mobbed at home plate for what he later said in postgame media availability was the first walk-off hit in his life.
 
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 4-0 in games broadcasted on ACC Network this season, highlighted by three walk-off victories against Duke, Notre Dame and North Carolina.
 
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 | ACCN (W, 9-8)
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 April 12 and April 13 at No. 2 Clemson, notching its second ACC series win over a top-10 opponent this season. 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 April 13’s series-clinching 4-0 victory.
• April 13’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.
• April 13’s shutout victory marked NC State’s first shutout win over a ranked opponent since April 1, 2023, over No. 11 Louisville.
• The Pack’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.
 
MIDWEEK MADNESS
To add to its difficult ACC slate, NC State faces five nonconference opponents predicted inside the top three of their respective leagues’ preseason polls. Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt) and East Carolina (American) are both the preseason favorites to win their conference crowns. UNCW and Campbell are predicted second and third, respectively, in the CAA, while Ball State was predicted second in the MAC. The Wolfpack knocked off its first preseason favorite on March 19 with a 9-8 comeback victory over the 13th-ranked Chanticleers.