After opening conference play by winning 2 out of 3 from Georgia Tech, the #25 ranked Hokies (18-4, 2-1 ACC) travel to Raleigh for a series this weekend with the NC State Wolfpack. This promises to be an interesting showdown, pitting NC State pitching, which leads the ACC (1.90 ERA, 7.3 Ks/game), versus the Hokies hitting, which is 2nd in the ACC (.353 team batting average).

This will be the ACC opener for the Pack, which stands at 16-8 on the season. The Pack has played a solid schedule, with losses to #5 Florida, #19 Michigan, and they were swept in the ACC/Big10 Challenge by Nebraska (10-9) and Wisconsin (21-3). They do have a signature win over then #7 Arizona. Since the ACC/Big 10 Challenge, they have gone 13-2 with 6 of their last 8 wins being shutouts. However, their two losses during that period were also shutouts - to Valparaiso (8-8) and Rhode Island (6-9), not exactly powerhouses.

The Pack lost 9 players to graduation or transfer, including 6 starters, 3 of which were the leading hitters (average) on the team. This year’s team has 7 new players – 4 transfers and 3 freshmen. The transfers have become contributors - 3 of the Pack’s top 4 hitters (batting averages) are transfers.

NC State made a coaching change after going 23-31 last season and 64-102 over the past 3 seasons, hiring Jennifer Patrick-Swift, who had a very successful, 7 year run at St. Francis (Northeastern Conference), where she earned the school’s first two NCAA bids.

In her last year, at St. Francis, the Red Flash led the country in homeruns and Patrick-Swift has brought a “home-run mindset,” to NC State, a somewhat unique hitting philosophy.

“We have a home run mindset,” Patrick-Swift says. “Offensively, every time our girls step into the box, it doesn’t matter the situation, it doesn’t matter the count, it doesn’t matter how many outs there are – Our kids are trying to run it out of the yard. Most kids grown up thinking that homeruns happen by you taking big swings and by accident. We’re trying to be intentional about it.”

“Our mindset is that everyone has power,” she says. “It’s just a matter of if they believe they can get out there and hit home runs…. For the individual, it’s also about swinging at balls she knows she can hit out whether it’s a strike or a ball.” Patrick-Swift calls it, “an individualized home run zone.”

Initial results are mixed – NC State has already hit 34 HRs this season, compared to a season total of 36 last year. They are averaging 1.35 HRs/game, which ranks 16th in the country. However, Pack hitters have also struck out 171 times, significantly more than any other ACC team (Georgia Tech is second with 119).

The Pack ranks 10th in the ACC in batting average (.250) with only two players hitting over .300. Maryland transfer Brigette Nordberg has made a HUGE impact for the Pack, this year, leading the team in almost every statistical hitting category, including average (.389), runs (21), hits (28), homeruns (12) and RBIs (32).

State only has 3 other players that are hitting over .250: Sophomore outfielder Sam Russ (.290), who leads the team in stolen bases with 14 (in 15 attempts), Junior infielder Skylar Johnston (.304), a transfer from Fordham, and Sophomore infielder Logan Morris (.286), a transfer from USC Upstate who led the Spartans in hitting last year with a .364 batting average.

Pitching is the strength of the Wolfpack. As mentioned, they lead the conference in both team ERA (1.84) and strikeouts (176 in 155.2 innings). Much like the Hokies, NC State has an impressive one-two punch in the circle.

Junior Devin Wallace, who led the team in innings pitched in 2018 (194 innings, 3.34 ERA), leads the team in starts with 15. She has an ERA of 1.55 with 84 strikeouts in 76.2 innings.
The big addition to the staff has been Carroll County Freshman Sydney Nester (a former VT target), who leads the team in wins (8), ERA (1.42), and has 85 Ks in 69 innings. She has been red hot recently – in her last 5 games, she has not yielded a single run and has 49 strikeouts in 29 innings with an opponents’ batting average of .107. She was named ACC Pitcher of the Week for her efforts last week.

A statistical comparison of the two teams is at the end of this post.

The Hokies kept thing rolling last weekend at the plate and have 8 regulars hitting .298 or better – that’s a solid lineup with no easy outs:

Darby Trull .475 average, 28 hits, 18 RBIs
Emma Strouth .408 average, 29 hits, 4 HRs, 22 RBIs
Kelsey Bennett .407 average, 6 HRs
Al Velazquez .378 average, 28 hits
Jayme Bailey .349 average
Caitlyn Nolan .324 average, 21 RBIs
Lauren Duff .316 average (I’m including her because of her 12 starts and 38 ABs)
Maddi Banks .298 average, 7-7 stolen bases

And, of course, the Hokies’ pitching isn’t too shabby either:

Carrie Eberle 1.94 ERA, 52Ks in 72.1 innings, only 3 HRs given up
Keely Rochard 2.38 ERA, 85Ks in 64.2 innings, 6 shutouts

It should be an interesting showdown. The Hokies have a nice combination of hitting and pitching while the Pack losses usually occur because of a lack of offense (they have scored a total of 10 runs in their 8 losses). Nester and Wallace have been consistently good. Each has had one bad outing – Nester versus Nebraska (6 earned runs in 3 innings) and Wallace versus Wisconsin (5 earned runs in 4 innings). I could be wrong, but I don’t think we’ll see 13 balls flying out of the ballpark like we did last weekend in Blacksburg - much to the Pack’s chagrin. If there is indeed a power shortage, I like the Hokies’ chances of their overall balance to prevail.

Let’s Go Hokies!!!


[Post edited by VTChip at 03/13/2019 8:07PM]