East Carolina @ NC State | Tue, Apr 28 @ 6:00pm | ACCNX | Stats
It’s only been two weeks since NC State and East Carolina last faced off, a game that resulted in a one-sided Wolfpack win, but the direction of the two teams since that game has been dramatically different. The Pirates exited that game languishing a bit, with a beat up roster and an RPI ranking that was NCAA Regional iffy. NC State exited that game with an RPI that, while still lower than that of ECU, was trending upwards and finally into the 40’s – a good position with the closing stretch of the season upcoming.
Well…
The Wolfpack, as you well know around here, have lost back-to-back ACC series, getting bludgeoned by bats at Wake Forest and then letting a winnable series escape them at Virginia Tech. Instead of that upwardly mobile RPI figure, State’s NCAA Regional resume is on the outside looking in with a sub-.500 ACC mark and an RPI ranking of 53rd.
The Pirates, meanwhile, are winners of six of their seven games since the Wolfpack came to down on April 14th. Over the last four games – all wins – East Carolina’s offense has found their groove and plated 52 runs, with double-digit outputs in each of those four games. This has propelled the Pirates into a tie for first place in the American while also boosting their RPI ranking to 28th, firmly putting ECU into the NCAA Regional field.
This has suddenly become a must-win game for NC State. With series remaining vs Miami, at Stanford, and vs North Carolina, as well as a midweek game against NC A&T. The Wolfpack have to finish 7-4 in those remaining 11 games (8 are at home), with one of those wins coming against the RPI #293 Aggies. Technically, that 6-4 mark against the remainder of the schedule could come in any combination, but for a Pack team that is just 3-5 in their last eight games, carrying some momentum into the coming weekend series against the Hurricanes would be nice. More importantly, a loss today would drop the Wolfpack’s RPI score by 40 points, potentially dropping the Pack into the 60’s in RPI ranking, a tenuous position for the team’s NCAA Regional hopes.
A depleted Wolfpack pitching staff will send rJR RHP Julien Peissel (0-1, 18.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 12.5 BB%, 20.8 K%) to the mound to start the game. This will likely be a Johnny Wholestaff game for State. An also-depleted ECU pitching staff will counter with rSR LHP Nick Moran (1-0, 5.29 ERA, 17.0 IP, 10.6 BB%, 19.7 K%), in what figures to be a game featuring multiple pitching changes for the Pirates.
