NC State returns to Raleigh for an ACC home series against Notre Dame (14-9, 2-7 ACC). First pitch for Thursday's series opener is set for 7 p.m. and will stream live on ACC Network Extra

Thursday 7pm

Friday 8pm ACC Network

Saturday 3pm

Got to have a sweep here.

Very much feels that way with the schedule ahead of us.

ND is now up to 16 in the RPI. We are currently at 45.

Clemson and FSU are 1&2. UNC is 5, UVA is 10, and Wake 20. So we have a lot of opportunity in front of us.

ECU currently at 25 as well.

Coastal and Duke at 28/29

Ugh

Weather gonna ruin this one too.

A weekend packed full of promotions at #TheDoak! More information on this weekend's festivities in Raleigh below ⬇️

🔗: https://t.co/3BC2u8XDk0 pic.twitter.com/FL4xVHxFLA

— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) March 27, 2024

The No. 22 NC State baseball team opens an ACC home series against Notre Dame on Thursday night at Doak Field at Dail Park. This weekend's series against the Fighting Irish will run Thursday through Saturday with first pitch times set for 7 p.m., 8 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.

Thursday and Saturday's games will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra. Friday's game will be televised on ACC Network.

A free audio stream will be available on the Varsity Network App for all three contests. All of Thursday and Saturday's games will be available on the radio on WKNC 88.1. Friday's baseball game will also join-in to WKNC 88.1 following the conclusion of Wolfpack women's basketball Sweet 16 matchup Friday night.

THE MATCHUP: SERIES AGAINST NOTRE DAME
NC State holds a 15-13 advantage in the series against Notre Dame. More notes from the series against the Fighting Irish are listed below:

For the first time since 2018, NC State posted a series victory over Notre Dame after winning two games out of three in South Bend this past season. The Wolfpack dropped game one 9-7 before shutting down the Fighting Irish offense with a 5-1 win on Friday and a 6-1 victory on Saturday. The Pack allowed a combined 11 hits over the final two games of the series. Matt Willadsen and Sam Highfill notched the wins on the mound in the key ACC road series victory. The successful weekend also marked NC State's first series win at Notre Dame.
NC State's most recent series win over Notre Dame in Raleigh came on April 13-14, 2018. Similar to its series victory in 2023, the Pack bounced back from a loss in game one with victories in games two and three. The Pack outscored outscored Notre Dame 25-7 in the doubleheader sweep to take the series.
NC State and Notre Dame first met on Jan. 31, 1998, with the Wolfpack notching a 10-8 victory. The win marked head coach Elliott Avent's first win of his second season in charge of the Wolfpack program.

SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
Notre Dame (14-9, 2-7 ACC) snapped its 0-6 start to conference play with a series victory over Miami this past weekend, winning the first two games to clinch the series against the Hurricanes. The Fighting Irish opened the season 9-2 with series sweeps at Rice and Tennessee Tech and holds a 12-2 record in nonconference play this season. TJ Williams paces the Irish offense with a .434 batting average, 33 hits, seven stolen bases and a .527 on-base percentage. Notre Dame's pitching staff has posted a 6.53 ERA this season and a 7.22 ERA in nine ACC games.

https://gopack.com/news/2024/3/27/baseball-22-wolfpack-opens-acc-series-thursday-night-against-notre-dame

Notre Dame at North Carolina State ACC Network Extra, 7 p.m.

Thursday night baseball in Raleigh 🐺

⏰ 7 p.m.
📍 #TheDoak
🆚 Notre Dame
📺 https://t.co/8a2YthQtIG
📻 @ChrisHooks0223 on @WKNC881
🎧 https://t.co/Hs1pYwUqmI
📊 https://t.co/CD2VEwhQVU pic.twitter.com/XprKHC7FEj

— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) March 28, 2024

JCooke93 said:

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Very curious about the rotation this weekend

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Why, has it changed?

It's Highfill tonight, Whit TMR, TBA on Sat with most likely Marohn

2 N. SOLES
33 G. PENNINGTON
99 A. MAKAREWICZ
14 J. COZART
16 E. SERRANO III
22 J. HOGUE
13 A. SOSA
3 B. BUTTERWORTH
0 L. NIXON
17 S. HIGHFILL
Lineup from the live stats

A generous strike zone and just two innings so far but man Highfill is looking sharp.

Of course ND will probably tee off on him now that I posted this lol

Great slide there by Hogue to avoid the tag. He should get half an RBI for getting himself into scoring position lol

Notre Dame center fielder almost makes a SC Top 10 diving catch but ends up a 2 run double for Pennington the A-Mak hits a 2 run HR on the next pitch!

5-0 Pack

Sam is dealing right now

Damn. A double in the 6th breaks up the perfect game for Highfill

17 in a row for Highfill before that double by Moreno

Score?

interesting, didnt know they had a run-rule in college ball

That was damn impressive.

10-0 win in game one, ended early with the run rule.

Dominant night at #TheDoak 😤 pic.twitter.com/tDAkFtc1T8

— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) March 29, 2024

Great performance from Sam. Huge to only use one arm and get an easy win.

Right-handed starting pitcher Sam Highfill provided a career performance as the No. 22 NC State baseball team notched a 10-0 run-rule victory over Notre Dame on Thursday night at Doak Field at Dail Park.

Highfill (3-1) dominated the Fighting Irish lineup in Thursday's victory, retiring 17 straight batters to open his start before Estevan Moreno broke up Highfill's perfect game with a double in the sixth inning. Highfill set new career highs with 8.0 innings pitched and 10 strikeouts, capping off his stellar outing with his final strikeout of the night on his 110th pitch.

Highfill becomes the first Wolfpack pitcher since teammate Dominic Fritton to strike out 10 batters in a single game. Fritton fanned 10 opposing batters in the Pack's win over Florida State on April 14 this past season.

NC State (16-7, 6-4 ACC) jumped ahead 5-0 behind five runs in the bottom of the second, scoring four of those runs with two outs in the inning. Brandon Butterworth's opposite-field double on a 2-2 pitch scored Josh Hogue from second to make it 1-0 Wolfpack.

Garrett Pennington's two-RBI double to left-center stretched the Pack's lead to 3-0 before Alec Makarewicz launched his 11th homer of the season to make it 5-0. Makarewicz's two-run homer to left field marked his 38th and 39th RBI and capped off the Pack's five-run frame.

Butterworth stretched the Wolfpack's lead to 6-0 in the sixth with a sacrifice fly, scoring Hogue from third base.

The Wolfpack ended Thursday night's contest in eight innings with a run-rule walk-off, plating four runs in the bottom of the eighth. Drew Lanphere's pinch-hit RBI single extended the Wolfpack's lead to 7-0 with nobody out in the inning. Butterworth then made it 8-0 with a fielder's choice RBI.

An RBI single from Noah Soles made it 9-0 before a passed ball helped Luke Nixon advance 90 feet for the game-winning score.

Butterworth paced the Wolfpack offense with three RBI. Pennington and Makarewicz also each logged multi-RBI efforts with two RBI apiece. Hogue (three), Nixon (two) and Butterworth (two) scored multiple runs each in the 10-0 win.

Notre Dame (14-10, 2-8 ACC) starting pitcher Matt Bedford (1-4) suffered the loss after allowing five runs over 3.2 innings pitched.

UP NEXT
NC State looks to record its third straight home ACC series victory in Friday night's nationally-televised game against the Fighting Irish. Friday's contest is set to begin at 8 p.m. and will be televised on ACC Network.

https://gopack.com/news/2024/3/28/baseball-highfills-gem-powers-22-wolfpack-to-10-0-win-over-notre-dame