listening to the d1 podcast/interview with Avent and here are some notes for this years team (of course with Avent he likes to talk about the past).

Returners:

- Sosa is doing all of the little things well and getting better and better
- Hogue ready to go for opening day (as Avent knocks on wood) and he looks "really good right now"
- Nixon just a gamer. plays so hard, plays how the game should be played
- Lanphere tremendous hitter, unbelievable catcher. Works really hard

New guys (Avent listed these guys without being prompted):

-Ty Head has been really really good in the fall and made many strides in this preseason.
- Fraasman doing great things
- McHugh doing good things
- Anderson Nance has been "so good so far and so steady". Looks like he might have what it takes to pitch as a rookie
- Avent- "Another kid who came to my mind- Ryder Woodson. He has a chance to be good and grow and grow. Lots of intangibles."
-Decriscio awesome person, awesome family. Been hurt all preseason with a hamstring, has a chance to be on the field this week (this was filmed post NCSU womens game vs Duke last week). Been very good offensively.

Pitching staff:

- Willadsen pitched a couple innings this past week and was "unbelievable". Couldn't believe what he saw. Not sure on his role to start the season due to injury.
- Talked about the back end of Dudan and Smith, but pretty standard stuff.
- Fritton has worked really hard this year. He's better this year. Added a pitch, improved some pitches.

pack2010 said:

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listening to the d1 podcast/interview with Avent and here are some notes for this years team (of course with Avent he likes to talk about the past).

Returners:

- Sosa is doing all of the little things well and getting better and better
- Hogue ready to go for opening day (as Avent knocks on wood) and he looks "really good right now"
- Nixon just a gamer. plays so hard, plays how the game should be played
- Lanphere tremendous hitter, unbelievable catcher. Works really hard

New guys (Avent listed these guys without being prompted):

-Ty Head has been really really good in the fall and made many strides in this preseason.
- Fraasman doing great things
- McHugh doing good things
- Anderson Nance has been "so good so far and so steady". Looks like he might have what it takes to pitch as a rookie
- Avent- "Another kid who came to my mind- Ryder Woodson. He has a chance to be good and grow and grow. Lots of intangibles."
-Decriscio awesome person, awesome family. Been hurt all preseason with a hamstring, has a chance to be on the field this week (this was filmed post NCSU womens game vs Duke last week). Been very good offensively.

Pitching staff:

- Willadsen pitched a couple innings this past week and was "unbelievable". Couldn't believe what he saw. Not sure on his role to start the season due to injury.
- Talked about the back end of Dudan and Smith, but pretty standard stuff.
- Fritton has worked really hard this year. He's better this year. Added a pitch, improved some pitches.

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Thanks! I missed the first part of the interview so I appreciate the summary. One week!

Wolfer79 said:

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This might be the best bullpen in the entire country. Dudan and Smith are electric and I truly believe Jaxon Lucas is about to breakout. Plus Consiglio, Marohn, and Wimbish? Not fair https://t.co/f6UVRl5XFj

— Monty Taylor (@Monty2740) February 5, 2025

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That's an impressive list. Doesn't even mention the two freshmen Nance and Potts that were praised in a tweet earlier in the thread. That is the type of quality depth needed over the course of the season.

Dudan and Smith should be absolute shutdown closers with a lead in the late innings. Great to see Matt back healthy. I'm sure Avent will ease him back in the rotation, but he should be good to go once conference play begins. He is so consistent and was sorely missed last year.

We'll see how things play out, but on paper this pitching staff looks very strong. It's a long season and they need to pitch to potential and stay healthy, but I'm excited.

Details, details, details. pic.twitter.com/k1qcOy0U80

— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) February 7, 2025

D1Baseball Top 100 Relief Pitchers: Preseason
(Powered by @ChinookSeedery)

1. Jacob Dudan, @NCStateBaseball
2. Cole Tryba, @UCSB_Baseball
3. Matthew Matthijs, @DiamondHeels
4. Brian Curley, @BaseballUGA
5. Gabe Davis, @OSUBaseball pic.twitter.com/41bsxtxFte

— D1Baseball (@d1baseball) February 8, 2025

Anyone else had luck convincing the wife hot dogs, cold beer, and opening day baseball are the perfect anti-Hallmark Valentine's Day? I'm pretty lucky. She didn't really need convincing.

Five more days!

tau06 said:

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More and more I think about it the more I think the offense will hinge on Sosa and Nixon taking leaps toward what they can be. I like our chances. Ready for the season to get started!

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61 homers last year from Amack, Pennington and Cozart, another 15 from Eli and Butterworth. 52 doubles between Amack and Pennington alone (More than the rest of the team combined). That to me will be the biggest thing that hinges on this years offense. Really need the corner IF's/DH along with Sosa and a couple of others to take a step up in the power department.

The Fr look good yesterday

I doubt they would go all lefties in a weekend, but I bet all these guys are gonna get a chance in the first series and then the midweek against Liberty. I am interested to see if they start Willadsen with a pitch count, or try to use him out of the bullpen. Honestly would rather see him go 2-3 innings to start a game if they plan on starting him the rest of the year.

Jtilley said:

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Alex Gee said:

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Jtilley said:

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tau06 said:

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More and more I think about it the more I think the offense will hinge on Sosa and Nixon taking leaps toward what they can be. I like our chances. Ready for the season to get started!

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61 homers last year from Amack, Pennington and Cozart, another 15 from Eli and Butterworth. 52 doubles between Amack and Pennington alone (More than the rest of the team combined). That to me will be the biggest thing that hinges on this years offense. Really need the corner IF's/DH along with Sosa and a couple of others to take a step up in the power department.

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I understand and definitely realize why the discussion in replacing the production lost from A Mak and Pennington is at the top of mind for most, and maybe I'm just too optimistic, but I'm really not worried about it. Someone is going to take a jump. Be it a transfer/JUCO player or a guy like Lanphere or Hogue that we have pushed to the back of mind a bit.

We definitely knew that A Mak and GP were going to be everyday guys when they transferred in but not what they ended up being - Chris Hart unlocked something in those dudes. Listening to A Mak speak about it with the Pack Homer guys really solidifies that. Dude went from 11 doubles, 11 home runs, 49 RBI, and an OPS of .832 to 25 doubles, 24 homers, 84 RBI, & 1.191 OPS. Stupid. Pennington jumped significantly in every category also.

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I'm not too worried about it either being a Hart truther lol. Kind of like the year when Tommy left and everyone freaked out about losing his production.

The only thing I somewhat worry about is you are basically losing all of your power from last year and replacing it without much college proven bats, but like you said I'd expect a couple to make a jump. Sosa should for sure have a better year with more production, Jaros feels like an obvious candidate as well.

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Agree with this. Hart is great.

I think we will hit more doubles this year and be a little more athletic on the base paths to compensate for a little less power. I think we could have 5-6 guys hit 10+ doubles this year (compared to 3 guys last year). And the same amount of kids who could steal double digit bases (only Nixon and Butterworth did that). Overall I think it SHOULD be a more athletic lineup, hopefully Avent lets the boys run. I still think we will have 3-4 guys with 10-15 homeruns but no Amak/Pennington/Cozart levels of 18+.