There’s a lot to break down about the 2023 season across the board, let’s get right into it.

Roster Construction

The Pack returned four outfielders who played in 2022: Will Marcy, Chase Nixon, Dominic Pilolli, and Noah Soles. I like that State recruited over those guys; that’s how you get better. Plus, Trevor Candelaria, Parker Nolan, and Carter Trice were all no-brainer takes.

But why do you need seven outfielders on the roster? All these guys deserved at bats, but there’s not enough room. Pilolli was never a factor, Trice fell out of favor early in ACC play, the rest got yo-yo’d around all year, and nobody ever got settled in.

On the flip side, State returned two infielders but only brought in one additional guy in Kalae Harrison. There were no impact freshmen in the recruiting class.

Payton Green fielded .878 in 2022 and the plan was to start him at shortstop. This year he fielded .950. Harrison hit .214/.308/.273 in 220 at bats at Texas A&M. This year, he hit .313/.436/.426. Then you go to Gino Groover who has never played third base in college, and he fielded .930 this season.

There was no insurance policy for any of those guys if things went poorly, but there were four outfielders on the bench who needed ABs. Matt Heavner was the backup infielder; he had 17 at bats and fielded .889.

Fortunately, the infield went as well as anybody realistically could have expected, but there were no options when Green was banged up and struggling. Credit where it’s due – they made it work.  There was enough talent to cover up these deficiencies, and this was not the main reason the Pack fell short.

On The Mound

The pitching coach is basically like an offensive coordinator. Anytime anything goes wrong, that’s the first guy people want to fire. The Pack had a 4.39 FIP this year, 7th among teams in the NCAA Tournament. Team ERA finished at 4.40, 30th nationally and 5th in the ACC.

It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but the numbers were there. This staff absolutely got the most it could out of this group of pitchers.

Dom Fritton burst onto the scene as a freshman, and Logan Whitaker and Matt Willadsen were really good, reliable veterans. Justin Lawson anchored the bullpen with a 3.27 ERA. Rio Britton was the impact portal addition and he really emerged late and was an important postseason piece.

On the bad side, Sam Highfill never found his 2021 form. The Pack tried him in different roles but it didn’t click. Baker Nelson and Carson Kelly could never find the consistency to build depth in the bullpen.

If I told you State’s “other” guys would throw 32.1 innings in the postseason and give up 10 earned runs, you’d have felt great about the Pack making a run. Unfortunately, Willadsen and Highfill gave up 14 earned runs in 14.2 innings and that was that.

At The Plate

The numbers were gaudy as you’d expect, but something was missing. The Pack had a team wOBA of .423, 13th among tournament teams. State came into the season with 13 guys needing at bats, 12 finished with at least 70 at bats with an wRC+ over 100 (100 is average), and 11 had over 115 at bats.  Six guys finished with an OPS over .925.

On the other side, Trevor Candelaria and Payton Green struggled in conference play with matching .670 OPS’s. All year, State struggled with runners in scoring position, and in five postseason games they went 10 for 52. It was that type of year for the Wolfpack at the plate.

The numbers looked good but the end result wasn’t there because of those RISP struggles. The lineup shuffled constantly with Chase Nixon, Will Marcy, and Parker Nolan being rotated, while Cannon Peebles and Noah Soles fought injuries. The Pack never found the right mix and with it, their offense struggled in tournament play.