NC State head coach Elliott Avent, OF Ty Head, and INF Sherman Johnson met with the media to discuss the Wolfpack's 18-3 win over Akron. 

HC Elliott Avent

45 runs in the last two days after the 1-0 loss to Princeton, how was that? That's crazy.

I read an article, I don't know if it was yours or someone else's, where they said we outscored the opponents 35-2 and lost one of them. It's hard to do, right? That's the way baseball is. I'll never forget the... I wasn't old enough to pay attention, but I grew up a Yankees fan, I think it was around 1960 or so. They outscored the Pirates like something crazy in a seven-game World Series and lost the series. And that's what I felt like in between that Princeton game. 

But we've got to figure out just how to keep getting better. We did some good things, I thought, since we got back to Puerto Rico. And Puerto Rico was about getting on the field. We haven't been on the field. Pitchers don't have the pitch counts up. I know that's frustrating for Coach Chrysler because he needs to get their pitch counts up. He needs to get people out there.

And we haven't been able to do that because of the weather. And then, obviously, we've got to get better. But, little things like Ty Head beating that play out at second. Not many players in the country are going to do that. I count maybe a handful of guys I've had here that could do that. Kyle McDonough, and people like that, who just play the game hard all the time and play the game smart, the way it's supposed to be played. So that was great. 

And just when Vince goes in there in the ninth and blocks that tough pitch from Collins Black, I thought that was outstanding. And I just—little stuff like that. We've got to keep getting guys out there. Novi, with the power he has and the exit velocity he puts off in baseball, to get his home run, his first home run today, is trying to get him going. 

And just trying to get guys out there. Sherman Johnson had a couple of big two-strength hits in RBIs today. Fraseman with a big two-strength hit. I mean, he might have had a couple as well. Red had one. Just trying to get guys out there and get better. So it was—that's good . And then we'll take tomorrow off and hopefully get back on the field this weekend and dodge the rain. And we've got to keep playing. We've got to play a lot between now and conference because we've got to get better.

You mentioned Ty. Puerto Rico didn't go well for him. But ever since you guys got back, he's been swinging it well. What's it been like seeing him bounce back?

Ty's a good player. I mean, I'm so impressed with him. I just—I've been around here a long time and seen a lot of great players here. And he's one of them. He plays the game hard. He loves to play. A lot of confidence in himself. And he works hard to get better. 

So it's just—it's fun for me to watch him play. I just love watching him play. He was fine in Puerto Rico, but you're right, he is swinging it better. Those guys put in so much work with Coach Hart, Coach Robinson, and JT . They just put in so much work that if you work at this game or any game, if you work at it, you'll get better if you have the right attitude and mentality.

You talked a lot in the early part of the season about not having a ton of preseason reps for our games like yesterday and today. We're getting some different faces.

Yeah, you've got to get on the field. You've got to get on the field. As I said, we've got a lot of guys that can play on this team. We've got to try to get Wiggins out there more. It's just Preston Bonn hasn't had a great opportunity yet. It's just guys, you want to make sure you're covering all your bases to get guys out there.

And then, yeah, you're trying to couple that with making sure guys that have been here before, Brayden Franksman, Luke Nixon, Chris McHugh, make sure that Drew Lanphere, they're getting the bats they need. Because in baseball, you need to get at-bats to get going. Hitting is not an easy proposition . Some say it's the hardest thing in all the sports to do. So you've got to get those guys out there.

How's Dalton doing after yesterday?

He pulled a hamstring. I tried to get everybody out. It was a miserable game weather-wise. We've had a miserable year weather-wise. And I tried to get everybody out. I may have pulled guys as early as the fourth inning yesterday. But their coach wanted to play the whole game. You've got the run rule, which we did today. So we did that. I tried to get everybody out, and the one guy I didn't get out was Virgo. He just plays so hard. He just kind of tweaked the quad.

Our trainers got in, so it made me feel good about leaving last night. Not as bad as we initially thought, and today he felt like it was a little bit better. So I'd just like to get him back, but we'll take it slow and don't want to re-acclimate that thing.

OF Ty Head

Ty, what's it been like the last two days, 45 runs, for the offense to kind of get clicking?

It's exciting. We're showing y'all what we're made of, and we're coming to play. And, yeah.

4 home runs already this season for you. Matches last year, it was total. Was power kind of a major point of emphasis during the offseason for you?

We focused on it, but it's kind of just focused on the little things in my swing and just being more aggressive. And don't try to hit home runs. Just focus on being gritty and getting through that pass. They'll come.

Is there anything you've noticed that's been different to be able to get the ball over the fence a little bit more this year?

Not really. Kind of just, I want to say swinging more and just like being more aggressive. And being disciplined for that pitch that I wanted to hit.

You talk about swinging more, but you still have 10 walks, I think, this season so far. How much has that kind of helped in your approach, knowing that you can get on base that way, too, if there's not the pitch you want to swing at?

Well, in Puerto Rico, I was swinging at everything, and that wasn't me. So it feels good to be back at the doke and kind of just get back to who I really am. So I feel like that's helped the most.

How'd you reset yourself up there? I think it went 0 for 8 in Puerto Rico. How'd you kind of reset when you got back here?

Just believe in myself and my teammates. My teammates always hype me up. So, just give myself confidence, and my teammates are just great teammates.

Does seeing results help give you confidence, too? Seeing the ball, you know, dropping?

I'm feeling good right now. I'm feeling good right now.

INF Sherman Johnson

Sherman, what have the last two days been like with the amount of offense? You guys have been able to generate, it's just been like 45 runs.

Yeah, no, it's crazy. But I mean, you kind of look at the inner squads, we do come in, see all the work we put in, that's what we're supposed to do. So.

How much does that help kind of put away over the weekend with the 1-0 loss to Princeton? How much are these last two games gonna help?

Yeah, no, the 1-0 loss sucked. I mean, we had three hits, Ty had two of them. So it definitely sucked. The game before, I mean, we scored about 16 runs, and now we're coming back scoring all these runs. 

So, I mean, we're doing what we're supposed to do. That Sunday loss was, or Saturday loss was tough, but we're doing what we're supposed to do.

How have the last couple of days kind of helped your personal confidence at the plate? 

Yeah, it's been great. I mean, I'm just out there just being who I am, not trying to do too much, just listening to Coach Bo and Coach Hart and just trusting the work I put in.

Can you speak on the energy around the team right now? I know you guys are off to a really hot start, so kind of speak on what the locker room looks like right now.

Yeah, the locker room's great. I mean, we all love each other, we all wanna be around each other. I mean, even if we're not doing baseball stuff, people are down there playing cards, hanging out, just joking. It's a good squad, it's a good team, and we love to be around each other.

What's it been like seeing the way Ty scored the bat to start the season?

Yeah, it's been great. I know he was frustrated at Puerto Rico, but he came back and do what Ty had been doing all fall, all pre-spring. He's a great player, he's gonna probably be a great rounder, so yeah, he's great.