DUGOUT REPORT: Seventh-Ranked Wolfpack Obliterates Purple Aces

No. 7 NC State head coach Elliott Avent, first baseman Tommy White, and designated hitter Dominic Pilolli met with the media following the Wolfpack's 24-6 win over Evansville Friday afternoon.

Making his collegiate debut, White collected five hits in six plate appearances, including three home runs and six runs batted in. Pilolli, in his first appearance with the Pack, went 3-for-5 at the plate, with two home runs and five RBI.

NOTE: Click on each respective thumbnail to watch each interview. A transcript of Avent’s comments will be posted below.

On if this was the opening day offense he anticipated...

I don’t know. You don’t try to predict it or think about what’s going to happen. You just want to play well. Obviously, there’s a W and an L associated with every score. I’d rather play terrible and win than play great and lose. You hope, if you’re going to play 60 or 70 games this year, you’re going to win between 30 and 40 ball games. You’ve just got to get better. We focus on getting better, but obviously something is attributed to each game. I didn’t think about anything, but I am shocked. That pitcher that pitched today, we could face him next weekend and lose 2-1 or 3-2. That guy is really, really good. I think he beat Georgia to open the season last year. He’s really good. The wind was howling out today. He’s got to pitch with the wind howling out, and we got off to a pretty good start, and that changes everything. I think, in the fourth and fifth inning, he kind of settled down. He just got off to a tough start. That’s a good ball club. I hope our guys understand that. If not, we’ll be talking about a different outcome tomorrow. That’s a good ball club. They’ve got some good players. They’re well coached. This is going to be a totally different game tomorrow. 

On White’s performance...

That was pretty remarkable. I’ve said he’s as good of a freshman hitter that we’ve ever had since I’ve been here, but still to do that... He’s just got great power. He’s a good hitter. He’s a good player. He’s got a great feel for the game. He’s a baseball player. He loves to play. He loves to compete, but even with those things, that’s pretty remarkable. 

On Sam Highfill’s start on the mound...

I thought it was good. The game where he had to match Jack Leiter in that 1-0 game last year, that was a remarkable performance. You knew we weren’t going to score, so he knew he had to get them out because we weren’t going to score. Today, he’s up 7-0, 8-0, 9-0, and that takes a different type of focus. You can let your guard down. He didn’t do that. That’s not how they got their runs. They hit him. They are a good hitting ball club. I thought his focus today was outstanding. That’s just who Sam Highfill is. 

On this season opener being a little more therapeutic than most...

I don’t know about therapeutic. Obviously, it was nice to see us play well while playing so many young people. Payton Green got a couple hits as a rookie. I think Jacob Cozart got a couple of hits as a rookie. [Will] Marcy went in there and got a base hit. There’s so many new guys. Josh Hood‘s first at-bat in two years was a double to right-center. There were a lot of good things that happened. Payton Green didn’t get a ground ball for like seven innings and then gets a semi-tough play in the hole and makes it easy. There were a lot of positives today. 

On the crowd at Doak Field...

I’m shocked. The hill was full, and it looked like students. This place was packed for opening day. That was probably a great tribute to our fans but [also] a great tribute to last year’s ball club. I think they actually came out to honor last year’s ball club with this great crowd, and we appreciate that. 

On having a lot of former players at this game

It means a lot. I came out here this morning at like 8:00 or 8:30, and you’ve got Preston Palmiero, Jack Conley and Terrell Tatum, and they’re taking live at-bats in the cage off [Evan] Justice and Tim Naughton from years ago. That’s just so much fun. Then you look down here, and Danny Healy was down here [as was] Kyle Wilson, the AAA hitting coach for the Bulls who got a promotion, so he’s in a different job. When former players call you and text you opening day, it’s very special. Listening to Carlos Rodon do that voiceover, he sounded like James Earl Jones from Field of Dreams. That’s who he sounded like. That was pretty incredible to hear Carlos do that. That was pretty incredible. 

On approaching the next 69 games on the schedule...

There’s a lot to go. I don’t know. I hope it’s 69. You’ve just got to get better. You’ve got to not think about this game too much because it starts out, 0-0. I hope our guys go home and understand that it’s a good ball club. It starts out, 0-0, and sometimes, when you beat a team so bad, you can lose some kind of respect. If we do that for this ball club, and they are a good ball club, I’ll be talking about a different outcome tomorrow. Hopefully that’s not the case. Hopefully, our guys can understand that you’ve got to come ready to play. I haven’t seen scores from across the country, but I guarantee you’re going to go home and read them tonight or in the morning and go, “Wow, this happened. Wow, that happened.” Baseball is a game where everybody can beat everybody, and I just hope our guys keep growing all year because we’ve got a ways to go. There’s a lot of new faces out there.