For a while there it appeared as though the baseball team was coming around. Following their 0-3 trip to Georgia Tech, they won 8 of 10, including series wins over Clemson and Wake Forest, as well as a big mid-week victory over East Carolina. But they lost all three games at Miami last weekend, which dropped them to 5-10 in the ACC, and followed that with a loss at UNC-Wilmington. The ACC tournament picture looks like this:
6.) BC (6-8)
7.) Clemson (6-9)
8.) NCSU (5-10)
--------------------
9.) Wake (5-10)
10.) Duke (4-11)
11.) VT (3-12)
12.) UMD (3-12)
State holds the tiebreaker over the Deacs. They only have a game on Duke, just two on Virginia Tech and Maryland, so this weekend's series with UNC is critical. If they continue to struggle and lose this series, this stretch could bury them . They have to go to Virginia next weekend.
Cory Mazzoni gets the Friday start for the Wolfpack, as usual:
He fanned a career-high 13 batters in seven innings against Penn State on March 4 and 11 against Miami in his most recent outing. In his last six starts, he has struck out 56 batters in 42 innings. Heading into Friday night’s scheduled start against fifth-ranked North Carolina, Mazzoni (2.4, 4.07 ERA) has struck out a team-high 65, tied for second in the ACC behind Virginia’s Danny Hultzen, who has 90.
"Right now, I just have great command of all my pitches," Mazzoni said. "Everything seems to be working for me."