NC State Baseball - Opponent Preview: Campbell (Part Deux)

Who’s the Pack playing?

Opponent: Campbell

Mascot: Fighting Camels | School Location: Buies Creek, NC | Conference: Big South

2018 Record: 4-7 (0-0, T-1st) | 2018 RPI Rank: N/A

2017 Record: 25-32 (10-14, 8th) | 2017 RPI Rank: 220

2016 Record: 26-27 (13-11, 5th) | 2016 RPI Rank: 159

When? Where? How do I watch?

Location: Campbell’s Jim Perry Stadium, Buies Creek, NC

Game Time: Wednesday, Mar 7 @ 4:00pm

TV: The Big South Network ... Hey, whatever it is, it has to beat the single 2010 iPhone video feed that we’ve seen in far too many games this year at the Doak. Right?

Radio: WKNC 88.1 in Raleigh

Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/campbell/baseball/

Tell me about this team

I’m gonna go ahead and point you to the opponent preview from this past weekend when State faced off with Campbell for the first time in 2018. That game ended in a 21-4 beatdown, a game in which Wolfpack hitters pounded out five home runs, including two by Evan Edwards. Nick Swiney and Mathieu Gauthier combined for six innings of relief, allowing a combined two hits and one run while striking out seven Camels batters. Matthew Barefoot had two hits and an RBI while Zach Minnick hit a home run for Campbell... and that’s the extent of their highlights from that game.

One additional player to highlight for Campbell will be their starting pitcher in this game, RHP Allan Winans (RS-SR). Winans is 1-1 this season in two starts, compiling a 3.38 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, and .207 OBA over 8.0 IP while allowing 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, and registering 10 K. The former JUCO transfer took the loss in his season debut against East Carolina, allowing three runs on four hits over two innings before turning in a brilliant outing in a 15-2 win against Pepperdine, going six shutout innings of two-hit ball, walking one and striking out seven. In 2017, he went 4-6 with a 6.42 ERA and .316 OBA for Campbell.

So what’s happened with this team since that last meeting?

Well, that previous game was just this past Saturday, and coupled with the less-than-ideal weather we’ve had in the area this week, Campbell’s only played one other game... but what a game that was! The Fighting Camels took out their frustrations from their Saturday demolition by completely pounding Bowling Green on Sunday to the tune of 17-3. Heck, the Camels put up a 10 spot in the 4th inning. Gotta love baseball games with football scores!

For Campbell in that game, CF Bryce Myers (RS-SR) went 3-5 with 2 HR, 3 R, and 4 RBI while DH Ty Babin (FR, Holly Springs) went 3-4 with a 3B, 2 R, and 6 RBI. Four other Campbell hitters (Luis Giminez, Minnick, Joe Zirolli, Kevn Barron) registered multi-hit games on the day.

Barefoot, Campbell’s hitting extraordinaire, also made his first career appearance on the mound in that game. His effort was far better than Brett Kinneman’s first exploit on the mound as Barefoot pitched a scoreless, hitless, walkless frame while striking out two batters on just ten pitches.

Quick! Fun Facts!

Not really sure I have much more to add since the last preview. It has only been a few days.

Prediction

Michael Bienlien will (finally) be making his first start of the season on the mound for the Wolfpack. Bienlien has been fairly rock steady this season for State in relief appearances (Air Force outing aside), and I’d expect that to continue today as long as field conditions are fine.

State has hit right-handed starters pretty well this year, and while Winans had a great outing last time out for Campbell, I’d expect this outing to be something closer to his efforts against ECU, with State’s offense scratching four runs in four innings against him.

This one will be much closer than the last time these teams faced off. I’m going with a final of 7-4 State.