The North Carolina State Wolfpack received an NCAA Regional host spot for this weekend welcoming in Auburn, Northeastern and Army West Point to Raleigh. This is a very interesting regional as NC State was one of the last hosts while Northeastern is in some college baseball commenters minds not worthy of being in the tournament. (I totally disagree with these people). Army West Point on the other hand have had a major turnaround under second year head coach Jim Foster who had a great run with the Rhode Island Rams and as an assistant coach with Boston College. On top of that is the biggest story of the regional is likely number 1 pick in the MLB Draft Casey Mize going to pitch.
NC State (40-16 overall, 19-11 ACC)
The Wolfpack enter the weekend with a 40-16 overall record while going 19-11 in ACC play. They are led on offense by Josh McLain who has a .337 batting average with four homers and 39 RBI while going 11-14 on the base paths. Other bats to watch are Patrick Bailey (.316, 11 HR, 33 RBI) and Brock Deatherage (.305 BA, 14 HR, 37 RBI). The pitching staff is led by Brian Brown who went 6-2 with a 2.71 ERA in 15 starts on the year. Reliever Kent Klyman has been rock solid out of the pen with a 7-2 record with a 2.43 ERA. You can check out the rest of their stats by clicking here.
Auburn (39-21 overall, 15-15 SEC)
The Tigers enter the weekend with a 39-21 record while only going .500 in SEC play at 15-15. The team is hitting at a .278 clip led by Jay Estes who is hitting .327 with 30 RBI including 13 stolen bases in 16 attempts. Will Holland is another bat to watch with a .315 batting average while hitting eleven homers and driving in 46 runs. The pitching staff is led by Casey Mize who is expected to go number 1 in the draft next week with a 9-5 record and has a 3.07 ERA while tossing three complete games. Calvin Coker leads the team with seven saves in 29 appearances.
Northeastern (36-19, 17-6 CAA)
The Northeastern Huskies were selected as an at-large team after a extremely ambitious out of conference schedule which included games against Auburn, Missouri, Creighton, and Texas Tech all on the road. The Huskies were CAA regular season champions and appeared in the CAA Championship game where they lost a winner take all game to UNC-Wlmington. They are a pitching heavy team but they have some powerful bats with Jake Farrell leading the hitters with a .341 average while hitting eleven homers while driving in 61 runs. Leadoff hitter Charlie McConnell is another bat to watch with a .335 average while driving in 26 runs. He is a terror on the base paths with 37 stolen bases in 42 attempts. Sean Mellen leads the pitching staff with a 10-3 record with a 2.28 ERA in 79.0 innings. Andrew Misiaszek serves as the closer with a 2-2 record with a 2.87 ERA.
Army West Point (36-22, 18-7 Patriot League)
The Army West Point baseball squad returns to the NCAA Tournament after defeating Navy in the Patriot League Tournament. They are led by Jon Rosoff with a .351 batting average while driving in 45 runs. The pitching staff is led by Cam Opp who went 5-2, four saves with a 2.34 ERA in 23 appearances including six starts. Daniel Burggraff is another pitcher to watch who went 7-2 with a 2.34 ERA.
Prediction: NC State defeats Northeastern in the Regional Championship game as I think Northeastern comes out with an attitude after the amount of vitriol that has been against them this week.
