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| Catcher Andrew Knizner batted .322 over 53 games. Photo Credit: NC State Athletics |
Stony Brook will take on NC State today at 3:30 pm in the opening game of the Fort Worth, TX regionals.
Background:
NC State is currently 34-21 and they were just defeated by Florida State in the championship game of the ACC tournament by the score of 6-2.
They have never won the College World Series but they did make an appearance in 2013. They came closest to winning it in 1968 when they finished in third place.
How do they stack up talent wise?
They Wolfpack landed five players on the All-ACC team. Jake Fincher, Andrew Knizner and Preston Palmeiro made the second team while Logan Ratledge was named to the third team and Brian Brown made the All-Freshman team.
Those top four are the leading hitters for the Wolfpack.
Ratledge leads the way with a .330 average. He started all 55 games, he scored 49 runs, compiled 71 hits, smacked eight HR, drove in 37 runs, led the team with 118 total bases and walked more times (31) than he struck out (30). He led the team with a .433 OBP. He also stole 11 bases.
Knizner was just behind him in AVG at .322. He started 52 games and scored 31 runs, smacked five HR and drove in 41 runs. He struck out only 18 times and amassed a .362 OBP. His one flaw was that he led the team by hitting into seven double plays.
Palmeiro is another well-rounded hitter. He hit .316 with seven bombs and 48 RBI. He amassed a .393 OBP and .471 SLG. He drew 25 walks against 31 strikeouts. He stole two bases in four tries.
Fincher hit .301 this season in 52 games. He scored 40 runs and hit three HR while driving in 20 runs. He compiled a .375 OBP with a .426 SLG.
On the pitching side, the freshman southpaw Brown led the staff with a 1.72 ERA over 14 appearances (all starts). He went 7-3 over 73.1 IP, allowing only 54 hits and 26 walks againt 70 strikeouts. He held opponents to a .211 average. If there was one flaw, he did throw seven wild pitches this season.
Who Wins?
In the regionals, it’s anyone’s game. Stony Brook stands a great chance in this game because they have a team OBP of .391 and that plays at any level.
Brown doesn’t walk a ton of batters, 3.4 BB/9, but he does throw a lot of wild pitches and that can put the Sea Wolves in idea position to score a run with just a single.
They’ll need their key cogs–Cole Peragine, Jack Parenty, Toby Handley, Casey Baker, Andruw Gazzola and Rob Chavarria to produce at they’ve done all season.
Red shirt sophomore southpaw Daniel Zamora will bring his 3.02 ERA with 9.2 K/9 IP to the mound and hope to give the Sea Wolves some depth.
