Reflecting a season in which NC State went 40-14 overall and 19-11 in the ACC, the Wolfpack baseball squad was heavily honored by the ACC Monday afternoon, headlined by senior lefty Brian Brown being named the conference’s Pitcher of the Year.
Brown went 6-1 on the mound this year during the regular season, registering a league-best 2.37 ERA in 14 starts. His next start will be the 60th of his career, tying a school record. Brown was also named first-team All-ACC, and he joined Carlos Rodon (2012), now of the Chicago White Sox, as the only NC State pitchers to win the award. The ACC started naming pitchers of the year in 2005.
Freshman catcher Patrick Bailey was on the second-team All-ACC squad and also named the ACC Freshman of the Year. The switch hitter batted .319 at the plate this year and belted 10 homers, two shy of NC State’s record for a freshman. Bailey is NC State's third rookie of the year, joining Rodon (2012) and second baseman Tom Sergio (1994).
Outfielders Brett Kinneman, a junior, and Josh McLain, a senior, and sophomore shortstop Will Wilson joined Brown on the first-team All-ACC Squad. Kinneman’s 17 home runs are second most in the ACC, and he leads the conference with 60 RBI. That is the most for NC State since Ryan Matthews had 62 in 2012.
McLain led NC State with a .335 batting average and had a conference-best 1.54 hits per game. His 25 multi-hit games leads the ACC, and he also was 11 of 14 on stolen base attempts.
Wilson was a three-time ACC Player of the Week selection, a new school record for the most in one season, that hit .308 with 14 home runs and 50 RBI. Ten of those homers came in ACC competition.
NC State tied Georgia Tech for the most selections on the first team. The last time the Wolfpack had four on the first-team All-ACC was 1992.
Senior outfielder Brock Deatherage and fifth-year senior relief pitcher Joe O’Donnell were also All-ACC. Deatherage batted .312 with 14 homers after turning down the MLB following his junior season. He made the second-team squad.
O’Donnell was picked third-team All-ACC after he had a 1.05 ERA in 22 games and 25.2 innings, all in relief. He allowed just three earned runs and struck out 34 batters. O’Donnell earned 11 saves, tying for the ACC lead and tied for fifth most in school history for a season, and his 93 career appearances is a new NC State record.
Freshman pitcher Reid Johnston joined Bailey on the freshman All-ACC team. Johnston is 7-0 on the mound with a 2.97 ERA in 19 games, including eight starts, and 57.2 innings. Johnston had four saves before moving into the rotation.
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