This is not the first time NC State baseball will have played archrival UNC this season, but it’s the first time that it truly matters in the ACC.
The Wolfpack, ranked No. 2 in the country by Baseball America, defeated the Heels 8-3 in Durham at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in what was billed as “The Dual at the DBAP.” It was a non-conference game on April 17 with bragging rights implications but little else on the line.
“For minor league ballparks it's hard to get any better than Durham Bulls and then you have great crowds,” NC State baseball coach Elliott Avent noted. “It was neat. It was for the Triangle area, the fans and the state of North Carolina and for players on both teams, but this one counts in the standings, and the standings always matter.”
NC State has won all seven of its ACC series this year and is 15-4 in the conference. The Pack is the only team to be unbeaten in the league in conference series, but UNC is riding a three-game sweep of Georgia Tech last weekend and tied with the NC State for the best record in the ACC.
That’s a fact not lost on the players, senior right fielder Brock Deatherage said.
“This is a big weekend for both,” Deatherage stated. “Taking sole first place in the ACC is huge especially going into the last few weekends of the season before the postseason.”
That said, a rivalry is a rivalry.
“It’s always been a great rivalry, no matter what, no matter where everybody is in the league. … Personally it’s just a good, fun, competitive rivalry,” Deatherage said.
The atmosphere at the DBAP, with an announced crowd of 6,799 fans, was what Deatherage labeled a postseason environment. It should have a similar but likely more partisan feel when the teams meet Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon in Raleigh at NC State’s Doak Field.
The weather should also be great after weeks of waiting for spring to arrive.
“I’ve been doing this my fifth year now,” redshirt senior closer Joe O’Donnell said. “I’ve played in some big games. It’ll be good for the young guys. It’ll probably be one of their first experiences playing in an atmosphere like this.”
All three games have already been announced as sell outs.
“Our fans are definitely out here and supporting us,” O’Donnell added. “Now that the weather is getting a lot nicer we should start seeing a couple more fans out here, which would be great.
"I think the buzz around State baseball is definitely the highest since I’ve been here.”
That excitement level is generated by NC State being 31-7 overall and ranked in the top five of six different national polls, including second in two of them.
“It’s a great feeling,” Deatherage said. “It’s anywhere since I’ve been here from not being ranked to 20s to 30s to on the bubble of even making postseason. Just being in all those different areas and then being here my senior year and my last year it’s a really good feeling.”
O’Donnell is not surprised however at the team’s success.
“It definitely feels good,” he said. “Every year we come in thinking we are going to be one of the top teams in the country.”
After a slow start, UNC has joined NC State as one of the best teams nationally. Baseball America has the Heels ranked No. 10 in its latest poll, setting up a top-10 showdown between the rivals this weekend.
Avent wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’ve loved this rivalry since ever since I knew what a ball was, five years old I guess,” Avent said. “Where I grew up that’s all men did around the country store — come talk politics and come talk sports. It’s been a rivalry as long as I know it and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
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