NC State baseball will begin its quest for a national championship at the College World Series in Omaha against Stanford at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon on ESPN.

The Cardinal went 38-15 overall this season and 17-10 in the Pac 12, which also features CWS participant Arizona, who is in the same half of the bracket with the Pack and Stanford and will face Vanderbilt Saturday evening.

During the regular season, Stanford took two of three in a series at home against the Wildcats, with a 13-inning, one-run 5-4 victory in the first contest proving to be the difference.

In postseason play, Stanford survived a do-or-die regional final against UC Irvine, prevailing 11-8 after jumping out to a 7-0 lead in thanks to a huge top of the first inning. It then cruised to a sweep of Texas Tech in Lubbock, Tex., in the Super Regional, winning the two games by a combined score of 24-3.

The strength of Stanford’s pitching staff very likely will be a problem for NC State on Saturday. That’s because they are led by recently named Baseball America All-American Brendan Beck, who is rated by MLB.com as the No. 164 prospect in this year’s MLB Draft. Beck is reputed to have a solid four-pitch repertoire with a low-90s fastball complemented by a curveball, slider and changeup that he can locate and throw for strikes.

Beck was the 2021 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year after going 9-1 on the mound this spring with a 2.96 ERA in 15 games, 14 of them starts. He leads the conference with 128 strikeouts, against just 23 walks, over his 100.1 innings of work, and he has a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.95, which ranks 22nd nationally.

In two of his last four starts, Beck has thrown a complete game, and he has posted at least nine strikeouts in each of his last five turns on the mound while walking only four in that span. Opponents are batting a meager .195 against Beck.

Facing an All-American, potential high MLB Draft pick in a pitcher’s ballpark like TD Ameritrade in Omaha will be a stiff challenge for the Pack, but if NC State could get to Beck, it would face a bullpen that is not overpowering.

Fifth-year senior Zach Grech has been effective though. He was named one of 10 finalists for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award thanks to his conference-leading 13 saves. He was named first-team all-conference after posting a 3.18 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP in a team-best 30 appearances. He’s only allowed 38 hits in 48.1 innings pitched and just one homer, but he has only struck out 34 and has hit a team-high 12 batters.

Freshman Joey Dixon was also named honorable mention all-conference, but he was hit hard in the regional by UC Irvine. In 3.1 innings of work, he gave up four hits and four earned runs, raising his ERA to 3.28 over 22 games and 35.2 innings. Like Grech, he does not miss a lot of bats, just 16.

The only other reliever with a sub-4.00 ERA is freshman Brandt Parker at 3.83, but Parker has allowed an earned run in three of his last five appearances. In 42.1 innings pitched, he has a 1.54 WHIP and surrendered 45 hits and 20 walks with just 28 strikeouts.

Sophomore centerfielder Brock Jones joined Beck on the Baseball America All-American list. He reached in all but four of Stanford’s games this year and has a .452 on-base percentage while hitting .302 with a team-high 16 homers. He has a .620 slugging percentage and is coming off a huge Super Regional where he hit three homers, one of which was a grand slam. Jones also leads Stanford with 14 stolen bases.

He highlights a lineup that features four hitters batting over .300 and three sluggers with double-digit homers.

Senior first baseman Nick Brueser was first-team All Pac-12 and is hitting .309 with a .385 on-base percentage and .558 slugging mark. He has 11 homers at the plate. Senior outfielder Christian Robinson, who was honorable mention all-conference, leads the team with a .315 batting average and has seven homers and 44 RBI, second highest on the team behind Jones’ 54.

Junior designated hitter Vincent Martinez joined Robinson on the honorable mention All Pac-12 team and is a .312 hitter with seven homers, too. Versatile senior Tim Tawa provides additional power with 11 homers and has been swinging a hot bat in the postseason.

As a team, Stanford is a team that hits with power, knocking out 80 homers and 94 doubles in its 53 games competed to 45 home runs and 83 doubles for its opponents. They also have a fairly good contact rate, striking out as a team in 21.1 percent of its at bats.

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