NC State Wolfpack baseball


The NC State Wolfpack baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of North Carolina State University, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. The team has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since the conference's founding in the 1954 season. The program's home venue is Doak Field, which opened in 1966. Elliott Avent has been the head coach of the team since prior to the 1997 season. As of the end of 2024 world series the Wolfpack have appeared in four College World Series and 34 NCAA tournaments. They have won four ACC tournament Championships and four ACC Regular season Championships. As of the 2021 [Major League Baseball season], 47 former Wolfpack players have played in Major League Baseball.

History

The baseball program played its first official game against Guilford College in 1894. The program began varsity play in 1903, playing at Riddick Stadium, and in 1907 won its first State Championship. The program competed in each season until 1914, when the program was discontinued for three seasons before being revived prior to the 1917 season.
The team's nickname was the "Farmers" until autumn 1921, when an alumnus complained that the behavior of some of the school's football players was "as unruly as a pack of wolves." Subsequently, newspapers began referring to the school's athletic teams as the "Wolfpack."
The program's current venue, Doak Field, opened in 1966.
NC State made its first College World Series appearance in 1968, in the second season of head coach Sammy Esposito's tenure. In the World Series, the team lost in the semifinals to eventual champion USC. Since the NCAA tournament's format was changed in 1999 [NCAA Division I baseball tournament|1999] to include the Super Regional round, NC State has appeared in five Super Regionals, losing to Miami in 2003 [NCAA Division I baseball tournament|2003], Georgia in 2008, and Florida in 2012, beating Rice in 2013, and Arkansas in 2021.
The Wolfpack have hosted five NCAA Regionals, one at Wilson, North Carolina's Fleming Stadium and four at Doak Field.

Conference affiliations

NC State was put into the Ruston Regional as a 2 seed where they cruised right on through not losing a single game. They then moved on to face the #1 team in the country, the Arkansas Razorbacks. Arkansas destroyed NC State game one 21-2. The Wolfpack then bounced back to win the next two.
The Wolfpack went into Omaha and faced off against the 9 seeded Stanford Cardinal. NC State breezed by Stanford, winning 10-4. They moved on to face the 4 seeded Vanderbilt Commodores. The Wolfpack went in facing the top pitcher in the country, Jack Leiter. NC State would only score off a home run by Terrell Tatum. That proved to be all they needed as they won 1-0, despite Leiter striking out 15 batters in 8 innings. They then faced the Dores again in the next matchup where they lost 3-1. However, before they could play the elimination game, many of the NC State players contracted the COVID-19 virus. They did not have enough players to field a team of baseball players, so they had to forfeit the game. That ended their magical postseason run and hopes of winning the program's first ever national title.

Venues

Riddick Stadium

Prior to 1966, the team played at Riddick Stadium, which was also home to the NC State football program.

Doak Field

The Wolfpack's home venue is Doak Field, which opened in 1966 and has a capacity of 3,000 spectators. The field is named for Charles Doak, who was the program's head coach from 1924 to 1939.

Head coaches

The program's most successful head coach was Sammy Esposito. Esposito coached teams to four ACC regular season championships, three ACC tournament championships, and one College World Series appearance in his 21-year tenure.
Current head coach Elliot Avent is the program's leader in total career victories at NC State, with 1,036 as of July 31, 2024. Avent became the program's winningest coach on May 9, 2010, in a 21–0 NC State win over Towson. The win was Avent's 514th, putting him past Sammy Esposito on the program's career wins list.
Coach Avent is also the program's longest tenured head coach, with 22 seasons in the position. Vic Sorrell and Sammy Esposito each served as head coach for 21 seasons.

Yearly record

Wolfpack Baseball Yearly record

Individual awards

National awards

Brooks Wallace Award
Richard W. "Dick" Case Award
ACC Baseball Player of the Year
ACC Baseball Coach of the Year
ACC Baseball Rookie of the Year
ACC Baseball Pitcher of the Year
Below is a list of notable players of the program and the seasons in which they played for the Wolfpack.
Former Wolfpack players on current MLB rosters as of August 14, 2023.
PlayerPositionNumberTeam
Patrick BaileyC14San Francisco Giants
Andrew KniznerC7St. Louis Cardinals
Carlos RodonP16San Francisco Giants
Trea TurnerSS6Philadelphia Phillies

Major League Baseball Draft

2012

In the 2012 Major League Baseball draft, two NC State players were selected. Junior shortstop Chris Diaz was selected in the 11th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and senior outfielder Ryan Mathews was selected in the 27th round by the Oakland Athletics. Both players signed contracts with their respective organizations.

2014

In the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, two NC State players were selected in the first round. Junior pitcher Carlos Rodon was selected 3rd overall in the 1st round by the Chicago White Sox, and shortstop Trea Turner was selected 13th overall by the San Diego Padres.