Richmond @ NC State, Tuesday @ 3:00pm (ACCNX | Stats)
Akron @ NC State, Wednesday @ 3:00pm (ACCNX | Stats)
It’s a busy week over at Doak Field as NC State (5-1) continues on as part of an 18-game homestand, welcoming the Richmond Spiders (5-3, RPI #242) on Tuesday at 3:00pm and the Akron Zips (3-4, RPI #304) on Wednesday at 3:00pm.
Six games into the year and the Wolfpack’s pitching has been impressive. JR RHP Heath Andrews was scheduled to start the year as State’s Sunday starter, but a weather cancelled season debut pushed him to start last week’s midweek win over Winthrop. His struggles in that outing coupled with JR LHP Cooper Consiglio’s excellent start in the series finale this past weekend against Princeton will keep Andrews (0-0, 8.10 ERA, 3.1 IP, 10.5 BB%, 10.5 K%) in that midweek role for the time being as he’ll get the start against the Spiders.
There is no announced starting pitcher for NC State’s game against Akron.
Half of Richmond’s games this year have been decided by two or fewer runs. After a season-opening home series win against Monmouth, the Spiders were stomped by UNC 10-0 last Tuesday, captured a 9-5 home win against James Madison on Wednesday, and then took two-of-three at home against Penn State this past weekend. Time will tell if that series win over the Nittany Lions is impressive or not; Penn State was projected to finish 5th in the 17-team Big Ten, but they also were destroyed by Air Force (3-15 loss) and Kansas State (5-24 loss) in Arizona to start the year.
The Spiders are hitting .256/.371/.397, 13 2B, 6 HR, 10.8 BB%, 22.0 K%, 11-19 SB on the year. Those stolen bases numbers tell you exactly how Mik Aoki wants his team to play: aggressively. That’s a bit of a new mentality, as the 2025 Richmond team only had 79 stolen bases combined (on 100 attempts), with 36 of those coming from a single player (Aaron Whitley) who has since graduated. That makes sense as this is a rebuilt lineup that lost 7 of their 8 regulars from last year. D3 transfer SR C Dylan Winebrenner (.433/.485/.933, 1 2B, 4 HR, 0.0 BB%, 6.1 K%, 1-4 SB) from Salisbury University is off to a fantastic start. He’s a big 6’4, 230 right-handed hitter with the requisites to be a power hitter, although he only had 16 career home runs heading into this year. SR C/2B Michael Elko (.259/.364/.333, 2 2B, 0 HR, 6.1 BB%, 18.2 K%, 0-2 SB), son of Texas A&M head football coach Mike Elko, is the top returning hitter from last year’s 33-19, RPI #140 squad.
On the mound, Saturday starter SO LHP Joey Giordano (2-0, 3.48 ERA, 10.1 IP, 9..5 BB%, 26.2 K%) has been a nice surprise. He had Tommy John Surgery as a senior in high school and wasn’t available until late last year, but showed promise in that brief showing (2-0, 3.78 ERA, 16.2 IP, 12.0 BB%, 17.3 K%), so him taking another step forward would be a very welcomed development for a Spiders staff that has a decent amount of returning experience, but is light on sure things. JR RHP Jackson Hinchliffe (1-0, 3.86 ERA, 7.0 IP, 3.1 BB%, 12.5 K%) will get the start on the mound against NC State. He started 12 games last year and did throw well against JMU last week in earning the win on a pitch count. He’s a contact oriented pitcher featuring a low-90’s four-seam fastball and high-80’s sinker, with a change-up, cutter, and a slurve to mix in.
The bullpen is going to be a work in progress throughout the year as four of their five top relievers are gone. Six-foot-seven grad transfer rSR RHP Justin Gay (0-1, 2 SV, 1.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 0.0 BB%, 31.8 K%), a former JUCO player who spent the last two years at Florida Atlantic (although he didn’t pitch in 2025) is off to a strong start. Rice transfer rSR RHP Mauricio Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, 26.7 BB%, 20.2 K%) is coming off an injury that cost him all of 2025; he could be a big piece to this bullpen if he can pound the zone and continue to miss bats like he did his last year at Rice (1-1, 8.07 ERA, 35.2 IP, 7.1 BB%, 29.5 K%).
Akron has a game at Western Carolina in Cullowhee on Tuesday afternoon, but enters today with a 3-4 record. Oddly, their losses have come via a pair of 6-8 defeats and a pair of 8-16 defeats. Weird. The Zips gave up multi-run late leads in both of those 6-8 losses (both to Presbyterian) and almost allowed another late lead to vanish in their third game against the Blue Hose, so it’s worth noting that the bullpen may be an issue.
That’s not a huge shock as five of the top six pitchers by innings pitched from 2025 are gone. Control has been a big issue for the pitching staff with a collective line entering Tuesday of 3-4, 1 SV, 6.87 ERA, 15.1 BB%, 18.7 K% and has given up 10 home runs. That 1.24 K/BB ratio isn’t a recipe for success.
The lineup is what Akron will have to ride to any success this season, and collectively they’re batting .266/.381/.437, 16 2B, 7 HR, 13.9 BB%, 22.9 K%, 25-26 SB. That strikeout rate is alarming given their level of competition, but those stolen base number is scary, especially when you realize that seven players have multiple stolen bags on the year. It’s also an experienced group, which will help. The lineup is incredibly top heavy with rJR 3B Brennan Morgan (.500/.625/.667, 4 2B, 0 HR, 18.8 BB%, 3.1 K%, 0-0 SB), rSO RF Brody Chrisman (.357/.387/.786, 3 2B, 3 HR, 6.5 BB%, 16.1 K%, 4-4 SB), SR CF Kelton Phillips (.345/.412/.379, 1 2B, 0 HR, 8.8 BB%, 20.6 K%, 7-8 SB), rSO DH Blake Bowen (.273/.515/.455, 1 2B, 1 HR, 33.3 BB%, 27.3 K%, 2-2 SB), SR 2B Henry Hayman (.316/.364/.632, 3 2B, 1 HR, 9.1 BB%, 18.2 K%, 0-0 SB), and rSR 1B Easton Amundson (.227/.419/.636, 1 2B, 2 HR, 19.4 BB%, 25.8 K%, 2-2 SB) basically being the entire offense. Getting production from the remaining one-third of the lineup will be crucial to creating big innings, which will be necessary to success given the pitching staff.