NC State softball’s outlook heading into April

NC State softball is still well below .500 on the season, and while there’s been some good, there has also been plenty of bad and ugly.

It’s safe to say, the Wolfpack has had lots of struggles recently. With a long homestand coming up, let’s analyze just what is going on and how the team can improve while here in Raleigh.

The Good

Every position player except for one has recorded at least one homer this season for the Pack, contributing to the offense with the long ball. The team even recently recorded four home runs in its win against North Carolina A&T March 29.

Leading the charge is graduate left fielder Katlyn Pavlick with eight homers on the year. The Pittsburgh transfer has already beaten her record of five dingers from last season. Her homers have led to 16 RBIs on the year, third on the team.

Freshman catcher Amanda Hasler leads in RBIs with 22 and is unique to NC State in that she calls the pitches. Her knowledge of the sport has been noted by assistant coach Carson Shaner, calling her a nerd of the game. Hasler also leads the Pack in onbase percentage, using her IQ and awareness to get on any way she can. One way she has gotten on base is through hit-by-pitch; setting a program record for all freshmen with 10 HBPs this season.

On the mound, redshirt junior righthander Aisha Weixlmann has been hot lately. In the game against NC A&T, she recorded a season-high seven strikeouts, and she leads the Pack with 64 total Ks. She is also the best pitcher in opposing batting average with .283.

Freshman right-hander Madison Inscoe has the most starts for the Pack and has seen the most action on the team. She has the lowest ERA with 3.82 and is personally chasing a .500 record at 7-9. She will likely get a majority of the starts remaining in the season and provide consistent innings for the Wolfpack to try and score.

Finally, junior right-hander Brooklyn Lucero has made some appearances since receiving a pacemaker in April of last year. She has pitched in two games thus far and appeared to pinch hit several times, even recording a hit in the game against Radford. It is unclear how her role will change, but it appears she has recovered enough to play.

At home, NC State is a positive 10-8 this season, even sweeping a series against Boston College. However, the Pack continues to struggle primarily with road games, only winning three out of 19 played away from Dail Softball Stadium. The team will travel to New York for its next series against Syracuse, but then will enjoy a 12-game homestand. If the Pack wants to break .500, it will have to capitalize on the home advantage Raleigh brings.

As far as hitting is concerned, only one member of the Pack has a batting average above .300 — sophomore third baseman Hannah Goodwin at .308. While a few batters are close to that mark, there are a few batters who do not get hits often. As a team, the batting average is only .234, which, combined with getting out-hit by its opponents, is why the Pack has such a low win percentage.

Out of the Pack’s 24 losses, the team scored one run or no runs in 13 of them. Four of the losses came from the Pack’s most recent trip to Louisiana in the LSU Tournament. The Pack offense has faced some tough pitching from opponents like Arizona early in the season and No. 14 LSU just recently, but offensive production has to be the spotlight for the coaching staff with about a month left in the season.

The Pack faces Syracuse in upstate New York before hosting that 12-game homestand in Dail Softball Stadium. While every game is important, the series against North Carolina is extra essential from April 21-23. Last year, the Pack lost the series 2-1 against the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill but has homefield advantage this season as NC State tries to continue its apparent dominance against its rival.

NC State hits the road for the last series of the season to face Pitt in Pennsylvania. The matchup will be personal for Pavlick but paramount for the Pack in terms of ACC Tournament seeding.