2017 ACC Tournament: Diamond Heels vs NC State preview

Following an absolute beat down of Boston College, the Diamond Heels will take on rival NC State on Friday.

After the Diamond Heels dominated BC by a 10-0 mercy rule on Thursday, they soon realized what their matchup with NC State would mean.

Win or go home.

The two rivals will face off for the fourth time this season, two of which were won by the Diamond Heels. The way the ACC format is, the winner of their own pool will go on to the knockout stage.

Both UNC and NC State are 1-0 in their pool, meaning the winner will move on.

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After Taylor Sugg’s incredible outing on Thursday, the Heels will send out ace JB Bukauskas on Friday.

Let’s learn more about the Diamond Heels’ opponent.

The Wolfpack

NC State will come into the game against UNC with a 34-22 record. The Pack have a little bit more to prove than the Heels do in this tournament though.

Many people believe that State has climbed to a two seed in the NCAA tournament, but with a few more wins in this tournament, they might be able to get a more favorable regional site.

A win over UNC and a pair of wins in the knockout stage might be good enough to get the Pack one of the higher two-seeds.

NC State beat Boston College 6-1 on Tuesday, and have been resting since then.

They come into the ACC Tournament off of winning two out of three against Clemson, who is a top fifteen team in the country.

Pitching

NC State will be sending out Brian Brown on Friday night. Brown is having a solid season, having started 4-1 for the season, with a 3.12 ERA.

He is not their ace, but by no means is he a slouch.

Brown is holding his opponents to a .237 average this season. He is not really a strikeout pitcher, only averaging 4.8 K’s per outing. Brown’s average start normally goes about five innings, so he does not go too deep in games.

After Brown, the Pack have several other options out of the bullpen.

Joe O’Donnell is one of the best relievers on their roster. O’Donnell’s ERA is not that great, but he seems to be able to work himself out of a jam often. He comes into this game with a 4-0 record, and seven saves this season.

Also out of the bullpen for NC State is Austin Staley.

Staley has appeared a team-high 27 times this year and has some good stats to show for it.

Despite his 2-3 record, he does have four saves for this season, good for second on his team. His opponents are hitting .268 against him, not too great for Staley.

NC State has several options they can go to out of the bullpen, making them wide open for Friday night.

At the plate

When talking about NC State at the plate, you have to immediately bring of Brad Debo. He is without a doubt the main man on offense for the Pack.

Debo is cruising this season for State, hitting a cool .347, with 17 doubles. He also has a solid OPS for a college player, sitting at .908 this season. He is not much of a power threat, only hitting four homers this season, but do know that he is capable of it.

When you look for the power on the Wolfpack roster, look no further than Joe Dunand.

Dunand has a knack for the long ball, stroking 16 of them this season.

He leads the team in RBI’s and total bases, but his OPS is a thing of beauty. He leads the team with a .980 OPS.

Josh McClain is also a guy to lookout for on the Wolfpack. McClain leads the team in hits with 71 and doubles with 19. But much like the rest of their roster, McClain is not much of a power threat. He only has four homers this season also.

What to expect

With so much on the line, expect the Diamond Heels to come out guns a-blazing.

JB Bukauskas, who has recently been named the pitcher of the year in the ACC, is 8-0, but nothing would be better than another win over NC State.

The Heels beat the Eagles of BC in only seven innings due to the mercy rule in the tournament, but do not expect that in this game. NC State is a good team, that is very capable of playing with this Tar Heel team.

But with the way this Diamond Heels team has played recently, there is no reason to expect this team to let down now.

Getting JB Bukauskas out of the game as early as possible, with a lead, will be a goal for the Heels, to ensure him being ready for a potential quick appearance this weekend.

Related Story: Tar Heels roll past Boston College

Keep it locked in to Keeping It Heel for all updates on the ACC Tournament this weekend!