Baseball Set For Big Weekend Series at 21st-Ranked NC State

Belmont (2-3) vs. No. 21 North Carolina State (4-0) 

Friday, February 24 | 2pm CT 

ACC Network Extra | iHeartRadio | Live Stats | Game Notes 

Saturday, February 25 | 1pm CT 

ACC Network Extra | Bruin Sports Network | Live Stats 

Sunday, February 26 | 12pm CT

ACC Network Extra | Bruin Sports Network | Live Stats 

Doak Field | Raleigh, North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. -- For the first time since 2013, the Belmont University baseball team will be on the road in the month of February as they travel to 21st-ranked North Carolina State this weekend for a three-game series beginning Friday. 

All three games will be streamed on ACC Network Extra and the ESPN app. Friday's game will be carried on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio, while Saturday and Sunday's contests will be broadcast on the Bruin Sports Network through Sidearm. 

Live stats will be available on BelmontBruins.com, and in-game highlights will be posted to Twitter by @BelmontBaseball 

What's Bruin 

• Belmont was last on the road for a weekend series this early in the year when they visited Athens, Ga., in 2013, taking two out of three games from SEC-foe Georgia. 

• Belmont will be looking for their first win over a top-25 opponent since they took down No. 8 Vanderbilt on March 22, 2018, 8-4 

• The Bruins secured their first road sweep of a Power Five opponent in program history last season when they took down Purdue in West Lafayette in three straight games from April 24-26 

• After splitting a four-game series with UT Martin last weekend to open the season at E.S. Rose park, Belmont fell in a tight midweek clash with WKU, 9-7 

• Belmont's pitching staff leads the Missouri Valley Conference in strikeouts per nine innings (11.5) and struck out 17 Skyhawks on Opening Day in the second game of a doubleheader, their most strikeouts since 2021 

• Junior third baseman Mason Landers is the reigning MVC Player of the Week after going 6-for-14 (.429) with three home runs and six RBIs last weekend against UT Martin. It marks the first-ever MVC weekly honor in program history. 

• Junior first baseman was named a Rawlings/ABCA Gold Glove Finalist last year as one of the top three defensive first baseman in the country and hit .325 with 13 home runs and 62 RBIs 

• Junior right-handed reliever Jett Thielke was named to the NCBWA Preseason Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List prior to the season. 

• Junior shortstop Sam Kirkpatrick has been red-hot to start his Bruin career, with hits in ten of his first 18 at-bats (.556) with a home run, a double, and three bunt base hits 

• Friday's projected pitching matchup includes LHP Andy Bean (0-1, 1.80 ERA) facing off against RHP Logan Whitaker (1-0, 0.00 ERA) 

• Bean, a junior from Fisherville, Tenn., took a hard-luck loss in the first game of the season last Saturday, just the fourth defeat in his career. The lefty tossed five innings while allowing just one earned run with seven strikeouts and two walks. 

• Saturday's projected pitchers are LHP Jalen Borders (0-1, 12.27 ERA) against RHP Matt Willadsen (0-0, 3.00 ERA) 

• Sunday's projected pitching clash features LHP Dominic Baratta (0-0, 0.00 ERA) and LHP Dominic Fritton (0-0, 0.00 ERA) 

• Baratta, a junior from Dunedin, Fla., is coming off one of the best performances of his career, a five-inning start in which he held UT Martin scoreless with just one hit, while tallying seven strikeouts 

• Belmont hit six home runs in the first game of their Sunday doubleheader against UT Martin last weekend on the way to an 11-4 win, their most home runs in a single contest since 2015 

About the Wolfpack 

• NC State has outscored opponents 40-7 on the way to a 4-0 start to the season 

• The Wolfpack swept Wagner at home over Opening Weekend before taking down Coastal Carolina on the road on Wednesday 

• NC State remained at No. 21 in the latest D1Baseball poll after entering the season ranked there 

• NC State brought in the No. 11 ranked transfer class and the No. 19 ranked freshman class ahead of the 2023 season 

• NC State has advanced to an NCAA Regional in 14 of the last 18 seasons, and made a run to the 2021 College World Series 

Series History 

• Friday marks the first-ever meeting between Belmont and NC State 

• Belmont last defeated a team from the ACC in 2017, when they took down No. 17 Georgia Tech on the road in Atlanta in the final game of a three-game series with the Yellow Jackets, 11-5 

Follow Belmont baseball on social media - @BelmontBaseball on Twitter and @belmontbaseball on Instagram - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.              

#ItsBruinTime