NC State baseball wary as ACC nemesis Boston College looms
RALEIGH, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Happy to be in the postseason? Absolutely! Excited to face rival UNC later in the week? Yep!
That said, NC State should be weary of what lies directly ahead. The Pack 9 open ACC Championship play on Tuesday afternoon with pesky Boston College in Louisville.
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BC is the last team State fans want to see. Not necessarily because they're good (the Eagles are a game under .500 overall at 25-26). No, it's because NC State athletics turn to mush when matched against Eagles.
It's not only on the diamond. The football team allowed BC to end a 12-game losing streak in conference with a 21-14 win in Raleigh. Then Mark Gottfried's basketball team lost in Chestnut hill in the lone meeting between the programs last season.
A disastrous April weekend in Boston looked like a dagger in State's NCAA tournament hopes. While scoring only four runs in a three-game sweep, the Wolfpack dropped to 8-12 in the ACC
"We went up there, it was a pretty miserable weekend to be honest. We played awful and we're glad we get to see them again," said junior infielder Stephen Pitarra.
It was gut check time indeed.
"Earlier on in the year, it was kind of like, we'd get down and weren't confident were going to come back and now we feel like we're going to win every game," Pitarra said.
Since then, the Pack have won 13 of 15. The response has built major confidence at just the right time.
If State goes on to glory in the coming weeks, they may have BC to thank for the needed push. Or, it could be kryptonite dealing another blow.
Stay tuned.
