The NC State Wolfpack baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

program of

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

, based in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, United States. The team has been a member of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

since the conference's founding in the 1954 season. The program's home venue is

Doak Field Doak Field (or The Doak) is a baseball venue in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. It opened in 1966 and is home to the North Carolina State University Wolfpack college baseball team of the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference (AC ...

, which opened in 1966.

Elliott Avent Elliott Avent (born May 1, 1956) is a baseball coach, who is the current head baseball coach of the NC State Wolfpack. He attended North Carolina State University, but he did not play for the baseball program. In his 25th season of coaching the Wo ...

has been the head coach of the team since prior to the 1997 season. As of the end of the 2015 season, the Wolfpack have appeared in three

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

and 32 NCAA Tournaments. They have won four ACC Tournament Championships and four ACC Regular Season Championships. As of the

2021 Major League Baseball season The 2021 Major League Baseball season began on April 1, while the regular season ended on October 3. The postseason began on October 5. The World Series then began on October 26 and ended on November 2 with the Atlanta Braves defeating the Houston ...

, 47 former Wolfpack players have played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

History

The baseball program played its first official game against

Guilford College Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for Continuing Education (CCE). Founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of ...

in 1894. The program began varsity play in 1903, playing at

Riddick Stadium Riddick Stadium (opened 1907, closed 1965) was a college football stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, and home to the North Carolina State University Wolfpack football team. When the stadium was first opened, it was referred to as New Athletic Par ...

, and in 1907 won its first State Championship. The program competed in each season until 1914, when the program was discontinued for three seasons (1914–1916) before being revived prior to the 1917 season. The team's nickname was the "Farmers" until autumn 1921, when an

alumnus Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

complained that the behavior of some of the school's football players was "as unruly as a pack of wolves." Subsequently, newspapers began referring to the school's athletic teams as the "Wolfpack." The program's current venue,

, opened in 1966. NC State made its first

appearance in 1968, in the second season of head coach

Sammy Esposito Samuel Esposito (December 15, 1931 – July 9, 2018) was an American professional baseball third baseman and shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 10 seasons on the Chicago White Sox (1952, 1955–1963) and Kansas City Athletics ...

's tenure. In the World Series, the team lost in the semifinals to eventual champion

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. Since the NCAA Tournament's format was changed in 1999 to include the Super Regional round, NC State has appeared in five Super Regionals, losing to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, beating

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, and Arkansas in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

. The Wolfpack have hosted five NCAA Regionals, one at

Wilson, North Carolina Wilson is a city in and the county seat of Wilson County, North Carolina, United States. Located approximately east of the capital city of Raleigh, it is served by the interchange of Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 264. Wilson had an estimated p ...

Fleming Stadium Fleming Stadium is a sports stadium in Wilson, North Carolina. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home of the Wilson Tobs of the Coastal Plain League. It opened in 1939 and has a capacity of 3,000 people. The grounds are also home to t ...

(in 2003) and four at

(in 2008, 2012, 2013, 2016).

Conference affiliations

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

− 1903–1913, 1917–1921 *

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

− 1922–1953 *

− 1954–present

Venues

Riddick Stadium

Prior to 1966, the team played at Riddick Stadium, which was also home to the NC State football program.

Doak Field

The Wolfpack's home venue is

, which opened in 1966 and has a capacity of 3,000 spectators. The field is named for Charles Doak, who was the program's head coach from 1924–1939.

Head coaches

The program's most successful head coach was Sammy Esposito. Esposito coached teams to four ACC regular season championships, three ACC tournament championships, and one College World Series appearance in his 21-year tenure. Current head coach Elliot Avent is the program's leader in total career victories at NC State, with 951 as of April 25th, 2022. Avent became the program's winningest coach on May 9, 2010, in a 21–0 NC State win over

Towson Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorp ...

. The win was Avent's 514th, putting him past

on the program's career wins list. Coach Avent is also the program's longest tenured head coach, with 22 seasons in the position.

Vic Sorrell Victor Garland Sorrell (April 9, 1901 – May 4, 1972), nicknamed "Lawyer" and "The Philosopher," was a Major League pitcher who played his entire career with the Detroit Tigers. In 10 Major League seasons, Sorrell had a 92–101 record with a ...

and Sammy Esposito each served as head coach for 21 seasons. {, border="0" style="width:100%;" , - , valign="top" , {, cellpadding="1" border="1" cellspacing="0" style="width:57%;" , - ! style="background:#c00; width:15%;color:white;", Year(s) ! style="background:#c00; width:16%;color:white;", Coach ! style="background:#c00; width:6%;color:white;", Seasons ! style="background:#c00; width:15%;color:white;", W-L-T ! style="background:#c00; width:5%;color:white;", Pct , - style="text-align:center;" , 1903–1904 , C. D. Welch , 2 , 20–15–0 , .571 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1905–1906 , M. J. Kittredge , 2 , 16–12–0 , .571 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1907 , W. W. "Win" Clark , 1 , 14–8–0 , .636 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1908–1911 , Frank Thompson , 4 , 70–16–4 , .800 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1912 , Edward Green , 1 , 13–6–1 , .675 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1913 , Fred Anderson , 1 , 6–0–0 , 1.000 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1917–1918, 1921–1923 ,

Harry Hartsell Harry Hartsell (June 29, 1890 – February 14, 1955) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at North Carolina State University—renamed from ...

, 5 , 52–37–4 , .581 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1919 , Tal Stafford , 1 , 12–11–0 , .522 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1920 ,

Bill Fetzer William McKinnon Fetzer (June 24, 1884 – May 3, 1959) was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Davidson College (1915–1918), North Carolina State University (1919–1920), and the Univer ...

, 1 , 14–6–0 , .700 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1924–1939 , Charles Doak , 16 , 147–129–6 , .533 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1940–1944 , Williams Newton , 5 , 16–50–0 , .242 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1945 , Beattie Feathers , 1 , 7–6–0 , .538 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1946–1966 ,

, 21 , 223–196–5 , .532 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1967–1987 ,

, 21 , 513–253–4 , .669 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1988–1996 , Ray Tanner , 9 , 395–173–3 , .694 , - style="text-align:center;" , 1997–present ,

, 25 , 926–550 , , - style="text-align:center; background:#c00; color:white;" , Totals , 16 , 107 , 2,444–1,327–27 , .619

Yearly record

Wolfpack Baseball Yearly record

Individual awards

National awards

Brooks Wallace Award The Brooks Wallace Award is an award given by the College Baseball Foundation (CBF) to the best college baseball shortstop of the year. The award has been given annually since 2004. Until 2008 the award was presented to the nation's most outstandi ...

Trea Turner Trea Vance Turner (born June 30, 1993) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers. Turner pl ...

(2014) Ricahrd W. "Dick" Case Award *

Carlos Rodon Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewher ...

(2013)

Conference awards

ACC Baseball Player of the Year *Chris Cammack (1969) *

Mike Caldwell (baseball) Ralph Michael Caldwell (born January 22, 1949) is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher. Career Caldwell was drafted in the 12th round of the 1971 amateur draft by the San Diego Padres after graduating from North Caroli ...

(1971) *

Tracy Woodson Tracy Michael Woodson (born October 5, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player and college coach. He played all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1987 to 1989 and 1992 to 1993, primarily as a third base ...

(1984) *Turtle Zaun (1988) ACC Baseball Coach of the Year *

(1984) *

(1986) * Ray Tanner (1990) *

(2003) ACC Baseball Rookie of the Year *Tom Sergio (1994) *

(2012) * Patrick Bailey (baseball) (2018) * Tommy White (baseball) (2022) ACC Baseball Pitcher of the Year *

(2012) *Brian Brown (2018)

Notable players

Below is a list of notable players of the program and the seasons in which they played for the Wolfpack. *

Andy Barkett Andrew Jon Barkett (born September 5, 1974) is an American professional baseball coach, former Minor League Baseball manager, and former Major League Baseball (MLB) player who appeared in 17 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates as a first baseman ...

(1992–1995) * Brian Bark (1987–1990) * Aaron Bates (2005–2006) * Greg Briley (1986) * Jimmy Brown (1932) *

Dick Burrus Maurice Lennon "Dick" Burrus (born January 29, 1898, in Hatteras, North Carolina died February 2, 1972, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina) was a professional baseball player. Early years Burrus was born in North Carolina's Outer Banks, where his ...

(1919) * Mike Caldwell (1968–1971) * Doug Davis (1982–1984) *

Joe DeBerry Joseph Gaddy DeBerry (November 29, 1896 – October 9, 1944) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns in and . DeBerry played college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegia ...

(1917–1920) *

Joey Devine Joseph Neal Devine (born September 19, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves and Oakland Athletics. Baseball career Atlanta Braves Devine was the Braves' first ...

(2003–2005) *

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

(1915) *

Adam Everett Jeffery Adam Everett (born February 5, 1977), is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman. He played college baseball for both the NC State Wolfpack and South Carolina Gamecocks. He was drafted in the first round of ...

(1996) * Stu Flythe (1934–1936) * Jeff Hartsock (1986–1988) *

Dutch Holland Robert Clyde "Dutch" Holland (October 12, 1903 – June 16, 1967) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball. He played for the Boston Braves from 1932 to 1933 and the Cleveland Indians in 1934. Holland attended North Carolina State Coll ...

(1923–1925) * Andrew Knizner (2014-2016) *

Johnny Lanning John Young Lanning (September 6, 1910 – November 8, 1989) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1936 to 1947 for the Boston Bees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Boston Braves. Lanning's main pit ...

(1931–1932) * Corey Lee (1994–1996) * Matt Mangini (2005–2006) *

Jim McNamara James Patrick McNamara (born June 10, 1965) is a former professional baseball player. He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the San Francisco Giants in 1992-93. Career Prior to being drafted by the Giants in t ...

(1984–86) * Louie Meadows (1980–82) * George Murray (1918–21) *

Chad Orvella Chad Robert Orvella (born October 1, 1980) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher who played for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2005 to 2007. He played collegiate baseball for Columbia Basin College and North Carolina State U ...

(2002–2003) *

Chink Outen William Austin "Chink" Outen (June 17, 1905 – September 11, 1961) was an American professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1933, appearing in 93 games. Listed at and , he threw right-handed ...

(1927–1928) * Jeff Pierce (1990–1991) *

Dan Plesac Daniel Thomas Plesac (born February 4, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher with an 18-year career from 1986 to 2003. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, and ...

(1981–1983) * Buck Redfern (1921–1924) * Dave Robertson (1910–1912) *

(2012–2014) * Tommy Smith (1972–1974) *

Tim Stoddard Timothy Paul Stoddard (born January 24, 1953) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is one of only two men to have played in both a World Series and a Final Four of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, along with fellow Eas ...

(1972–1975) *

Doug Strange Joseph Douglas Strange (born April 13, 1964) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder who played for several teams from 1989 to 1998. Amateur career A native of Greenville, South Carolina, Strange is an alumnus of North Carolina St ...

(1983–1985) *

Eric Surkamp Eric Michael Surkamp (born July 16, 1987) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Oakland Athletics from 2011 to 2016. He also pitched for the ...

(2006) * Jim Toman (1981–1984) *

(2012–2014) *

Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played his first 10 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson is widely regarded ...

(2008–2010) * Will Wilson (2016–2019) *

(1982–1984)

Current MLB Roster

Former Wolfpack players on current MLB rosters as of May 28, 2022. {, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;" , - !style="background: #e3e3e3;", Player !style="background: #e3e3e3;", Position !style="background: #e3e3e3;", Number !style="background: #e3e3e3;", Team , - , Andrew Knizner , C , 7 ,

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, - ,

, P , 16 ,

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

, - ,

, SS , 6 ,

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Major League Baseball Draft

2012

In the

2012 Major League Baseball Draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto R ...

, two NC State players were selected. Junior

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

Chris Diaz was selected in the 11th round by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, and senior

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Ryan Mathews was selected in the 27th round by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. Both players signed contracts with their respective organizations.

2014

In the

2014 Major League Baseball Draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

, two NC State players were selected in the first round. Junior

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

was selected 3rd overall in the 1st round by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

, and shortstop

was selected 13th overall by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

References

External links

* {{Atlantic Coast Conference baseball navbox