The Spartans are 6-1, and are riding a four-game winning streak after sweeping the Binghamton Bearcats over the weekend.  NC State enters with a 5-2 record.  The Wolfpack fell on opening night at Ticketreturn.com Park in Myrtle Beach, S.C. to the Old Dominion Monarchs.  NC State recovered and won three-straight before falling to Wright State last Friday. 

UNCG is fresh off of a three-game sweep of the Binghamton Bearcats.  The Spartans took the first game of the matchup 10-9, overcoming a six-run deficit.  Binghamton played UNCG tough in the second game of the series, with the Spartans escaping with a 5-2 victory behind Andrew Wantz's (Holly Springs, N.C./Holly Springs) seven strikeout performance in three innings of relief work.  The Spartans swept the series in deciding fashion on Sunday, scoring 19 runs on 23 hits to earn the first sweep since April 25-27, 2014 when UNCG took three games from Elon.  The 23 hits in a game are the most since March 14th, 2004 when UNCG connected for 24 hits, in an 11-8 victory over Davidson. 

UNCG is led at the plate by Collin Woody (Tampa, Fla./College of Central Florida).  Woody has hit for a .414 average through seven games.  The senior third baseman has connected for four doubles, and one home run and has scored 11 runs.  Dillon Stewart (Dunn, N.C./Brunswick CC) and Michael Goss (Cartersville, Ga./Chattanooga St. CC) have been the run producers, with each racking up 10 RBI.  Stewart also leads the team with three home runs on the season while earning a .840 slugging percentage.  Ben Spitznagel (Cincinnati, Ohio/Wabash Valley CC) continues to set the table.  Spitznagel has earned a .429 average with two doubles and four RBI. 

Jake Lewis (Wendell, N.C./Corinth Holders) will get the ball tomorrow evening.  The freshman southpaw will be making his fourth appearance, and it will be his first start.  In his previous 4.2 innings of work, he has allowed just two hits and has struck out eight hitters.  Wantz has made the most appearances out of the bullpen, logging four through seven games.  Wantz has struck out a team-high 18 hitters though the first two weeks for a 16.20 strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio.  The 16.20 K's per nine innings is currently tied for the third-highest ratio in the NCAA. 

NC State enters the matchup currently ranked No. 16 in the NCBWA poll, and No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.  The Wolfpack has earned a No. 8 ranking with d1baseball.com.  NC State enters the contest with UNCG with a 5-2 overall record.  NC State fell in the season opener to Old Dominion at Ticketreturn.com Park in Conway, S.C.  The Wolfpack then rattled off three-straight wins before falling in the first game with Wright State over the weekend.  NC State recovered to take the final two games and the series over the Raiders. 

NC State's offense is led by first baseman Preston Palmeiro.  The junior has hit for a .387 average through seven games and is tied for the team-lead with eight RBI.  Palmeiro has scored a team-high eight runs as well as connecting for two doubles and two home runs.  Andrew Knizer and Chance Shepard are two other performers for the Wolfpack.  Knizer has hit for a .357 average in seven starts.  He has also connected for two home runs, while driving in five and scoring an additional seven runs.  Shepard leads the Wolfpack with three home runs on the season. Shepard has a .267 average and is tied with Palmeiro for the team-lead in RBI.  Shepard has scored six runs to go with his five extra-base hits. 

 Wolfpack pitching has earned a 5.14 earned run average through seven games.  Cory Wilder will be making his first start of the 2016 season on Tuesday.  Wilder started 14 games in 2015, and led the Wolfpack with 79 punch outs a season ago.  Wilder worked in 64.1 innings and earned a 3.50 ERA to go with a 2-5 record.  This season, Wilder has a 6.00 ERA after making two relief appearances.  Wilder threw 2.0 innings in the season opener with Old Dominion, and then logged 4.0 innings in the midweek win over Morehead State a week ago.  Will Gilbert has logged the most innings out of the bullpen for the Wolfpack, with 8.0 innings in three appearances.  Gilbert has earned two of the five NC State victories, while compiling a 4.50 ERA.  Evan Brabrand and Tommy DeJuneas have picked up a save a piece so far this year.  Brabrand has appeared in three games, tossing 5.0 innings, and has struck out four hitters.  DeJuneas has 3.0 innings of work under his belt, and has also struck out four hitters. 

The Spartans and Wolfpack take the field tomorrow night at 4:00 p.m. at Doak Field at Dail Park in Raleigh.

-UNCG-