Preview: Stanford softball welcomes NC State to The Farm
This weekend, No. 22 Stanford softball will welcome NC State to Stanford Stadium. Stanford comes in at 27-12 overall and 12-6 in the ACC while NC State comes in at 25-17 overall and 6-8 in the ACC.
Last time out: Following a 3-0 sweep of No. 5 Florida State, Stanford defeated Fresno State 11-1 in five innings on the road on Wednesday. The Cardinal have now won five games in a row.
On NC State: The Wolfpack have had a strong season overall but have been a bit up and down in ACC play. That said, they’ve won four straight games sweeping Cal on the road and picking up a win over East Carolina beforehand. They’re starting to pick up a bit of steam.
The top contact hitter for the Wolfpack is senior outfielder Maia Townsend, who is batting .376 for 12 RBIs to go along with a .421 slugging percentage and a .450 on base percentage. The top power hitter for the Wolfpack is freshman utility Morgen Talley, who is batting .331 for 11 home runs and 37 RBIs to go along with a .638 slugging percentage and a .372 on base percentage.
The top pitcher for the Wolfpack is Morgen Talley, which is impressive given her bat. She has a 3.34 ERA with 12-6 record in 96.1 innings pitched. She has tallied a team-high 92 strikeouts, three shutouts, and one save on the season. The other pitcher with an ERA under 4.00 is junior righty Wynee Gore, who has a 7-3 record and a 3.55 ERA in 77.0 innings pitched. Talley and Gore form a nice duo in the pitcher’s circle.
Keys to the series: The first thing Stanford needs to keep up is the timely hitting. They’ve done a great job of getting hits when they need to. Especially when runners are in scoring position. If they keep that clutch hitting up, they should be in a good spot.
The second thing Stanford needs to do contain Talley. She’s got the most powerful bat in the Wolfpack lineup. If they are able to prevent her from going yard, that’ll take a big weapon away from the Wolfpack.
Finally, Stanford needs to play the cleaner series. As long as they have fewer errors and just play good, sound, clean softball, I like their odds of winning this series. Stanford on paper is the better team. They just need to make sure they don’t give anything free to NC State.
Prediction: It’s hard to pick a team to get a sweep even after the way Stanford swept Florida State last week. And hey, NC State is coming in with some momentum after their sweep of Cal. I’ll say Stanford takes two out of three games. I think both wins will be decisive with NC State narrowly picking up a win to avoid the sweep. That’s how I see this weekend shaking out.
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