NC State baseball ranked in Perfect Game’s preseason top 25

Well, now that basketball season is canceled, we are moving directly on to baseball. Ha ha, I’m just kiddin’ ya. There’s still basketball season and everything’s fine. But here is some needed positive news today from elsewhere: NC State baseball is ranked No. 21 in Perfect Game’s preseason top 25.

UNC, Florida State, and Clemson are also in that poll. Good for them.

The Wolfpack played a significant stretch of last season looking like a top-10 team and College World Series contender but clearly was not playing at its best toward the end of the year and flamed out in the regional round of the NCAAs.

State will have to replace several important contributors off of that team, but it returns elite talent in Will Wilson and Patrick Bailey, who will be among the best at their respective positions in the ACC, if not the country. With those two guys and first baseman Evan Edwards hitting in the middle of the lineup, the Pack’s offense should be fine. The upside here is pretty good overall, I’d say.

Additionally, Alim McNeill is planning on playing baseball this spring, and he will hit probably 40 home runs from the DH spot, which will certainly help a lot.