Who’s the Pack playing?
Opponent: Lafayette
Mascot: Freedom | School Location: Eaton, PA | Conference: Patriot
2026 Record: 0-7 (0-0, T-1st) | 2026 RPI Rank: 287
2025 Record: 14-35 (9-16, 6th) | 2025 RPI Rank: 253
2024 Record: 14-35 (8-16, 6th) | 2024 RPI Rank: 244
When? Where? How do I watch?
Location: Doak Field at Dail Park (Raleigh, NC)
Game Time(s): Fri, Mar 6 @ 3:00pm | Sat, Mar 7 @ 2:00pm | Sun, Mar 8 @ 1:00pm
TV: Friday (ACCNX) | Saturday (ACCNX) | Sunday (ACCNX)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast (Friday | Saturday | Sunday)
Tell me about this team
I’ll get to that in a bit, but
since this Lafayette team is pretty horrible, let’s talk about the college’s namesake: Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette. Or, as he’s more commonly known in the US: Lafayette.
This dude should be listed among the Founding Fathers as he was instrumental to the United States gaining independence. Basically, he’s the patron saint of “don’t talk about it, be about it”.
Lafayette was a rich French dude sitting around at dinner parties in his home country listening to his friends talk about the people in America fighting the British for their independence and the British whining about it and thought, “bon sang ouais frère!” He disobeyed direct orders from the French king and absconded to America, including buying the ship to sail him there, and fighting for the US in the Revolutionary War without pay. He got wounded, went back to France to raise money and troops, and then traveled back to America to finish the job, including a leading role in the Battle of Yorktown.
There’s a ton more to this guy’s life and you should check on it, but he deserves mention here.
Okay, so Lafayette College’s 2026 baseball team. They are straight up not having a good time, bro!
Sitting at 0-7 overall and having given up 10+ runs in each game, things aren’t going great. It didn’t help that their season opening series against Coppin State (0-8) was canceled, and starting your season with a four-game set at Miami isn’t a favorable start. Their other series was at William & Mary, and the Tribe is a pretty punchy group this year.
Lafayette’s lineup is hitting just .227/.341/.387, 12 2B, 8 HR, 9.4 BB%, 37.4 K%, 5-7 SB on the year. They have worked 14 HBP in their seven games, which has helped boost the collective OBP, but not really having an abundance of speed on the bases doesn’t help things. The biggest issue facing this team is the strikeouts, which is also understandable considering the arms they’ve gone up against, but they’ve still notched 12+ strikeouts in each game this year.
This is still a lineup that should have some punch in Patriot League play with six guys producing pretty well, and the strikeouts should come down against less daunting pitching.
As you’d expect from the details already mentioned, the pitching staff has a woeful 14.54 ERA over 52.0 innings, with a 15.8 BB% and 13.9 K%. Never a good thing to have your pitching staff issuing more walks than strikeouts. The starting pitching hasn’t been particularly strong, but as you’d expect, it’s been the bullpen that’s the real issue, and that’s not going to solve itself any time soon.
Pitching Matchups
Friday: LHP Ryan Marohn (JR) vs RHP Tristan Helmick (JR)
Saturday: RHP Jacob Dudan (JR) vs TBD
Sunday: LHP Cooper Consiglio (JR) vs TBD
Key Players:
Offense
2B Alex Barrist (SO) – .333/.438/.444, 3 2B, 0 HR, 15.6 BB%, 21.9 K%, 2-3 SB. Undersized 5’8, 155 lbs leadoff hitter who earned 2nd Team All-Patriot honors as a freshman in 2025 when he hit .298/.365/.433, 7 2B, 2 HR, 7.4 BB%, 15.2 K%, 4-4 SB. Already has four multi-hit games this year from the leadoff spot.
SS Matt Colella (JR) – .333/.467/.542, 2 2B, 1 HR, 13.3 BB%, 13.3 K%, 3-3 SB. Three-year starter with 103 career starts to his credit. Has hits in six of seven games this year, including the last four, with multi hits in the last two.
3B Boden Fernsler (SO) – .263/.417/.842, 2 2B, 3 HR, 16.7 BB%, 45.8 K%, 0-0 SB. First-year starter after appearing in just eight games last season. Leads the team in HR.
C Brandon Doubek (rSO) – .429/.429/.857, 0 2B, 2 HR, 0.0 BB%, 57.1 K%, 0-0 SB. Didn’t play at all in 2025 after appearing in 9 games with 4 starts as a freshman in 2024. Not sure if that was due to injury or a coach’s decision, but given his level of production, you’d have to assume it was an injury.
Pitching
RHP Tristan Helmick (JR) – 0-1, 7.20 ERA, 10.0 IP, 9.5 BB%, 14.3 K%. The staff ace is a 6’6, 190 lbs righty with 22 career starts under his belt. He has a pair of low-90’s fastballs (4-seam, sinker), a pair of hard breaking balls (cutter, slider), and a changeup. Got touched up by Miami, as expected, but settled in last week for a solid start (6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K).
RHP Kellen Moore (SO) – 0-1, 6.35 ERA, 5.2 IP, 9.7 BB%, 19.4 K%. The 6’5 righty had control issues as a freshman and will need to pull those in. Oddly enough, did okay versus Miami (3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) but struggled against Bill & Mary (2.0 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K).
RHP Gregory Quintana (FR) – 0-0, 7.94 ERA, 5.2 IP, 3.3 BB%, 20.0 K%. Freshman from Virginia who will likely play a decent role on this team given the lack of pitching options.
RHP Ben Waterman (JR) – 0-1, 12.27 ERA, 3.2 IP, 16.7 BB%, 25.0 K%. Former transfer from D3 Hamilton College who will likely be the de facto closer for the Leopards. Relies heavily on off-speed stuff.
Quick! Fun Facts!
This year marks the 200th anniversary of Lafayette College’s founding.
While this non-conference schedule has been pretty inexcusable for NC State, they could at least dive into with a true “American Independence” slate: Lafayette, George Washington, George Mason, James Madison. Then they can go after the British: Dartmouth, William & Mary, Delaware, Georgetown, Yale, Monmouth. Maybe the following year they could go with the “All Saints” slate: Gonzaga, Seton Hall, Villanova, San Francisco, Siena, Santa Clara, Saint Mary’s, Loyola-Marymount, Villanova, Mount Saint Mary’s, Saint Thomas, La Salle, Saint John’s, Bellarmine, Canisius, Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis, Saint Peter’s. Okay, maybe that’s a multi-year thing.
Just two Lafayette players have been drafted in this century: Ian Dickson (2011, Cubs) and David Bednar (2016, Padres). Both were 35th round picks, with Bednar in the midst of a nice 7-year career (Padres, Pirates, Yankees).
The Key To A Series Win For State
Don’t chase pitches out of the zone. That’s it. As long as the Wolfpack don’t swing at anything out of the zone, they’ll find a lot of success at the dish this weekend.
Prediction
A repeat of last weekend’s run-rule shortened series.
Outcome: State sweeps
