Who NC State coach Elliott Avent says will start against Vanderbilt in Friday’s CWS

On Monday, Apex’s Sam Highfill put N.C. State in position to clinch a spot in the College World Series championship round.

Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent plans for another Wake County pitcher to complete the job.

Matt Willadsen, a second-year freshman right-hander from Holly Springs, is rested and ready to start N.C. State’s game against Vanderbilt on Friday at 2 p.m. If the Willadsen can help the Wolfpack win that game, they move on to the CWS finals.

“I’m quite certain we’re going to go with Matt Willadsen,” Avent told The News & Observer Thursday morning. “We haven’t changed anything in about three months so we’re not going to change now.”

Willadsen is 5-3 with a 4.73 earned run average this season, having started 13 games. That’s second, only to Highfill’s 16, in the number of games started by a Wolfpack pitcher.

Also a second-year freshman, Highfill pitched 7 ⅓ shutout innings on Monday night before Evan Justice finished off a 1-0 win over Vanderbilt. That win sent the Commodores, the reigning College World Series champions from 2019, into an elimination game on Wednesday night against Stanford.

Trailing by a run and down to their last strike with no runners on base in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Commodores rallied for two runs to beat the Cardinal, 6-5.

That means Vanderbilt (47-16) now has to beat N.C. State twice to return to the championship series. N.C. State (37-18) can advance either with a win on Friday or, if the Pack loses, in a 2 p.m. game on Saturday.

Pitcher Kumar Rocker or Jack Leiter for Vanderbilt?

Vanderbilt survived the elimination game against Stanford without using either of its two star pitchers, Kumar Rocker or Jack Leiter.

Though Commodores head coach Tim Corbin did not reveal his pitching plans following Wednesday night’s game, Rocker is expected to start against the Wolfpack on Friday.

A 6-5, 245-pound right-hander, Rocker is 13-3 with a 2.58 earned run average this season. He last pitched Saturday against Arizona, He struggled in that game, allowing three first-inning runs and five total over 5 ⅔ innings. Two of the runs scored against him were unearned in a game Vanderbilt rallied to beat the Wildcats, 7-6, in 12 innings.

“Whoever you face now is gonna be good,” Avent told the N&O. “I don’t think you wake up in the morning saying, “Oh boy we’re going to face Kumar Rocker.’ I don’t think anybody says that. If they do, they are fooling themselves.”

That said, the Wolfpack has won in the postseason against a series of top pitchers, beating SEC pitcher of the year Kevin Kopps to eliminate No. 1-seeded Arkansas, Pac-12 pitcher of the year Brendan Beck of Stanford in the College World Series opener and national strikeout leader Jack Leiter of Vanderbilt last Monday.

“It’s just kind of what we’ve done,” Avent said.

Highfill outdueled Leiter, who struck out 15 but allowed Terrell Tatum’s solo home run, on Monday.

Now it’s Willadsen’s turn to do the same against Rocker.

Matt Willadsen’s scouting report, stats

Willadsen, who’s 6-3, 179-pounds, started the ACC championship game on May 30, allowing one run and four hits over 4 ⅔ innings as Duke beat the Wolfpack, 1-0, at Charlotte.

In the NCAA tournament, Willadsen picked up the win in the deciding game of the Ruston (La.) Regional when the Wolfpack beat host Louisiana Tech, 14-7, on June 6. Willadsen pitched six innings, allowing five runs and striking out five.

One week later, Willadsen started the third and deciding game of the Super Regional series at Arkansas. He allowed just one run, which was unearned, and two hits over four innings in the game the Wolfpack won 3-2 to advance to the College World Series.

As for how Willadsen’s approach matches up with Vanderbilt’s lineup, Avent said at this point of the season that doesn’t really matter.

“You hope his game matches up with Vanderbilt’s lineup because you don’t want to change what you do now,” Avent told the N&O Thursday. “It’s not like, well, Vanderbilt, maybe we can do this or do that.

You do what the pitchers do and you hope it works out. But, whoever you play, Stanford had a great offense. Vanderbilt has a great offense. They can score in many different ways.”

If there’s a deciding game Saturday ...

If N.C. State loses Friday and has a deciding game on Saturday, the Wolfpack could come back with Reid Johnston, who started and beat Stanford in the College World Series opener.

Leiter (10-4, 2.08 ERA) threw 123 pitches against the Wolfpack on Monday night, casting some doubt over whether Corbin will bring him back on four days’ rest to face N.C. State again. The Commodores could go with Patrick Reilly (4-2, 4.89 ERA), who has started seven games this season.

But if Avent, Willadsen and the Wolfpack have their way, there won’t be a Saturday game to worry about.

College World Series: Wolfpack vs. Commodores

When: 2 p.m., Friday

Where: Omaha, Nebraska

Watch: ESPN2