Keep On Rolling On

This episode goes into how the NCAA Mens Soccer Tournament went, the ket matchups for the upcoming Womens basketball game vs Louisville, and what to look out for headed into the 2026 Baseball and Softball seasons!

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Creators and Guests

Host

Logan Brumley

What is In The Den?

"In The Den" with host Logan Brumley covers everything from the NC State Wolfpack's NCAA, intramural and club sports. "In The Den" is a podcast from WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 at NC State University.

00:00
Logan Brumley
Hello and welcome back to the NC State Campus Wolfpack Nation. And welcome back to WKNC Sports Podcast In the Den. Today we're going to be reviewing the NCAA Men's soccer tournament where players are and what could be next for the program. We'll be talking about the perennial match up for this first week back on campus, Women's basketball versus Louisville. And we'll finish off by previewing the baseball and softball seasons. So get your headphones on, and let's get straight to it. So while there were a lot of big upsets that happened in this tournament, one of the big things to talk about is how NC State as the 15th seed managed to become the highest ranked team in the final four for this tournament. I believe that everything really went well for them. Donovan Phillips really popped off.

01:05
Logan Brumley
He got goal in pretty much every game early on with Marshall, UNC Greensboro. He did not get going at Georgetown, but he did get one in the semifinal against St. Louis. But not and the national championship. He scored in four of the five games. He was on a roll. And of course tag Healy, he also did pretty well. He kind of, he was very quiet this regular season but he managed to pop off. He got himself through three goals. Of course some strong defensive core that also helped out. Maloney got himself one. Drew Lovelace got himself one. And just there were a lot of assists that were provided by the strong defensive core. And I think that Logan Erb did not really have to work too hard until late in the tournament.

02:11
Logan Brumley
It was like three saves against Marshall that like three saves against UNC Greensboro. He did however have to show up against number seven Georgetown where he got a crucial weight save. So he was not entire goal. He's never entirely useless, but in the context of, you know you have a really strong offense and a very strong defensive front and you're starting 11 that when he has this work cut out and it provides a little bit of challenge and a little bit of resistance, he has been able to produce. Can't say the same about the national championship. They fell down early 2 0. There was an empty kind of goal post after Herb tried to tackle ball. He missed it, the player got it and just wide open kick into the goal.

03:11
Logan Brumley
And then within like five minutes of the game left, Phillips managed to get himself a goal. But then Healy had to go and get himself one as well to tie the game. Within the last few minutes head into overtime, however, it looked like they left a player sort of open. It seemed like kind of a bad play on their part and they were able to kind of pass it back and forth, get the goal in and Washington is now the national championship with the runner up going to NC State. Love the offensive production, but I do think the crucial mistakes and lack of stability with the lead, I think that sure they were able to come back against Washington, but they had very strong starts and then kind of went quiet for a while even allowing teams an opportunity to come back.

04:13
Logan Brumley
St. Louis, they led. That's actually one example where that wasn't the case about around the 70 minute mark. This is when they start getting goals. But then St. Louis, they didn't have enough time to necessarily come back, but one was brewing. I would say the same for Georgetown. It took a late penalty goal for Santamaria to prevent the comeback. So I just think that it was just a matter of the fact that they were dominating so much. It was a suffering from success situation. Whereas when they started facing off against regular good teams and teams that are worthy of getting to the NCAA tournament, they got a little too comfortable at times. Didn't really play too aggressively in my opinion. And with Washington it's kind of costed them. We can confirm about six players who left.

05:25
Logan Brumley
The NCAA transfer portal has been kind of wishy washy. I can't really find any good reliable information. Seems like NC State's kind of taking a step back. It's going to be promoting from within. We'll see how the spring portal goes. But Nikola Markovick, first overall draft pick to the D.C. united. I think that's NC State's first ever first overall pick for the Major League Soccer, which hey, you gotta love to hear it. I think if you told me Emmy, that's a first overall pick for NC State, that would be impressive. You know what, I'm going to check that. All right, correction. So Roman Gabriel, quarterback, and Mario Williams, defensive end, were both first overall selections in the NFL draft. Nikola Markovich, kind of includes himself in that company though. Hey, that's not bad. Justin McLean, 15th overall to the Portland timbers.

06:33
Logan Brumley
Calem Tommy, 39th overall switch in the Houston Dynamo. He might be a minor leaguer guy for right now. Same thing with Isaac Heffess who was 79th to Columbus. Logan Erb, he went undrafted but he was retained as part of a local player thing with the Houston Dynamo. And Jonathan Phillip, who had his rights retained by the Colorado Rapids, looks like he's going to be going there. And the only graduate that I know of is Carlos Santamaria. I don't know if Taig Healy graduated or transferred yet. Not like he had too strong of a season. I do expect him to be back. However, I don't know the NCAA eligibility so he's listed as a fourth year senior. He may have to grad transfer or he might be able to get that extra year of eligibility again. I don't know how it applies to soccer.

07:35
Logan Brumley
I know with football they're very lenient, but I'm hoping that they can get another strong transfer portal round. I think that there is a lot of questions at pretty much every position, especially with them being inactive in the transfer portal. But I'll have to kind of fall and see how this off season looks. There are some decent young guys who are expected to return like Moloney. He had a pretty strong showing in the tournament. I think Drew Lovelace is going to be back as well. Those are the only two I can think off the top of my head. Those are both pretty strong supporting pieces. Who knows, maybe they can develop into stars, but we will have to see. So with that I am going to be going over to the upcoming weekend matchup.

08:39
Logan Brumley
Ooh yes, I am kind of skipping the Thursday matchups for both Louisville and NC State. However, those are away games and we're kind of focusing on the perennial home matchup. So just know as of this recording, Louisville has not played Notre Dame, NC State has not played Wake Forest and any injuries or any like big roster news that happens in those games are not reflected in this report. Both teams are currently sitting in the top four for conference rankings and are looking to establish themselves as perennial ACC women's basketball teams.

09:19
Logan Brumley
NC State sitting outside the rankings but are crawling their way up to fourth in the conference stand ins while the top dog number 10 Louisville is hoping to extend their dominance in the ACC with I mean even a win like conference kind of win total by about 19 points as like a positive differential. Right now they are sitting at 6-0 in a conference and they've been dominating their opponents with a total score differential of 24.7. They are one of the most efficient shooting teams shooting about 46% 35 from 3. They went at the rebound game with a differential of 10. Our third most efficient turnovers with margin of negative 5.2 per game. NC State will be coming off their road matchup against Wake Forest.

10:24
Logan Brumley
I will be going into more in depth in a future episode about kind of why they have been struggling, what has caused them to lose games and what they can do about it. But just know they were pretty sloppy in the kind of out of conference games despite kind of winning very strongly with that Tennessee game early on. But we will see they have fallen out of the rankings but are also kind of sitting outside of it. Who knows, a win here could bring them back into the conversation. Some notable kind of matchups. I would keep an eye out for this game and it's kind of just like these are the players to watch. These are players I don't think either team can really stop and if they can't stop them, that will result in a win, of course.

11:20
Logan Brumley
Khamil Pierre, double machine interior scoring threat. Louisville does not really have that person who can stop her second chance scoring ball distribution and dominance in the general paint. I think like once she gets in there, I mean I feel like two points can be expected unless if you have a very strong center, I'd look at Elif Istanbulguola. If she can have herself a great defensive performance, then maybe you can argue that they'd have to rely on the shooting. And even though NC State's greatest shooting, and I'll get into that later that it could be a issue for Louisville if Pierre can get hot, which she has shown to be able to do. On the Louisville side, a kind of key player to look at is of course their star Teyana Roberts. She's the key score ball distributor for Louisville. She keeps offense turned in.

12:25
Logan Brumley
She leads the team with three assists a game, 38% shooting. I think from the three or. Yeah, from the three. Zoe Brooks and Zamareya Jones I think will have the work cut out for her trying to limit what Tiana can do for this team because you know she's the core of this team and I think it's going to be a matter of how hot can she get early on because I think if Louisville can jump to a big lead, it's over for NC State. And I think that Tiana is that player who can get that big jump and that big lead but if it does kind of get down neck and neck, I would like to see Ky'She and Maddie Cox come in and I'd like to see what they can do in those lateral minutes.

13:16
Logan Brumley
They are both also really solid three point shooters that if it came down to a weight game and your stars are getting tired that you can rotate them in and they can continue to turn the offense which I think is a strength that NC State has now, I'm not really sure if Louisville has.

13:41
Logan Brumley
However, I think if they do manage to find some dominance in the interior then they could bring in Lorena Awou to kind of supplement the blocks and be able to get some rebounds as well in the case that they do manage to shut down Pierre and they start to kind of rely on shooting from the arch because they're not really a great scorer and I know their field goal is kind of high at 46% but I think a lot of that does come from their three point shooting over their ability to score in the interior which if you bring in a strong. If Lorena does manage to have a strong defensive performance off the bench would force them to rely on the shooting. Whichever team kind of has the biggest breakthrough is going to win.

14:37
Logan Brumley
I think it's going to be kind of obvious to say that oh whichever team leads more theoretically becomes the winner. Yes, that is what I'm saying essentially. But I think it's just you know, down the stretch I think this is going to be a very competitive back and forth game and it's just can NC State kind of keep their momentum going down the stretch? If they can keep Louisville at its limits for the majority of the game then I think that they can have a very strong win. However, I do think that's going to be a major uphill battle with Tijanna Roberts. We'll see. It's going to be at home. It's going to be think way afternoon evening game and I think that NC State could bring in a major upset that puts them back in the rankings and continues that momentum.

15:35
Logan Brumley
They can build themselves into a top four three seed. So make sure to check out that game at Reynolds Coliseum. So with that we are going to finish up by reviewing the men's baseball and women's softball teams as they expect to start next month. Well, I mean obviously out of kind of respect we'll do ladies first. Softball. They finished unranked. They finished with a losing record at 25-29 including 6 and 18 in their conference. However, we do see some kind of key young players return and a now experienced head coach which means that there is a chance that they can jump higher into the ACC standards and maybe even find a way into the tournament next year. It's not impossible but it's going to rely on two big players. Simmers and Church. They are the two key components to this NC State offense.

16:41
Logan Brumley
They're both high home run, rbr, sorry RBI and just overall hidden percentages. They are top of their overall rosters and a good amount of players going through the transfer portal graduation. They need to bring in a strong class and I think that they have done so just kind of looking at their starting nine just positionally their catcher is a big question. Ellington, Whitaker, she seems like the next woman up. She only got two hits and five at bats this season including a home run. However, I do expect the freshman Carmen Montes de Oca to be able to come in and get some reps and maybe even take over at starter. So definitely keep an eye out for her. Some notable returners and the infield as well. You have Kendall Simmers at a shortstop.

17:54
Logan Brumley
You have Taryn Massey who hit about.227 with two home runs and seven RBI as the backup their basement. She's expected to kind of come in and take over in that role. Tegan Thrunk. .215 batting average with about two home runs and 10 RBIs. She's not great but she's a senior so I do expect her to get some reps. I think it is about her time. She did start a lot last season. I think that will continue. The big newcomer in the infield that I also would like to talk about who I think will most definitely get starting reps is Lily Livingston. She's a freshman. She's four time all state corner infielder in Tennessee. I think with Taryn Massey a more veteran third baseman starting there, I think that Livingston could be the perennial first baseman for this team for the foreseeable future.

18:51
Logan Brumley
Another big issue I think I have is the outfield. Bailey Edwards had 18 at bats but she seems like she's going to be going out in left field. She's the senior, she has the experience. I would not be surprised if she gets that nod. The overall kind of outfield backup with Gabi Wilson I think could also get some reps there but we will see how Bailey Edwards does this season. The two big transfers hidden wise I would like to mention who could start in center and right field respectively. So center fielder Sarah Johnson. She is a JUCO transfer from Gaston College. She has a.500 batting average, 103 hits in 104 runs with the two years at JUCO and she played baseball at high school.

19:59
Logan Brumley
She is a really talented prospect that somehow NC State was able to grab and I do expect her to be hitting the kind of cleanup position for NC State and if she does play strong enough she could take over as the hidden star for the team. The other notable transfer I'd like to mention who could get starting reps. Maia Townsend, senior transfer from LSU. She was their backup right fielder, produced five runs in 19 games for LSU. I think that she definitely came down so she could get that starting experience at NC State and I think that they should give it to her because in that 19 games some good amount of potential there. I think she could definitely be a maybe a bottom of the hitting order but she could definitely be a run producer for this team.

20:52
Logan Brumley
Hannah Church of course at DH Benton I think over 0.333 with 19 home runs of 53 RBI. She's the start of the team. She's going to return and she's going to be the anchor for this NC State defense. The pitcher question is still a big thing. They got some two transfers coming in but they do keep the only remaining pitcher on the roster with a winning record. Retro junior Wynne Gore who went 7 for 6 with a 3.9 ERA. Katie Becker is a transfer from South Carolina. She went 2-0 with a 6.68 ERA last season and Kendall Week a junior transfer from JUCO as well. She went to Madison College where she was second all time in wins and broke Madison College's records for total K's of 267 and season K's with 150 going 12 or 8 with a 3.28 ERA.

22:08
Logan Brumley
So Wynne Gore has experience I do expect her to be the ace early on but don't be surprised if Becker or Weik can come in and take over as the starting pitcher for this softball team. I think the pitching is going to be a big question mark and I think that's something that we are going to have to kind of clear out early on in the season before we head into ACC competition. However, the out of conference opponents is a little tough NC State had been invited to the Shriners Clearwater Invitational and we'll play Georgia, Missouri, Texas A and M and National I think runner up Texas Tech. So that's a juggernaut of a schedule. I think they can win one or two of those games.

23:01
Logan Brumley
They just need to show a strong showing that can help you believe in this team heading into their conference opponents. Some other notable outside of conference opponents to watch out for the Marucci Classic with Michigan State, Stetson and Mercer and the Wolfpack Classic with Toledo, Lehigh and Loyola Chicago. So I do like that there is a lot of kind of weaker opponents to help NC State figure itself out heading into conference competition. I do think that they are a team to watch when it comes to making a big leap.

23:42
Logan Brumley
I don't think they're necessarily going to win the conference per se, but I think that they can kind of get themselves into a maybe like an 8th 9th and try to have a strong ACC tournament showing and sneak in as a lower seed into the NCAA tournament Which I think that they can do that. That would be a really strong season. I think that's what I put myself down as what they're going to do. Let's just see how the pitching goes and if the income in transfers, the incoming freshmen and everyone who has been given the opportunity to step up actually does so. So let's finish off with the baseball preview. The baseball program disappointed. I thought they were going to get a deeper run but getting knocked out in the Auburn Regional was not what were hoping for with this team.

24:42
Logan Brumley
I think the offensive and pitching retooling is going to be a necessity for this team. It might just even be a straight up pitcher rebuild and then getting some stronger guys for the hint and crew. The only kind of drafted players that returned NC State didn't really lose anyone major in the transfer portal hitting wise. But a couple of players went to the draft and the biggest returner is Braden Fassman. 279, 11 home runs and 47 RBIs which is most on the team. He went undrafted in MLB. He's going to be returning to try to figure out how to get into the league because I think he's a guy who could, especially if he has a strong showing this season. All right, some notable incoming transfers for the offensive retooling. I do like Andrew Wiggins.

25:40
Logan Brumley
He's a right fielder who could be a dh, especially since he walks more than he strikes out. By I mean a little less than a percent, like 8% increase in walks compared to strikeouts, but that's still better than nothing. I think most players kind of strike out more than a walk. Not Andrew Wiggins. He had 0.256, four home runs, 14 RBIs. He's a really athletic guy who could potentially be a perennial base stealer and I think could be a top of the order guy. I just have faith in him that he's going to be a strong contributor at the DH position or even the right field position. Sherman Johnson, an infielder from Clinton Community College hit.319 with nine home runs and 54 RBIs. I think especially with kind of a big gap in the shortstop position.

26:41
Logan Brumley
I do expect to see him go in there and to be the guy in that position. I think the only other player who really has a shot. I don't even know if there's like a real player who has a shot at it. I would put my money on Sherman Johnson just because of his strong community college showing. I think the gap between a strong community college is strong college baseball isn't too wide and the only other notable income and transfer for NC State is they got Dalton Bargo, a utility player from Tennessee. He started the season at third base. That's where I do see him playing Just because Josh Hogue returning for left field most likely he's listed on a 2026 roster and he played left field down the stretch which I think is where he's going to finish the season at.

27:39
Logan Brumley
We're going to probably see some of that production from before.272 average with 14 home runs and 40 RBIs. Some notable returnees first baseman Chris McHugh, second base Luke Nixon, center fielder Ty Head as well. So I do think that the left side of the infield will be mostly transfers and I think the outfield will be mostly the same as last season. I did mention that Andrew Wiggins is pretty good. I think he could eventually sneak in on a roster. He could be a pinch hitter. He could be someone where if a Hogue or Head doesn't have a strong performance he could come in or he could be designated hitter. Let's say Dalton Bargo doesn't do too well or they move him to outfield. They could have Hogue as dh. Novi who I have whistles to DH could be third baseman.

28:43
Logan Brumley
I think there's a way they can sneak in Andrew Wiggins. I think he just has too much athletic pressure prowess in offensive production. But I just think that the precedence with Hogue, Head and Fassman is just too strong to ignore Unless and they maybe put Faasman at dh. Either way I think expect a continuance in the offensive production maybe even a step up if Bargo and Johnson are as advertised. Pitching question They do still have Ryan Marohn. He's going to be the kind of ace pitcher as part of the weekend rotation. I expect him to be a Saturday/Sunday guy. He hit. He has eight wins, three losses with 3.38 ERA. They didn't really get anyone from transfer portal. They did lose some guys to the draft and transfer portal. The only notable returnees Heath Andrews 4-3, 6.16 era.

29:49
Logan Brumley
Maybe they give the younger Tristan Potts an opportunity to be the Friday starter. He's 2.35 with ERA and 7.2 innings. I just think that outside of Maohron it's just kind of like who? Heath Andrews is solid. He could maybe be a good pitcher for this squad but it's gonna be something where like all their wins are gonna be like 10, nine, five and three. It's gonna be. I think it's just gonna be a lot tougher with this pitch and core. They need to figure it out as soon as they can. They do have Luke Hemrich, a left handed pitcher. He's freshman from Apex. They really like what they saw from him in fall camps, so maybe expect him to sneak in the bullpen. I do have a decent bullpen with Jacob Dutton, Anderson Nance who I thought was a starting pitcher.

30:53
Logan Brumley
He could probably get some starting reps and Collins Black who's coming in nine ERA and nine innings. That could be another relief guy who gets some reps. I think definitely early in the season. That's going to be kind of like with the softball is figuring out what the pitching direction is going to be and just how much are they going to have to rely on their offense to win games. Some notable matchups I'd like for you all to check out. They're going to be at Puerto Rico with Washington Indiana State and Seton Hall. That Washington - That's going to be a revenge game for the men's soccer. They host the NCAA runner up Coastal Carolina March 3rd March 13th series home opener versus Boston College. Watch out for that notable home series against Miami Florida. That's going to be one to watch out for.

31:56
Logan Brumley
Also Duke and UNC both all come to Doak Field April and May respectively. NC State's projected to finish seventh. I think that's appropriate. Maybe with some strong pitching they can sneak into the top five. But make sure to check out for them. And that's going to conclude today's episode. Hope you enjoyed it. Have a good day and go pack.