A first look at the 2025 Wolfpack baseball season
The 2025 college baseball season will be here before we know it. Let’s get to know this year’s NC State squad and find out if this group can make it four trips to the College World Series in a dozen years. Here’s how we’ll try to do this:
- Part I will take a look back at the 2024 season and the players who are no longer with the program.
- Part II will look at the returnees from that 2024 team.
- Part III will look at the newcomers for 2025.
- Part IV will look at the non-conference schedule.
- Part V will look at ACC opponents.
Let’s go!
2024 Season Review
First, let’s take a look back at the 2024 season so we can give ourselves a little perspective on the season to come.
How did things go in 2024?
It was a rollercoaster that ended up pretty dang good, even if the very finish was a bit of a letdown.
State jumped out to a 12-2 start before hitting a four-game skid, consisting of a blowout home loss to UNCG and a sweep at Georgia Tech. That skid had everyone questioning if this team was actually any good. A 6-1 run followed which included a win over Coastal Carolina and a series win against Duke. Things were looking up.
Then a five-game skid happened with back-to-back blowout losses to East Carolina and Louisville kicking it off. The sky seemed to be falling, and this did not look like a team that could compete in the ACC in 2024.
That’s when something weird happened. State didn’t lose an ACC series the rest of the season. That run included series wins against Top 10 teams in Clemson, North Carolina, and Virginia, as well as a series split with a Top 5 ranked Florida State. A series sweep of a Wake Forest team that ranked in the Top 15 in RPI rounded out the regular season and the Pack headed to postseason play looking as strong as anyone.
A split in ACC Tournament pool play bounced State there, but the Pack hosted an NCAA Regional and went 3-0 against Bryant, South Carolina, and James Madison to advance to the Athens Super Regional against Georgia.
State routed the Bulldogs in the series opener before having the favor returned to them in Game 2. That set up a dramatic win-or-go-home Game 3, and the Pack prevailed, sending the program to the College World Series for the third time in the last 11 seasons.
The Pack blew a late lead in an opening loss to Kentucky, putting themselves behind the 8-ball in Omaha. More questionable pitching decisions in the next game spelled doom, a 1-run loss to Florida to end the season.
Overall, this was a team that went through a rough spell, battled significant injuries and illnesses, figured out who they were, then overachieved the rest of the way. That’s not to say there wasn’t talent – there definitely was – but the 2024 Pack baseball team will be remembered for some gutsy performances that allowed it to go toe-to-toe with (and more often than not, top) the best teams in the country.
Who’s gone from the 2024 squad?
Below is a list of all those in the program who have left Raleigh this offseason.
- Brandon Butterworth – JR – SS
- Jacob Cozart – JR – C
- Carson Falsken – rJR – INF/OF
- Sam Highfill – SR – RHP
- P.J. Labriola – SR – LHP
- Alec Makarewicz – SR – 3B
- Chance Mako – FR – RHP
- John Miralia – SR – LHP
- Robert Nedry – FR – INF
- Chase Nixon – JR – OF
- Garrett Payne – rJR – RHP/OF
- Garrett Pennington – SR – 1B
- Win Scott – JR – LHP
- Eli Serrano – SO – CF
- Noah Soles – SR – RF
- Logan Whitaker – rSR – RHP
- Peyton Young – FR – INF
- Christopher Zupito – FR – RHP
(Starters and key contributors in bold)
Yeaaah, buddy… For those of you keeping score at home, that’s the top five leaders in plate appearances, including five of your six best hitters across the entire season, as well as your two top starting pitchers. That’s gonna be tough to replace… but we’ll worry about that another day. Let’s look at these guys who helped the team get to Omaha, but won’t be part of the 2025 roster.
Robert Nedry and Christopher Zupito never saw game action in 2024. Nedry is now at JUCO school Sante Fe College in Gainesville, Florida. He’s committed to Charlotte for the 2026 season. Zupito also made his way to the JUCO ranks in the sunshine state this year as he’s rostered with the Seminole State College Raiders.
Peyton Young saw action in just four games, notching a pair of plate appearances (1 BB, 1 K) and scoring a run. He spent the fall semester at NC State and hit the transfer portal on December 17th. It’s unclear if he’s landed anywhere yet.
Chance Mako was a big-time recruit last year for NC State, coming in as a Top 75 player nationally and one of the top players in the state. Just getting him to campus was a major win for the Pack, which made his lack of playing time confusing. While he wasn’t expected to step into a huge role out of the gate, nobody saw him contributing just 1.1 innings across a mere two appearances. He’ll take his 6’5 frame and mid-90’s fastball to Coastal Carolina this year, where we may well see him when State faces off with the Chanticleers on February 23rd.
Like Mako, but a year earlier, Eli Serrano arrived to Raleigh with high expectations and was a coup to get to campus. A former Top 50 national recruit, Serrano was the Pack’s starting first baseman as a freshman before moving to centerfield as a sophomore. That’s a rare move at any level, but Serrano made the adjustment to the outfield well, improving as the season progressed. Across his two years with the Pack, Serrano hit .288/.384/.448 with 21 2B, 16 HR, 93 R, 71 RBI, 9-11 SB, with a 11.1 BB% and 14.1 K%. His effort in the Super Regional clincher in Athens will be an enduring memory of his time in the red and white. The Mets selected Serrano in the 4th round (111th overall pick) of the 2024 MLB Draft.
Brandon Butterworth transferred into the Wolfpack program ahead of the 2024 season after two standout years up at Western Carolina. With the Pack, the Monroe native hit .250/.369/.420 with 13 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR, 46 R, 33 RBI, 13-14 SB, with a 14.7 BB% and 14.0 K%. While his slight frame wouldn’t lead you to believe there was much power, just ask UNC about that. After playing second base for the Catamounts, Butterworth made the rare move of going up a level in competition and moving to a tougher defensive position. His work at shortstop improved throughout the year and helped to solidify the infield. Butterworth was selected in the 12th round (360th overall) by the Padres.
The middle son of a college coach, Jacob Cozart came to Raleigh as a Top 150 player nationally and with the weight of continuing the tradition of great backstops at State. After a freshman year where the bat didn’t quite translate to the college level, Cozart took off late in his sophomore year, setting the stage for an excellent junior campaign. Across his three years with the Pack, Cozart played in 165 games, hitting .287/.397/.524 with 29 2B, 3 3B, 33 HR, 123 R, 121 RBI, 2-3 SB, 13.7 BB%, 16.4 K%. Needless to say, he met the high expectations set forth for NC State catchers. A 2024 1st Team All-ACC and 2nd Team All-American, Cozart was drafted in the 2nd round (48th overall) by the Guardians.
Carson Falsken made the trip cross-country from California to join the Pack9. After being a reserve as a freshman on the 2021 CWS squad, a fall knee injury cost him all of 2022 and he was never really able to return to his previous form. Falsken appeared in just 22 games with four starts across his NC State career, hitting .192/.290/.192 with a pair of RBI. One of his career starts took place in his freshman campaign during the Pack13 game against Vanderbilt. While he still has a year of eligibility remaining, it appears that Falsken has hung up the cleats.
Perhaps best known as being one of Trot Nixon’s two sons on the Wolfpack roster last year, Chase Nixon outperformed his recruiting ranking coming into college. Despite being outside of the Top 500 nationally out of high school, Nixon started 49 games for State over three years, with 47 of those starts happening in the last two seasons. Over that span, he hit .281/.398/.372 with 12 2B, 2 HR, 29 R, 36 RBI, 1-2 SB, 14.1 BB%, 14.5 K%. One of those two career homers was a 3-run shot off future 1st rounder and current Cincinnati Red Rhett Lowder. Nixon has transferred to Memphis for the 2025 season.
Garrett Payne is a talented pitcher whose career was derailed by injury. He’ll look to get a new start at Tulane for his final year of college eligibility. There, he’ll get the honor of playing with former Pack teammate Kalae Harrison’s younger brother, Kaikea. Payne tossed 58.0 innings of 6.21 ball over his time in Raleigh, posting a 3-2 record and posting marks of 11.6 BB% and 21.4 K%. He served as the midweek starter for the Pack for much of the 2022 season before suffering an arm injury that cost him all of 2023. He started on the mound for State in the Pack13 game against Vanderbilt in the 2021 College World Series, his first career start.
Despite having an amazing name, Win Scott was never able to push into a significant role with the Pack over his three years in Raleigh. Over that span, he appeared in 19 games and posted a 0-1 mark with a 6.97 ERA over 20.2 innings with a 15.2 BB% and 24.2 K%. Almost half of his career innings came in 2024. Scott has landed at San Jose State for his final year of collegiate play.
There may not be another player who better embodies the spirit and tenacity of Wolfpack baseball than Sam Highfill. The Mayor started his career as a two-way player in the shortened 2020 season, then put together a Freshman All-American campaign in helping lead the Pack to Omaha in 2021. Adding to his lore was a 3-for-4 performance off future 1st round pick Kumar Rocker while starting at 1B in the Pack13 game. Injuries hampered and eventually shortened his 2022 season after just six games, and he was a shell of himself in 2023 while pitching through obvious discomfort and pain. Through it all, he reworked his mechanics time and again to and eventually found a new way of pitching that allowed him success. In the end, he’s the only player in program history to start games in multiple trips to the College World Series. Over Highfill’s career, he posted a 26-10 record with 1 save across 67 games and 45 starts. He tossed 276.0 innings with a 8.7 BB% and 21.8 K%. While he went undrafted after the 2024 season, the Phillies signed him to a free agent contract.
P.J. Labriola transferred to NC State after three season of light usage at Clemson (19.2 IP). He exceeded his Tigers usage in his first season with the Pack, tossing 20.2 innings of 5.23 ball (14.3 BB%, 16.3 K%) with a 3-0 record while making four midweek starts. Unfortunately, the wheels came off in 2024 when Labriola did see the mound (1-0, 17.61 ERA, 7.2 IP, 17.0 BB%, 25.5 K%) and he rode the bench for much of the year. After pitching in the MLB Draft League last summer, he joined the Independent Pioneer League.
Alek Makarewicz came to State after a successful career at East Carolina where he hit .272/.352/.467 with 36 2B, 5 3B, 28 HR, 127 R, 128 RBI, 9.8 BB%, 20.8 K%, and was 7-of-12 on stolen bases. The hope was that he would be able to maintain that level of production with the Pack, but instead he found an entirely different level and turned into one of the nation’s best hitters, producing one of the best single season efforts in program history. A-Mak crushed to the tune of a .378/.438/.753 line with 25 2B, 24 HR, 66 R, 84 RBI, 1-2 SB, 9.0 BB%, 17.2 K%. Those totals in 2B, HR, and RBI all ranked inside the top five in single-season marks for State. He also produced some excellent defensive plays at the hot corner. The 2nd Team All-American and 2nd Team All-ACC performer hit an even higher level in NCAA Tournament play, notching five multi-hit games and crushing five homers. For some reason, that impressive track record wasn’t enough to get A-Mak drafted, but the White Sox quickly picked him up with a free agent contract.
Quite possibly the most criminally under-utilized arm in recent NC State history, John Miralia tossed just 19.1 innings over his four-year Wolfpack career. Over that span, the big lefty was 1-0 with a 5.12 ERA, but with an 11.2 BB% and 29.2 K%. Miralia was utilized as a LOOGY (lefty one out guy) throughout his career, with 31 appearances constituting those 19.1 innings. As a senior, he made six appearances, not allowing a run over a mere 2.1 innings.
Garrett Pennington was a D2 All-American at Central Missouri who came to NC State after a year at Wichita State. In his lone year in Raleigh, the Wolfpack’s first baseman crushed to an impressive line: .350/.435/.665, 27 2B, 18 HR, 75 R, 65 RBI, 1-2 SB, 10.3 BB%, 14.9 K%. He led the team in most batting categories in ACC play and kept the level of play going in the NCAA Tournament, hitting .382/.488/.853 while earning All-Raleigh Regional honors. Penny notched five multi-hit games in the NCAA Tournament, including a two homer performance against South Carolina in the Raleigh Regional. After going undrafted, Penny signed a free agent deal with the Tigers.
After being drafted out of high school, Noah Soles had an injury-plagued career with the Wolfpack, but still managed to be successful in his time on the field. He was off to a torrid start in the shortened 2020 season, then played a backup role on the Wolfpack’s 2021 CWS squad. He finally broke through as a full-time starter in 2022, hitting .321/.396/.458. Soles hit .305/.443/.466 in 2023 before injuries – and some seriously bad batted ball luck (.219 BABIP) took their toll in 2024 with a .224/.388/.385 line. Across his career, Soles hit .290/.408/.433 with 26 2B, 3 3B, 12 HR, 107 R, 71 RBI, 10-15 SB, 14.1 BB%, 12.4 K%. While he didn’t have the strongest arm in the outfield, he came up with some huge catches, including a big diving catch in the Athens Super Regional clincher. Soles went undrafted last year and played a couple games in the independent Frontier League.
So I may need to quickly walk back the statement about nobody embodying the spirit and tenacity of Wolfpack baseball better than Sam Highfill, because Logan Whitaker is every bit his equal in that regard. Few players face the kind of setbacks that Whitaker encountered in his collegiate career, and only a rare few push their way through to find success like the righty did. Whit didn’t see the mound across his first three college seasons thanks to a series of injuries. He made his debut in 2022 and then stepped up to a workhorse role over the next three years, going 10-8 with a 4.78 ERA over 205.1 innings, posting a 7.8 BB% and 23.2 K%. A midseason illness cost him a good chunk of his last collegiate season, but he rebounded to show the best form of his career, throwing 17.1 innings of 2.60 ERA ball with 5 BB and 23 K over three postseason outings, including games against Georgia (Super Regional) and Florida (College World Series). The Twins drafted Whitaker in the 19th round of the 2024 MLB Draft.