NC State Baseball Preview: Infielders

It is no secret that the NC State pitching staff is projected to be the foundation of the 2025 team, and several Wolfpack pitchers have been getting praise from the media throughout the offseason. The pitching staff deserves this praise and have high expectations placed upon them for good reason, but the guy on the mound is nothing without his catcher and his teammates behind him. While the pitchers may be getting the most praise throughout the offseason, don't count out the position players. Behind the plate, across the infield, and patrolling the outfield, State has guys who can be difference makers. In this portion of the 2025 NC State Baseball Preview, we are going to discuss what the Pack9 brings to the table at the infield positions.

Normally the catcher position is included with the pitchers portion of a preview, but this pitching staff has so much to include that the catchers are going to be included with the infielders. NC State has had some fantastic talents behind the plate throughout the years, highlighted most recently by big leaguers Patrick Bailey and Andrew Knizner. Jacob Cozart was another high level talent behind the dish for State the last couple of seasons and was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2024 MLB draft to the Cleveland Guardians. Another guy that is overshadowed by the forementioned players, but was a great player in his own right, is Luca Tresh. The point is, the catchers position at NC State has a high ceiling and the guy being tasked with upholding the standards set for that position has a lot on his plate. The player slated to slide into that starting role behind the plate has all the tools to become State's next big time catcher, Alex Sosa. Sosa had quite an interesting freshman campaign in Raleigh, one filled with plenty of ups and downs. With Cozart being the every day catcher, Sosa saw the field regularly early on as the DH and didn't post the best numbers. A mid/late season bout with illness threw him for a loop and forced him to miss quite a bit of time. When he made his return (still as the DH), Sosa was a completely different player. The home stretch of the regular season and throughout the postseason saw Sosa post monster numbers at the plate, especially for a true freshman returning from a battle with Mono. All of this was capped off with a mammoth home run to extend the Pack9 lead in game 3 of the Athens Super Regional to help State punch its ticket to Omaha. This late season hot streak showed all of college baseball what Sosa can really do. He was a highly touted recruit and it took some time, but he showed everyone why. Sliding into the role of everyday catcher can be difficult, Sosa didn't really play in the field last season. Concerns of him being a little rusty behind the dish have been tossed around, but that doesn't worry me. He caught in plenty of games throughout the summer, including a stint with the US Collegiate National Team. At the plate is where the expectations for Alex Sosa really are. Cozart was a great hitting catcher and Sosa outshined the All-ACC star late in the season. The tools are there for a .300 plus year with double digit home runs. Getting that from your catcher (again) in a lineup that has some power questions is a huge boost to the Pack9 lineup. Sosa finished the 2024 season hitting .230 (keep in mind the early season woes), .356 OBP, and .398 slugging while tallying 6 homers and 24 RBI in 135 plate appearances.

State has another guy in the catcher's role who could be a prominent contributor to the lineup, just in a different position. Drew Lanphere is a guy who has received quite a bit of praise from the coaching staff and media outlets throughout the fall and spring. Lanphere saw limited action last season and was solid in his limited opportunities. In 91 plate appearances, Lanphere slashed .273/.367/.377 with 2 homers and 14 RBI. His swing gives Tyler McDonough vibes, a smooth stroke from the left side of the plate that has some pop and is conducive to adding even more power. While Lanphere's primary position is listed as catcher (and he did catch limited innings last season), he can play a corner outfield spot if needed, but I believe he will be the Pack's primary DH this season. The opportunity for Lanphere and Sosa to switch up behind the plate in the midweek is on the table if Coach Avent were to choose to do that and not skip a beat in the lineup as well. This would give Sosa some much needed rest prior to weekend series while still maintaining consistent at-bats and also give Lanphere plenty of reps in the field while keeping him in the lineup as well. Will that happen? Kind of doubtful, but the opportunity is there. Overall, the catcher spot is in good shape.

First base is a spot where NC State struck gold in the transfer portal last season. Wichita State transfer, Garrett Pennington, was everything the Pack9 could have asked for and more. In his lone season in Raleigh, Pennington hit .350 with 18 home runs and 65 RBI. He was fantastic in all aspects offensively and solid in the field defensively. With those results, Avent and co. decided to use the same approach heading into this season. But this time State landed not one, but two first basemen out of the transfer portal, both with multiple years of eligibility remaining. Chris McHugh comes to Raleigh after transferring from VCU and Matt Ossenfort landed at NC State after transferring from Vanderbilt. McHugh is the more experienced option. Last season at VCU, he played in 55 games and totaled 249 plate appearances (right handed hitter), hitting .273, .390 OBP, and .385 slugging and adding on 6 homers and 33 RBI. The power numbers are looking to be boosted at NC State. The other option at first base, is the left handed hitting Matt Ossenfort. He is more of the raw, pure talent option. Ossenfort was a very highly touted recruit who saw next to no action in his only season at Vanderbilt in 2024. There isn't a much better sight in baseball than a smooth swinging lefty first baseman, and State could potentially have that in Ossenfort. Reports about Ossenfort and McHugh throughout the offseason have been pretty positive, this is by far the most difficult position battle NC State has this season. With McHugh being a right handed hitter and Ossenfort a left handed hitter, whoever plays first that day could depend on whether the opponent has a right handed or left handed pitcher on the mound. Whichever one isn't playing that day, could be an option at DH as well.

The middle infielders are probably the most cut and dry options for State heading into this season. It is widely believed that Luke Nixon will be option 1 at second baseman with Matt Heavner playing behind him if needed. Justin Decriscio will jump into the shortstop roll with the departure of Brandon Butterworth last season. As mentioned earlier, the history of the catcher position at NC State is rich and the same can be said at shortstop. Names such as Trea Turner, Chris Diaz, Joe Dunand, and Will Wilson all come to mind and the standard for this position must be upheld. Butterworth did a solid job of that last season, especially defensively. Now San Diego transfer Justin Decriscio enters this role. Last season at San Diego he slashed .308/.374/.419 and adding 3 homers, 42 RBI, and also stealing 10 bases. The offensive numbers are pretty good for Decriscio, again the power numbers are looking to be boosted though. Another threat to run is a positive in a lineup that has power questions as well. The only question I have about Decriscio is his health entering the year. In an interview last week, Coach Avent mentioned that Decriscio was coming back from a pulled hamstring he sustained at some point this offseason. Hopefully that won't be a nagging injury, because a mobile shortstop is needed. His counterpart on the other side of the 2nd base bag is Luke Nixon. All offseason talks point to Nixon making significant improvements at the plate. Last season Nixon's numbers were .238/.394/.349 with 4 homers and 34 RBI. Nixon struggled down the stretch of last season, lots of weak contact and the strikeout numbers went up a bit (keep in mind he did not strike out much last year though). Some positives with Nixon is that he is willing and able to lay down bunts and advance runners, that is very much needed. Nixon is skilled at working counts, resulting in walks. Generating any additional chances at offense is always a plus. He is also a major threat on the basepaths, stealing 14 bases a year ago while also being able to go first to third on a hit or even score from second on a single. In the field, Nixon was solid all year long and even played LF quite a bit when Josh Hogue went down. If the reports of Nixon's improvements at the plate are true, this is a leadoff hitter candidate for the Pack9.

Our final spot to cover on this infield preview is third base. Just like across the diamond at first, the third base position had a portal gold mine addition last season. Alec Makarewicz transferred to State from ECU and had the best season of his collegiate career, and arguably one of the best seasons a NC State third baseman has ever seen. A-Mak hit a scorching .378 and totaled a 1.191 OPS. He led the team in home runs (24) and RBI's (84) as well. Elliott Avent elected to return to the portal to find a third baseman again this season and landed Ryan Jaros from fellow ACC member, Georgia Tech. Jaros, much like Ossenfort, was a highly touted recruit out of high school but did not see a ton of action his freshman year. In 47 plate appearances, Jaros tallied a .343 average with 1 homer and drove in 8 runs. That's a limited sample size of course, but the average and OBP (.511) are encouraging. Jaros is yet another player in the Wolfpack lineup that is viewed as having a good upside but needs to add some power. Sensing a trend? Defensively, Jaros adds a strong arm at the hot corner and has the tools to make the tough plays day in and day out that a good 3rd baseman has to make to be successful.

Overall, the Wolfpack infield has talent across the field and adds some depth as well with guys such as Heavner, Ossenfort/McHugh, and Lanphere. The individual talent from position to position is quite good, I don't question the individual ability of any of the infield starters for the Pack9. But, as sometimes comes along with portal era teams, these guys have to learn to play together if State is going to reach the goals that are set for this season. We saw the infield last season be pieced together with portal additions and rookies and it turned out just fine, which should comfort all Wolfpack fans. Offensively, I believe this infield unit will be able to hit for average without trouble, even gap to gap I believe will be fine. With speed threats like Nixon and Decriscio (assuming he's healthy) stealing some bases is achievable as well. With the power question marks stealing some bases will be necessary to produce runs. All the offensive aspects for this infield are pretty solid, except the power numbers. I expect Sosa to be a double digit homer guy, but he is the only one I feel confident in achieving that. Now, I will say this though. I do believe that there are multiple guys across this infield that I believe CAN get to double digit homers this season. Ossenfort, McHugh, Jaros, and even Lanphere I believe COULD be double digit home run players, just don't have enough firm evidence to say they WILL be. After all, we saw what Makarewicz and Pennington did in the power department last year. Who says it can't happen again? When Chris Hart is your hitting coach, that's always a reason for optimism.

-Bobby Black