North Carolina A&T (7-17) at North Carolina State (14-11)
Date: April 2-3, 201
Time (s): noon DH; 2 p.m. 
Facility: Dail Softball Stadium

PROBABLE STARTERS:  C Dominique "Nikki" Valera (.172, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1 run), 1B Vivca Boyd (.161, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 4 runs), 2B Stephanie Williams (.290, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 6 runs), 3B Alyssa Smith (.050, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 runs), SS Alyxx Estrada (.388, 0 HR, 16 RBI, 17 runs), LF Kendall Macauley (.377, 0 HR, 14 RBI, 12 runs), CF Eternal Fuller (.243, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 6 runs), RF Jai Deese (.338, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 18 runs), DP Samantha Ramirez (.297, 0 HR, 12 RBI, 6 runs)

LIKELY STARTERS: S'Nyiah Stinson (3-6, 4.33, 32Ks) vs. Sydney Nester (4-6, 4.14, 65Ks)

AGGIES OVERVIEW: North Carolina A&T softball travels east on I-40 to face North Carolina State in a three-game series this weekend in Raleigh, N.C.

The last time out, the Aggies went 3-1 against Florida A&M to improve to 7-1 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). They are atop the MEAC's southern division as they return to non-conference play. 

The Aggie newcomers are making a difference. Freshman shortstop Alyxx Estrada leads MEAC with 26 hits, followed by fellow freshman Kendall Macauley with 23 hits to rank second conference-wide. Sophomore right fielder Jai Deese is tied for third with 22 hits in her first season in Aggieland. 

Deese leads the MEAC with 18 runs scored, followed by Estrada with 17 runs scored. Estrada and Deese lead the conference with eight doubles apiece. 

Estrada also leads the MEAC in triples (4), extra-base hits (42) and on-base percentage (.494). She ranks fifth in batting average at .388. In the Aggies eight MEAC games, Estrada is batting .481 (13-for-27) with three doubles, four triples, eight RBI and 13 runs scored,

In the circle, freshman S'Niyah Stinson ranks fourth in the league in strikeouts with 32. Freshman pitcher Kiara Richards comes into the weekend with a 4-6 record and a 6.62 ERA with 21 strikeouts.  

Senior catcher Samantha Ramirez has played well in conference play, batting .444 (12-for-27) with six runs scored, four doubles and seven RBI. Versus MEAC competition, Macauley is batting .440 (11-for-25) with 11 hits, six RBI, and nine RBI. Senior second baseman Stephanie Williams bats .400 (12-for-30) with three runs scored, four doubles, a home run and 13 RBI against the MEAC.

Stinson leads with a 1.75 ERA in the circle and has a 3-1 record with 20 strikeouts in 28.0 innings pitched against the MEAC. Richards has a 4-0 record with a 3.23 ERA and 10 strikeouts versus the MEAC.

Second-year head coach Patti Raduenz leads the Aggies. Raduenz did not coach a game against a MEAC opponent last season because the MEAC canceled the season due to the pandemic. This season she has the Aggies off to a 7-1 start. Raduenz spent 10 seasons as Elon's head softball coach. 

N.C. STATE WOLFPACK OVERVIEW: The Pack enters the series on a three-game losing streak and has lost nine of the last 13 games, all of them to Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) teams. Offensively, Tayana Forbes leads the team with a .381 batting average and 32 hits. Angie Rizzi is second with a .373 batting average, with 18 runs scored, 19 RBI and 25 hits. Logan Morris leads the team with 26 RBI and has a .358 batting average.  

Estelle Czech has a 1-1 record in the circle with a 2.89 ERA and 16 strikeouts. Sydney Nester has a 4-6 record with a 4.14 ERA and 65 strikeouts. Abby Trahan has a 7-4 record with a 4.65 ERA and 45 strikeouts.

Jennifer Patrick-Swift leads the Pack in her third season. She spent the previous seven seasons at St. Francis. In her first season, she led the Pack to the ACC tournament semifinals. 

WHO'S ON FIRE?: Estrada has reached base in 15 consecutive games, the longest such streak on the team. She has five multi-hit games in her last eight contests. Macauley has reached base in eight straight games. Ramirez has the longest current hitting streak on the team with six consecutive games. Stephanie Williams has five multi-hit games in her last seven contests.                                                              

MEAC WEEKLY AWARDS: The Aggies have received four MEAC weekly awards this season from three different players. The MEAC named Macauley rookie of the week on Feb. 22. Williams earned player of the week the same day along. Estrada won rookie of the week two consecutive weeks (March 15 & 22).