The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1493632
TRACKING THE PACK MARCH/APRIL 2023 ■ 15 PACK PERFORMERS Payton Green, Baseball Green got his sophomore campaign off to a scorch- ing-hot start, totaling 6 hits and 5 RBIs in 11 at-bats to help NC State sweep visiting Wagner in the first weekend of the 2023 season. The second of those three games was the only close one, and Green, an infielder from Cary, helped NC State earn a 3-2 come- back win with an RBI single to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning that scored the tying run. Green is looking to build on a freshman season in which he was one of only three Wolfpack players to start all 57 games. He batted .256 and at one point reached base in 19 consecutive games. Trent Hidlay, Wrestling Hidlay closed out the regular season by making short work of North Carolina's Carson Tenold, winning by tech fall, 24-9, in a Feb. 17 dual meet. Heading into the ACC Tournament, the Lewistown, Pa., native was NC State's highest-ranked wrestler, slotted third nationally at 184 pounds behind No. 1 Aaron Brooks of Penn State and No. 2 Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa. At the conference meet, Hidlay's most formi- dable challengers figure to be Virginia Tech's seventh- ranked Hunter Bolen and North Carolina's 11th-ranked Gavin Kane, who sat out the late-season dual against the Wolfpack in favor of Tenold. Aziaha James, Women's Basketball With leading scorer Diamond Johnson bothered by an ankle injury, James stepped up late in the season and showed the kind of potential she brings to the Wolfpack program. In NC State's 77-66 victory over North Carolina on Feb. 16, the sophomore guard from Virginia Beach, Va., scored 18 points in 22 minutes while adding 3 assists and 2 steals. Three days later, she earned her first career start in place of Johnson and poured in a team-high 20 points in a 75-62 loss at Virginia Tech. Alana Smith, Women's Tennis Smith climbed to No. 15 in the Intercollegiate Ten- nis Association singles rankings as of mid-February. The graduate student from Fort Washington, Md., played a key role in NC State's 7-0 victory over Wake Forest in its ACC opener Feb. 17, earning wins in singles and doubles (with freshman Diana Shnaider). Smith has rebounded from an injury in the fall of 2021 that forced her to miss the following spring season. Prior to her absence in 2022, she had been an All-American in doubles each of her first three seasons at NC State. — Matt Herb Home is where the howl is. Join today at go.ncsu.edu/AAMembership #HowlBack