Avent Shares Frustration and Concern After Wolfpack's Loss to Elon

RALEIGH — While the start of the season for No. 10 NC State baseball included some bright moments, most notably a win over No. 16 Coastal Carolina, the Wolfpack continued to show its floor with another loss to a mid-major, this time falling 2-0 to the Elon Phoenix on Tuesday at Doak Field. It marked the second time a visiting mid-major shut out the Wolfpack since the start of the season.

Veteran coach Elliott Avent was frustrated by his team's performance and didn't feel as though some of his messaging was getting through to the group. The latest loss pushed NC State into some murky waters regarding the strength of schedule metrics and more. Avent knows better than most that this team needs to find another gear if it wants to make noise during the conference slate.

What Avent said about the loss

Wyatt with another web gem.#SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/adiqpiOigw
— NC State Baseball (@NCStateBaseball) March 10, 2026

With the Wolfpack jumping to No. 10 in the D1Baseball rankings for the week, the expectations for an already talented group lifted even higher just before the start of ACC play. Losing to another mid-major certainly deflated the hype slightly, but it's the way the Pack lost the game that bothered Avent so much, especially at this point in the season.

"We made no adjustments throughout the entire game," Avent said. "We're frustrating at times. We just refuse to make adjustments. We're going to do what we do and if someone is doing something different, then it won't work out for us. If we don't learn how to play baseball and learn how to play this game, what the game gives you, then it's going to be a long season."

Elliott Avent — Jun 20, 2013; Omaha, NE, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack head coach Eliot Avent (9) watches his team prior to the game against the North Carolina Tarheels during the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images | Bruce Thorson-Imagn Images

Following Friday's loss to a previously winless Lafayette team, Avent hoped his team could take away some things from that game, especially when it came to situational hitting and rising above adversity. The Elon loss proved to him that his team needed more work before it could compete at a high level and dominate the lower-tier competition the way the top programs in the country do.

"Right now, we're a very one-dimensional baseball team," Avent said. "One-dimensional baseball teams get beat a lot. ... Play the game the way it's meant to be played. ... Practice those things every day so you can execute them in the game, but if you don't practice them and you want to execute them in the game, you're a fool."

With Boston College coming to Raleigh for the first conference series of the season, the Wolfpack is in need of a mental turnaround to shake off the 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Phoenix. That might easier said then done, from Avent's point of view at least.

"I don't hope for a lot of things. I don't believe in hope," he said. "I believe in work ethic. I believe in doing the things you need to do and then you might have a chance in the game. What we're doing is hoping right now."

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