RALEIGH — When NC State head coach Elliott Avent added Dalton Bargo out of the transfer portal from Tennessee, he knew his team gained a major new cog in what looked to be one of the stronger offenses in the ACC. After just four games, Bargo has proven that to be the case, but he’s also making an impact in other ways for his new program.
“He’s been around the game. He understands the game,” Avent said of Bargo after NC State’s 6-4 win over Princeton on Friday. “He was with Tennessee when they went to play for a national championship. He’s been around. He knows what it takes to win and his leadership on the field and off the field has been what I admire most about him right now.”
Mashing and leading
Introducing Bargo’s bat to the heart of the Wolfpack lineup injected some new life into an offense that already had some key pieces. Through four games, Bargo is hitting .389 with a team-high three home runs, one of which came against the Tigers on Friday in a crucial eighth-inning rally. In terms of his approach, Bargo is leaning on that experience Avent pointed to when asked about his new player.
“A lot of it just has to do with offseason and preseason work that I’ve put in and letting my abilities take over and trust the process and go out there and play hard,” Bargo said…