RALEIGH, N.C. — With his first plate appearance on Sunday, Preston Bonn made a statement about where he stands in the catcher pecking order. By the time he finished his final at-bat, he made it clear he might be the answer at a position of need for NC State after struggles at the position for the last several weeks — at least at the plate.
The redshirt freshman had started off the season at 0-for-4 overall with two strikeouts, but was solid behind the dish with 22 putouts and a 1.000% fielding percentage. On Sunday afternoon, he proved he can do both after getting a start in place of veteran Drew Lanphere.
Bonn took the third pitch he saw in the third inning deep over the left field fence for a solo home run to give the Pack9 life in a 1-1 game at the time against Lafayette. He showed patience in his next at-bat, walking to score another run for his second RBI before scoring on a Chris McHugh single just a few batters later…