South Raleigh News

RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State baseball corner infielders Alec Makarewicz and Garrett Pennington have signed undrafted free agent contracts with the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers, respectively.

A day after NC State had two players selected on Day Three of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft, Makarewicz and Pennington signed free agent deals with a pair of American League Central teams.

NC State had four players – Jacob Cozart, Eli Serrano III, Brandon Butterworth, and Logan Whitaker – selected in the 2024 MLB Draft. With these selections, head coach Elliott Avent has now guided 131 players to MLB Draft selections during his 28-year coaching career at NC State. The university concludes the 2024 MLB Draft with 194 all-time draft selections.

Alec Makarewicz | UDFA | Chicago White Sox

Makarewicz turned in one of the best seasons in NC State single-season history in his sole season with the Wolfpack in 2024, leading NC State in numerous offensive categories. He led the team with a .378 batting average, 98 hits, 24 home runs, 84 RBI, 195 total bases, a .753 slugging percentage, a .438 on-base percentage, 32 multi-hit games and 23 multi-RBI games.

The third baseman was one of four Pack9 players to play and start in all 61 games, making 60 starts at third base and one as the designated hitter. Makarewicz set a single-season program record with 195 total bases and ranked inside the top-10 in single-season history for RBI (second), home runs (T-fourth), slugging percentage (T-sixth) and hits (T-eighth).

Makarewicz excelled during NC State's run to the 2024 Men's College World Series, leading the team with a .395 batting average, 35 total bases, 15 hits, five doubles, five home runs and a .921 slugging percentage in the NCAA Tournament. He was named both to the NCAA All-Raleigh Regional Team and the Men's College World Series All-Tournament Team.

The switch-hitter also recorded three multi-homer games during which he homered from both sides of the plate twice. He logged a team-best hitting streak of 21 games during the season.

All of Makarewicz's accomplishments helped him become NC State's 46th All-American in program history, earning honors from ABCA, Baseball America, D1Baseball and NCBWA. He was also named Second Team All-ACC honoree and an ABCA/Rawlings All-Atlantic Region First Team recipient.

Garrett Pennington | UDFA | Detroit Tigers

Pennington excelled in his sole season at NC State in 2024 as one of four Pack9 players to play and start all 61 games. The Lenexa native started all games at first base and led the Wolfpack with 27 doubles—a mark tied for second in single-season program history.

Pennington also led with 75 runs scored which ranks sixth in single-season program history. His .350 batting average along with his contributions of driving in runs stood out; he registered totals such as: RBI -65-, extra-base hits -45-, hits -90-, slugging percentage -.665-, multi-hit games -30- alongside multi-RBI performances -21- coming second within roster stats over course for year '24'.

During ACC play specifically Pennington showed formidable consistency—hitting .347 average—collecting most number amongst team regarding important metrics e.g., hits/run-scored/home-runs/RBI/total-bases/slugg-percentage etc.—notably standing out against notable rivals namely Duke/Louisville/Notre-Dame/South-Carolina scoring crucial multiple homerun per respective match-ups aiding team's overall performance greatly

In helping guide state towards their fourth Men's College World Series appearance; he batted impressively posting high averages while securing major impact on scores across matches played being essential part garnering regional recognitions along-side fielding capabilities demonstrated effectively through-out

He maintained excellent fielding standards sporting impressive field percentages contributing defensively significantly—further reinforcing his overall importance towards state’s successful campaign throughout tournament period