Stetson has been one of the best teams in college baseball all season, but N.C. State could be catching the Hatters at an opportune time in Friday’s NCAA Tournament opener.

Due to Kurt Schluter’s late-season muscle injury, Coach Pete Dunn’s 41-18 team will be without its top pitcher in the regional games at Columbia, S.C.

A right-handed sophomore, Schluter is rated as a candidate to be picked first in the 2012 Major League Draft. He had an 8-0 record with a 1.40 earned run average when he was lost for the season in early May.