North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Baseball Moves Up To No. 16 In Rankings
3/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 24, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. - Following a big series win over then-second-ranked Florida State, the NC State baseball team has taken a big jump in the national rankings. Collegiate Baseball magazine has bumped the Wolfpack from No. 25 a week ago to No. 16 in its latest poll, which was released on Monday. The No. 16 ranking is the highest that NC State has been ranked since USA Today Baseball Weekly ranked the Pack No. 9 on May 5, 1997.
In addition, Baseball America magazine has ranked the Wolfpack No. 17 in its latest poll, and the USA Today Sports Weekly coaches poll has ranked NC State No. 21. Both of those polls also were released on Monday.
NC State, now 21-5 on the season, defeated Florida State twice in the weekend series, winning 4-2 and 5-2 in a Saturday doubleheader before falling to the Seminoles 3-1 on Sunday. All three games were played at Kinston's Grainger Stadium. The Sunday loss snapped a 16-game winning streak for the Wolfpack, the second-longest winning streak in school history. NC State won 19 consecutive games in 1991.
The jump in the rankings makes this coming weekend's series with Clemson a headline event. The Tigers (16-3) will enter action this weekend ranked No. 10 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 14 by Baseball America. The Clemson series also will be at Grainger Stadium in Kinston.
Game times for the Clemson series will be 7 p.m. on Friday, and 1:30 on Saturday and Sunday. The game will be aired live on WKNC-FM and will be available via the internet on gopack.com. Live in-game stats will be available on the website's Game Tracker as well.
NC State and Clemson are just two of six Atlantic Coast Conference teams ranked this week by Collegiate Baseball. Georgia Tech (20-2) is No. 2 right behind top-ranked Rice, and Florida State (25-4) fell just one spot to No. 3. Wake Forest (15-7) is No. 19, and North Carolina (16-7) is No. 23.
The Baseball America and Sports Weekly polls both rank five ACC teams. In addition to NC State and Clemson, Baseball America has Georgia Tech at No. 2, Florida State at No. 6, and Wake Forest at No. 20.
Sports Weekly ranks Georgia Tech at No. 3, Florida State at No. 5, Clemson at No. 13, and Wake Forest at No. 22.
