North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State And UNC Wilmington To Tangle At The Doak
4/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 22, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. - With a huge Atlantic Coast Conference showdown with arch-rival North Carolina on the horizon for this weekend, sixth-ranked NC State still has business to tend to before returning to conference action. A very good UNC Wilmington Seahawks team comes to Doak Field on Tuesday evening for 7 o'clock encounter with the Wolfpack.
NC State (33-9 and ranked No. 6 in the latest Collegiate Baseball poll, has defeated UNCW (29-14) twice in as many meetings previously this season - 8-4 on March 5 at Brooks Field in Wilmington, and 6-2 on March 15 at Five County Stadium in Zebulon. Beating any team three times in a season is difficult enough, and looking past a midweek encounter to the Tar Heels would only be human. Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent, while wary of the Seahawks, expects that his team will rise to the occasion and play well on Tuesday.
"UNC Wilmington has an outstanding team," Avent said. "They present a tremendous challenge. Our players are well aware of how good the Seahawks are. We were in a tournament at their ballpark and saw them several times before we ever played them, and then we played them twice. They have an excellent team with outstanding pitching. but I expect our guys will be ready. We've been through so much and met so many challenges already this season. I feel very confident that we'll be ready to play, just as I'm sure UNC Wilmington will be ready to play. It should be an excellent college baseball game."
Sophomore righthander Phillip Davidson (3-2, 4.75) will start for the Wolfpack. The Seahawks will counter with freshman lefthander Matt Sutton (0-0, 3.68).
