North Carolina State University Athletics
Softball Travels to Elon; First Pitch Classic
2/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 24, 2004
Elon and First Pitch Classic Game Notes
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Elon Phoenix (2/25 - 2 p.m.) The Wolfpack will travel to Elon, N.C. to play the Elon Phoenix Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. before heading to Charlotte, N.C. for the First Pitch Classic this weekend. The game with Elon will mark the first of the season outside of a tournament, as the Wolfpack's first nine games have been split between the Triangle Classic (four games) and the USF Best Western Tournament (five games).
Charlotte 49ers First Pitch Classic (2/27-2/29) NC State will travel south down I-85 for the First Pitch Classic in Charlotte, N.C this weekend. The tournament is hosted by the Charlotte 49ers, and will run from Feb. 27-29. The Wolfpack is scheduled to play Miami (Ohio) at 11 a.m. and a rematch against Kent State at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, February 27. On February 28, Appalachian State will be the opponent at 9 a.m., and will face tournament host Charlotte at 10 a.m. on February 29. The tournament championship game will start at 2 p.m.
Wolfpack Notes: The Wolfpack has three wins on the season, defeating Mercer at the Triangle Classic and defeating Pittsburgh and Rhode Island in Tampa, Fla. at the USF Best Western Tournament. Against Rhode Island, NC State won 3-1, getting a dominating performance from freshman pitcher Shaina Ervin (1-2). She went the distance, striking out 11 batters and allowing only five hits while failing to give up an earned run. In the 5-4 win over Pittsburgh, NC State improved its record to 3-3, winning in the bottom of the seventh on an two-out, RBI single by Caroline Blount, who went 4-4 with two RBIs in the contest. Freshman Abbie Sims pitched a solid game, allowing only five hits and striking out three in the win.
Elon Notes: The Phoenix (5-3-1) will play host to the Wolfpack on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. Elon is 3-3 in home games on the season after splitting a pair of games with Robert Morris and Virginia Tech over the weekend. Elon lost to Va. Tech 7-0, managing only two hits in the game. The Phoenix responded, downing Robert Morris 7-3 after falling behind 3-0 after two innings. On the season, freshman Paige Goss leads the Elon offense, batting a team-high .345 and she leads the team in hits with 10. Senior Christina Melton has hit three homeruns on the season with 10 RBIs, both team highs, while hitting .321. From the circle, senior Jennifer Lamb is 2-0 in five appearances, pitching 23.2 innings striking out eight while allowing five runs to cross the plate. Her ERA of 1.18 leads the Phoenix. Elon's head coach is Patti Raduenz, and she is assisted by Stacey Lange. Raduenz was the Big South Coach of the Year in 2002 when she lead Elon to a second place conference finish.
Miami (Ohio) Notes: NC State will face the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks at the First Pitch Classic in Charlotte, N.C. on Friday, Feb. 27 at 11 a.m. The RedHawks are 3-6 on the season and 3-5 at neutral sites. Sophomore Bianca Paz leads the team in batting average, at .421, and is first on the team in steals with five in seven attempts. Junior Jackie Poggendorf leads the team in hits (10), doubles (3) and RBIs (5). Sophomore Courtney Salmon is is the ace of the staff, striking out 25 batters in 28 innings of work in seven appearances, posting an ERA of 0.75. They are coached by sixth year head coach Angie Jacobs, who owns a 95-165 career record.
Kent State Notes: In a rematch of an extra inning affair on Feb. 14 in the Triangle Classic, the Wolfpack will look to avenge its loss to the Kent State Golden Flashes when the two teams meet on Friday, Feb. 27 at 1:30 p.m in the First Pitch Classic. The Golden Flashes are led offensively by Marci Ridenbaugh, who is 6-11 (.545) in three games and is perfect in five stolen base attempts on the season. Senior Kate Leary is 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA, pitching 10 innings, allowing only five hits and striking out nine. Kent State is coached by Karen Linder, who is in her eighth year.
Appalachian State Notes: The Mountaineers are 2-7 this season, defeating Chattanooga (W, 4-3) and Belmont (W, 3-2). Marie Watson leads the team in ERA, posting a 1.62 mark in 16.2 innings of work while striking out five. Jennifer Hurley leads the team in strikeouts with 11 in only 11 innings of work, picking up one of the teams two wins on the season. On offense, App. State is lead by Lindsay Glover and Christa Hicks. Glover is batting .300 with three doubles and three RBIs, while Hicks is hitting .269 with one double, one triple and a team-high four RBIs.
Charlotte Notes: The 49ers have played two games so far this season, failing to score a run after playing a doubleheader at home against No. 23 South Carolina. The Gamecocks defeated Charlotte 8-0 in game one before a 12-0 win in game two. Charlotte managed only four hits combined in both games, with Jessica Moore, Denise Atmar, Autumn Lawson and Becky Holt each collecting a single.
Up Next After the Elon game and First Pitch Classic, NC State will host its first home game of the season when Charleston Southern comes into Raleigh for a 1:00 pm game on Saturday, Mar. 6. The game will be held at the Walnut Creek Softball Complex, the temporary home of Wolfpack softball until NC State's field is completed.
Streaky Gelbard Freshman leadoff hitter Heather Gelbard has been solid at the plate all year, and is currently on a seven game hit streak and has a hit in eight of the nine games this season. She has four multi-hit games this season, and a team-high 12 hits overall, the fourth best mark in the ACC.
Two For Gelbard Gelbard leads the ACC in doubles with six, and is averaging a league leading .67 doubles per game.Through NC State's first five games, Gelbard had five doubles. She is tenth in the league in total bases as well, with 18. She is averaging 2.00 TB/game, third in the league.
1-2 Punch for Pack Pitchers Freshmen pitchers Abbie Sims and Shaina Ervin have already made a name for themselves in the ACC after nine games. Sims has won two games and has a 1.88 ERA, while Ervin is 1-2 with a 1.69 ERA. Sims has 27 strikeouts in 26 innings, and Ervin has notched 35 in 29 innings. The duo is included in the ACC stats as well this week. Ervin is in the top-10 in five categories, innings pitched (6th, 29.0), strikeouts (5th, 35), games started (t-7th, 4), opp. batting average (9th, .234), complete games (7th, 3). Sims is in seven categories in the ACC top-10 for pitching, innings pitched (t-9th, 26.0), strikeouts (7th, 27), appearances (t-6th, 5), games started (t-7th, 5), complete games (t-4th, 4), shutouts (t-5th, 1) and opp. batting average (8th, .221).
S. Ervin and Sims Top Freshman Pitchers Not only are NC State's top two pitchers ranked in a numerous top-10 categories in the conference overall, but Shaina Ervin and Abbie Sims are the top two freshman in the league as well. In all of the categories listed above, Ervin and Sims are the top two freshmen in the conference. The only other freshman to rank in the top-10 in any ACC category is Coty Tolar of Virginia, who is tenth in opp. BA.
Sister Sister It's not double vision. It's twins. Freshmen Miranda and Shaina Ervin are twins. Miranda will wear No. 11, while Shaina wears No. 12. Miranda catches for Shaina. The two led Charlotte's Hopewell HS to two-straight 4-A state championships. The two shared the Championship MVP title and Shaina became the first player to be honored with the MVP award in both seasons. In her 48 innings pitched, she had 82 strikeouts and two no-hitters. Miranda went 12-21 with nine RBI during the tournament, which included a 5-6 at bat and seven RBI in the last two games.
Wolfpack Makes Six Prior to this season, the ACC had just five teams including Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. NC State's addition made it an even six. After the ACC expands, the conference will add Virgina Tech softball to the fray next season, and in 2005-06 Boston College will join the conference. The Wolfpack will participate in its first ACC Tournament when FSU hosts in Tallahassee, Fla., Friday, March 14 through Sunday, March 16.
Where My Girls At? NC State will play all of its home games at the Walnut Creek Softball Complex for the 2004 season. The Wolfpack will host its first home game on Saturday, March 6, against Charleston Southern at 1 p.m. The games will start no later than 3 p.m. Nine games will be played at the nine field complex.
Softball Adds Five For 2005 Raleigh, N.C. (Dec. 1, 2004) - NC State softball head coach Lisa Navas has announced the signing of five prep players for the class of 2004-05, Brooke Isley (Burlington, N.C./Southern Alamance HS), Lisa Nentwig (Miami, Fla./Palmetto Sr. HS), Blair Harkey (Cleveland, N.C./West Rowan HS), Shanna Smith (Albemarle, N.C./Albemarle HS), Megan Dalthorp (Beaverton, Ore./Beaverton High School).
