North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Baseball Goes Back on The Road
4/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 6, 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State will begin the second leg of its longest road trip of the season on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. game vs. Old Dominion at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex in Norfolk, Va. Following the game with the Monarchs, the 24th-ranked Wolfpack will get right back on the bus and head for Frederick, Md., where it will begin a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Wolfpack is 20-10 overall and 4-5 in the ACC. The Terrapins are 13-15 overall, pending the outcome of a pair of midweek games, and 2-7 in the ACC. NC State is coming off a tough conference series vs. Florida State at Tallahassee this past weekend. The Wolfpack won the first game of the series 11-0 behind Michael Rogers, but could not hold onto leads of 3-1 and 6-3 in the middle game of the series, falling 7-6 in 11 innings. The Seminoles rolled to an easy 10-3 win in the finale.
That makes this weekend's series that much more important. NC State is still a game under .500 in the conference and needs to start winning games in order to put itself in a position to earn an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.
The series will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1), and can be heard on gopack.com through Yahoo's on-line subscription service. Game times are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Live in-game stats will be available on gopack.com via the Gametracker.
NC STATE VS. OLD DOMINION: The Monarchs lead the series with the Wolfpack by a 17-13-2 margin. Earlier this season, on March 30, NC State defeated ODU 10-1 for the Pack's fourth consecutive victory in the series. That is NC State's longest winning streak in the series, eclipsing a three-game streak from 1972-73. Prior to the current Wolfpack winning streak, OId Dominion had owned the series, winning three in a row, six of seven, and seven of nine dating back to 1996. NC State is 7-7 vs. Old Dominion since Elliott Avent became the Wolfpack's head coach in 1997.
NC STATE VS. MARYLAND: While NC State holds a healthy 83-46-2 lead in the series with Maryland, the Terrapins have had the Wolfpack's number in recent years. Maryland has won five of the last six meetings with NC State, and nine of the last 14. The Terps also have won five of the last six games in the series played at Maryland. A year ago, while the Wolfpack was ranked in the top 10 and enjoying one of its greatest seasons ever, Maryland came to Doak Field and won two of three games, taking the first two games of the series by scores of 5-2 and 8-7 before the Pack rallied to win the finale, 7-4. NC State is 13-9 vs. Maryland since Elliott Avent became the Wolfpack's head coach in 1997.
THE STARTING PITCHERS: Freshman righthander Gib Hobson (1-1, 6.98) will start for the Wolfpack on Wednesday vs. Old Dominion. Hobson will be making his seventh appearance and his fifth start. He has allowed 15 runs, all earned, on 23 hits in 19 1/3 innings. He has walked 10 and struck out 15. In his last appearance, April 4 at Florida State, he pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning in a 10-3 loss, striking out two. In his last start, March 31 vs. Davidson, he allowed one run on three hits in 4 2/3 innings, and got the win by virtue of being the first pitcher in a three-way pitching split. He walked three and struck out five.
Redshirt-sophomore righthander Michael Rogers (5-1, 2.60) will start on Friday against Maryland. Rogers has made eight starts and worked 55 1/3 innings thus far in 2004. He has allowed 20 runs, 16 of them earned, on 40 hits. He has walked nine and struck out 57. He has been named ACC Pitcher of the Week three times, including this past week. Four times in eight starts this season, Rogers has taken a no-hitter into the fifth inning or later, and five times he has taken a shutout into the sixth inning or later. In his last start, April 2 at Florida State, Rogers had one of his best performances ever at NC State. He worked eight shutout innings, allowing just three hits and a walk. He struck out nine. He had a no-hitter for 4 1/3 innings, and allowed just two runners to reach scoring position. He allowed more than one baserunner in an inning just once. After hitting the FSU leadoff hitter with his first pitch of the game, Rogers retired the next 13 Seminole hitters in a row, allowed a single and a walk, and then set down 11 of the next 13 men he faced before departing at the of the eighth inning. With the win over FSU, Rogers became just the 10th pitcher in NC State history to win 20 games in a career.
Senior righthander Vern Sterry (4-1, 2.14) will pitch the middle game of the Maryland series. Sterry officially has made seven starts, although he started and went six innings on February 14 vs. Campbell, a game that was suspended in the middle of the seventh inning with NC State leading 5-1. That game will be resumed when Campbell returns to Doak Field on April 14, but the stats will not count until the game has been completed. Sterry has officially worked 46 1/3 innings and allowed 16 runs, 11 earned, on 42 hits. He has walked six and struck out 49. In his last start, April 3 at Florida State, Sterry allowed three runs, two earned, on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out nine. He left the game with a 3-2 lead, but did not figure in the decision, a 7-6 loss in 11 innings. Counting the Campbell game of February 14, Sterry has allowed two earned runs or less in all nine starts this season.
Junior righthander Phillip Davidson (3-1, 1.26) will start the series finale against Maryland on Sunday. Davidson will be making his eighth appearance and his fourth start. He has allowed six runs, four of them earned, on 19 hits in 28 2/3 innings. He has walked seven and struck out 27. In his last appearance, April 4 vs. Florida State, he worked 3 1/3 innings of shutout relief, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out two. Davidson has allowed just one run in his last five-plus appearances, covering 18 1/3 innings. He has allowed just one earned run in his last 22 innings.
PLAYING IN PRO PARKS: The series with Maryland has been moved from Shipley Field on the Maryland campus because of delays in putting down a new artificial surface at Shipley. Between that and other renovations at Shipley, Maryland has had to move 17 games off campus to local professional stadiums, including three at The Diamond in Richmond, eight at Prince George's Stadium in Bowie, Md., three at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, Md., and the series with NC State at Frederick. It's all reminiscent of a year ago, when the Wolfpack moved 19 games to other sites while Doak Field was in the early stages of its ongoing renovation.
FLIRTING WITH A NO-NO: One of these days, at the rate he's going, redshirt-sophomore righthander Michael Rogers is bound to pitch a no-hitter. He certainly has flirted with no-hitters enough times in 2004.
* On opening day, February 13 at Campbell, Rogers did not allow a hit until the sixth inning.
* On February 28 at The Citadel, he took a perfect game into the sixth inning, and had a one-hit shutout through eight.
* On March 19 vs. Duke, Rogers took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
* On April 2 at Florida State, Rogers carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning.
In one other start, March 5 at San Diego State, Rogers did not allow a hit for the first 3 2/3 innings, and carried a one-hitter into the sixth inning.
In Major League Baseball, a quality start used to be when a starting pitcher allowed three runs or fewer in at least six innings. Four times this season, Rogers has allowed three hits or fewer in at least six innings. Now that's a quality start!
BREAKING OUT: Heading into NC State's series against Virginia two weekends ago, the Wolfpack offense was struggling, having batted just .220 and scored only 15 runs in its previous five games. The offensive struggles continued in the first game of the UVa series, which the Cavs won 9-2 over Wolfpack All-American Michael Rogers.
The Pack's bats awoke from their slump following that game. In the last seven games, dating back to the middle game of the Virginia series, NC State is hitting .327 (83-for-254) with 14 doubles, two triples and five home runs. NC State has scored 62 runs, 8.9 per game, in those seven games.
DO NOT WALK: NC State pitching coach Chris Roberts doesn't get too worked up about gaudy strikeout numbers, but he makes no attempt to hide his disdain for walks.
Roberts was pleased by the performance of his pitching staff earlier this season, although recent trends have been troubling. For the season, Wolfpack pitchers have walked 79 and struck out 277 in 267 2/3 innings. That comes to 2.66 walks and 9.31 strikeouts per nine innings, with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.51-to-1.
Sounds great - and it is - but through the first 16 games of the season, Wolfpack pitchers had walked just 27 and struck out 144 in 142 innings, an average of 1.71 walks and 9.13 strikeouts per nine innings, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5.33-to-1.
In 125 2/3 innings over the last 14 games, NC State pitchers have walked 52 and struck out 133. That averages out to 3.72 walks and 9.53 strikeouts per nine inings, and a 2.56-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
MEZ MOST IMPROVED: If there was an award given for the Wolfpack's most improved player, the 2004 award almost certainly would go to junior outfielder Lee Mezistrano. Used primarily as a fourth outfielder and pinch-hitter a year ago, Mezistrano hit .262 in 84 at-bats in 2003.
This season, Mezistrano ranks second on the team in hitting with a .371 average. He has six doubles, which is tied for second, and 18 RBIs, which ranks third. His average has not dipped below .323 all season.
Mezistrano heads into play this weekend on a hot streak, having hit safely in seven straight games. He is hitting .433 (13-for-30) with three doubles and 10 RBIs during the hitting streak.
DIAZ'S BIG HOMECOMING: For players who go away to school, it's always nice to get the opportunity to play a game or series of games in your home state. Wolfpack shortstop Jonathan Diaz made the most of his return home when NC State played at Florida State from April 2-4.
Diaz, from Coral Gables, Fla., had five hits, three of them doubles, in 11 at-bats in the series. He went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs in the first game, then went 1-for-3 with a double in the middle game of the series. Diaz finished the series with a single in four at-bats in the finale.
In the top of the seventh inning of NC State's 7-6 loss to Florida State on April 3, Holt was momentarily knocked cold by a swinging bat as he attempted to join his teammates to celebrate the Wolfpack taking a 5-3 lead on a two-run double by Jake Muyco. As Holt approached the celebration, shortstop Jonathan Diaz, swinging a bat in the on-deck circle while awaiting his turn to bat, caught Holt flush in the mouth with the fat part of the bat. Holt went down as if hit by a sniper.
Fortunately, Holt was not seriously injured. After regaining his senses, he was taken to the trainer's room at Dick Howser Stadium and received five stitches on the inside of his mouth. Diaz, who had five hits, including three doubles, in the series, obviously hit everything hard that weekend. Holt is available to play this week vs. ODU and Maryland.
