North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Pitching Baffles Opposing Batters
4/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 12, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - One after the other, Virginia's frustrated hitters retreated back to the dugout. Their heads were either shaking or pointed towards the ground. To say they were baffled would be an understatement. After facing a portion of the NC State pitching staff last weekend, the Cavaliers must have felt like they had been swinging toothpicks instead of bats at the plate. In the end, the Wolfpack won two of three games in Charlottesville to get themselves in the hunt for a postseason bid to the regionals. Now 24-10 overall and 7-8 in ACC play, the Pack has a chance to make some noise in coming weeks, especially if its pitchers continue their spectacular roll.
The three games in Charlottesville had a throwback quality to them. In an age when hitting regularly holds the upper hand in college baseball, all three games were played in less than three hours. The first two games of the series - a 2-0 Virginia win on Friday and a 6-0 NC State triumph the next day - took less time than a trip down Six Forks Road at 5:00 p.m.
Of course, it didn't hurt that UVa's ballpark is just a tad bit smaller than the Grand Canyon. Over the course of the weekend, Wolfpack right fielder Brian Aragon was the only player on either team to threaten the distant blue fence when he banged one off the top of the wall in right on Saturday.
So this is what the dead ball era looked like before Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees.
By the time the Pack was in the bus and treading its way back to Raleigh following a satisfying 1-0 win on Sunday, Virginia coach Brian O'Connor needed a magnifying glass to see his team's batting average in the series. Let's see....16 hits in 90 at bats comes out to...a buck-77.
On Friday, NC State starter Jeff Stallings held the Cavaliers hitless through five innings before leaving after surrendering only one base knock and a single earned run in the sixth. But Virginia's Matt Avery was even better, pitching eight shutout innings before turning it over to closer Casey Lambert in the ninth.
The next day, Wolfpack lefty Branden Knapp was masterful. Using both sides of the plate with his fastball and keeping the Cavaliers off balance with a wicked curve, Knapp got the first out and the last out in a complete game five-hitter. It was the first complete game shutout recorded in a conference game this year and earned Knapp ACC Pitcher of the Week honors.
But the Pack pitchers weren't through.
After blanking Virginia through six on Sunday, Gib Hobson handed off to a well-rested Joey Devine, who finished the job in a thrilling 1-0 win to take the series. And although he faced a few nervous moments in the late innings, Devine is one of those special guys who have the ability grab a little extra when the time is right. The time was most certainly right when he left the tying run at third by blowing a white tracer past Sean Doolittle to end the game. Picking up five strikeouts in his three innings of work on Sunday, the Pack closer now has 39 punch-outs in just 27 and 1/3 innings this season.
Over its last seven games - a stretch that covers 65 innings - the Wolfpack staff has surrendered only 10 earned runs, which computes to a team earned run average of - gulp - 1.38. The recent success has lowered the season earned run average from 5.06 to 4.27.
Over that same period, NC State pitchers have struck out 46 and walked only 17.
All of this has been done with Andrew Brackman trying to get himself into the swing of things. Since coming over from the basketball team, the freshman right-hander has pitched just twice. Brackman, who received rock star-like ovations in his two appearances at Doak Field, was ready if needed on Sunday. But there's only one mound and one ball, and the guys who have been toeing the rubber of late for the Wolfpack have been sending a lot of opposing hitters back to the dugout with their heads down.
NC State will host UNC-Wilmington Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. The Wolfpack will then go back out on the road for three big league games against Wake Forest Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All games can be heard on WKNC 88.1 FM.
