North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Baseball To Host East Carolina On Wednesday
4/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 5, 2005
RALEGH, N.C. - The second game of four between NC State and East Carolina in 2005 will be Wednesday at Doak Field. Game time is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live over WKNC-FM (88.1) and on the internet on gopack.com through Yahoo's subscription service. Live in-gamae stats will be available through the Gamaetracker.
THE STARTING PITCHERS: Senior righthander Phil Davidson (2-3, 4.06) will get the start for the Wolfpack. Davidson will be making his eighth appearance and his seventh start of the season. He has worked 31 innings, allowing 22 runs, 14 of them earned, on 37 hits. He has walked 10 and struck out 23. Davidson's last start was a keeper. On March 26 vs. Lehigh, in the second game of a doubleheader, he worked 7 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits. He struck out six and did not allow a walk.
Senor lefthander P.J. Connelly (2-0, 3.27) will start for the Pirates. This will be Connelly's ninth appearance, all starts. He has worked 44 innings and allowed 20 runs, 16 earned, on 46 hits. He has walked 15 and struck out 25. In his last start, April 1 at Texas Christian, Connelly went just three innings in an 8-5 loss. He allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk, but did not figure in the decision.
NC STATE VS. EAST CAROLINA: NC State holds a 53-35 advantage in the series with East Carolina, but the Pirates have won the last three meetings and five of the last seven. The Wolfpack is 4-7 vs. ECU in Elliott Avent's tenure as head coach. The two teams met earlier this season, February 26 in Charleston, S.C., in the Homewood Suites Shootout, with the Pirates rolling to a 13-1 rout of the Wolfpack. ECU ended the suspense early scoring six runs in the top of the third inning, capped by Adam Witter's grand-slam home run. Mark Minicozzi went 4-for-6 with a double and three RBIs. Jake Muyco had two of the Wolfpack's six hits and drove in the Pack's only run. Mike Flye won his third decision in as many attempts by allowing three hits in 5 1/3 shutout innings. Greeneville native Jeff Stallings took the loss for the Wolfpack after yielding six runs on five hits in four innings on the mound.
The Pirates defeated the Wolfpack twice in as many attempts a year ago, winning 6-3 on April 21 at Doak Field and 7-2 on May 12 at Grainger Stadium in Kinston. Ryan Norwood homered and Ryan Jones drove in three runs in the April 21 game at the Doak to back the six-hit pitching of four ECU pitchers. Muyco, David Hicks and Jason St. Julien drove in one run each for the Wolfpack. In the return engagement at Kinston, the Pirates again used four pitchers, who limited the Wolfpack to just four singles. Minicozzi hit a two-run home run, and Jamie Paige and Darryl Lawhorn had two hits each for ECU. Matt Camp went 2-for-4 for the Wolfpack. Mike Jensen and Lee Mezistrano drove in NC State's only runs.
SCOUTING EAST CAROLINA: The Pirates got off to a 12-4 start before hitting a tough stretch and losing seven of their last 11 games heading into action vs. the Wolfpack this week. This past weekend, they dropped two of three to Texas Christian in a Conference USA series, losing the opener 8-5, taking the middle game 10-5 and dropping the finale 4-0. Senior shortstop Billy Richardson leads the ECU attack with a .423 average, 34 runs scored, eight doubles, three triples, four home runs, 26 RBIs and seven steals in nine attempts. Senior outfielder Drew Costanzo leads the Pirates with seven home runs and is hitting .276 with 22 RBIs. Junior third baseeman Mark Minicozzi is the team RBI leader with 28 and checks in with a .330 average, nine doubles and three home runs. Sophomore outfielder Mike Grace is hitting .340 with four homers, 23 RBIs and a team-high 13 doubles.
LEADERS OF THE PACK: NC State comes into action this week having won six of its last seven games after dropping the finale of last weekend's three-game ACC series with Virginia Tech, 5-4 in 12 innings. Aside from a three-game sweep in Georgia Tech -- the Yellow Jackets' eighth consecutive sweep of an ACC series -- the Wolfpack has not lost back-to-back games all season while fashioing a pair of six-game winning streaks. Junior catcher Jake Muyco, who has hit safely in every game but two this season, leads the team with a .387 average, 10 doubles and 24 RBIs. He enters play against ECU with an eight-game hitting streak on the line. Earlier, he had an 18-game hitting streak, which was snapped in the series loss at Georgia Tech. Aside from Muyco, senior third baseman Matt Devine and sophomore first baseman Aaron Bates have been the Pack's most consistent offensive threats. Despite hitting just .192 (5-for-26) in his last eight games, Devine is hitting .385 for the season with eight doubles, three triples, one home run and 22 RBIs. Bates is hitting .380 with eight doubles and team highs of four home runs and 29 RBIs.
ON DECK: Following this evening's game with East Carolina, the Wolfpack will hit the road for most of the next two weeks, beginning with a three-game series this coming weekend at Virginia. Game times will be 7 p.m. on Friday, and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday game is the ACC TV Game of the Week on Fox Sports Net.
HOME SWEET HOME: With a 17-2 record at Doak Field, NC State already is off to one of the best starts at home in school history, and has the best home record after 19 games since Elliott Avent became head coach in 1997.
Avent's 1997 team finished 30-3 at the Doak, the best home record in school history, and also had a 17-2 record through its first 19 home games. That team won 30 of its first 32 home games before losing its home finale to Radford. The 1994 Wolfpack was 22-1 at home before taking its second home loss of the season. The '94 team wound up 27-4 at home. The 1987 Wolfpack got off to a 17-1 start at home before losing its second home game. That team finished 22-3 at home. The 1990 and '93 teams both were 16-1 before losing a second home game. The 1990 team finished 27-4 at the Doak, the '93 team 23-6.
