North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Welcome to the Neighborhood
5/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 19, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - Heading into its final regular season series against 10th ranked Florida State this weekend, the NC State baseball team has been on a steady, if not dramatic climb that has produced a 22-6 record since the middle of March. And during that eight-week period, the Wolfpack has captured seven consecutive weekend series, six of which were against ACC competition. Now ranked 22nd in one of the major baseball polls, the Pack's NCAA RPI ranking is even higher than that. So what does that all get you in the ACC? How about sixth place. This, my friends, is a very, very tough neighborhood.
Amazingly, it is conceivable that NC State (37-14, 15-12) could sweep FSU (47-14, 18-9) at Doak Field this weekend and still do no better than a No. 5 seeding in next week's ACC Tournament in Jacksonville, Florida.
Is this a neighborhood or a dark inner city alley?
The upcoming three game set between the Pack and `Noles will be one of three series that will pit nationally ranked teams against each other this weekend. In the others, 15th ranked North Carolina will host No. 6 Georgia Tech and 4th rated Miami will visit No. 24 Clemson.
By winning 15 of its last 19 games, NC State is almost the hottest team in the ACC. Almost. That title officially belongs to Florida State, which brings an eye-popping 11-game winning streak to Raleigh. It will take either a strong dose of Freon or some nice home cookin' to cool off the blazing Seminoles. At the risk of offending the tender sensibilities of any environmentalists who may hold tickets this weekend, perhaps the home cookin' will be the more preferable option over Freon.
And home sweet home has been most sweet for the Wolfpack, which has won 25 of 29 games at its newly refurbished ballpark this season. Of course, one of the main incentives behind the reconstruction of Doak Field the last few years was to set up future opportunities to host NCAA regionals and super regionals.
One of those opportunities could possibly be at hand if - and this is a big `If" - the Wolfpack can take at least two of three from FSU. At the moment, NC State's bid to host a regional is strong. Not only has the Pack played its best baseball down the stretch, its overall record and rankings are solid.
But there's one catch: No ACC team has ever finished sixth and hosted a regional.
This may be a neighborhood, but it's not very friendly.
Either way, it's somewhat remarkable that NC State is even in this position. After being swept at Georgia Tech in Atlanta back in March, he Wolfpack dropped to 3-6 in league play. To make matters even worse, the Wolfpack lost the final game of the series 11-10 after giving up three runs in the bottom of the ninth.
As he boarded the bus for the long ride back to Raleigh, NC State head coach Elliott Avent said he felt "devastated." Halfway home, during a dinner break for the players, Avent stayed put in his customary front seat, unable to develop an appetite. No, not even a two-inch thick filet mignon would have tasted very good at that very moment.
But following the bitter weekend in Atlanta, a funny thing happened. The overall pitching began to improve, Aaron Bates got hot and Andrew Brackman turned in his basketball sneakers and put on his baseball cleats. Now pitching to a fairly respectable 4.26 team earned run average, the NC State staff has come a long way since giving up 25 runs in those three games at Tech. Brackman, of course, has provided a spectacular shot in the collective Wolfpack arms, tallying a 3-0 record with a 1.20 ERA. Meanwhile, Aaron Bates has been looking more like another more famous player who carried the last name of Aaron by hitting .481 with eight doubles, six home runs and 30 RBIs since April 1.
It's been a tremendous turnaround by the Wolfpack nine, and nothing would be more satisfying for Avent and company than yet another series win this weekend on the western edge of campus....a place that has become very tough neighborhood for incoming opponents.
