North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Baseball Cracks Top 25
5/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May. 2, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State baseball team has won six weekend series in a row, five of them in Atlantic Coast Conference play, and the Wolfpack's most recent series win, over then-seventh-ranked North Carolina, lifted the Pack into the national rankings for the first time in 2005.
NC State (32-13 overall, 13-11 in the ACC) is ranked No. 23 in the latest Baseball America poll, the first ranking for the Wolfpack since April 12, 2004, when Collegiate Baseball ranked the Wolfpack 24th.
NC State Baseball Notes: At 32-13, NC State is three games ahead of last year's pace. The Wolfpack was 29-16 after 45 games in 2004 en route to a 36-24 final record.
• The Pack is now 17-5 since being swept at Georgia Tech the weekend of March 18-20. The sweep at the hands of the Yellow Jackets is still the only time in 2005 that the Wolfpack has lost consecutive games. Take away the two series losses at Miami and Georgia Tech and the Wolfpack is 31-8.
• Sophomore first baseman Aaron Bates, who hit a grand-slam home run and a double in Sunday's series clincher against North Carolina, is hitting an even .500 (17-for-34) with five doubles, two homers and 10 RBIs in his last 10 games. Bates batted .446 (25-for-56) with six doubles, three home runs and 16 RBIs in the month of April. He currently leads the Wolfpack in batting average (.399), runs scored (43), doubles (14), home runs (7), RBIs (45), slugging percentage (.633), walks (30), total bases (100) and on-base percentage (.512).
• Freshman second baseman Ramon Corona is hitting .361 (22-for-61) with four doubles, one homer and six RBIs in his last 15 games. Corona leads the Wolfpack in hitting in home games with a .418 mark.
• After posting staff ERAs of 4.41 for February and 5.52 in March, NC State's pitching staff fashioned a 3.55 ERA for the month of April, a big reason for the team's 12-5 record for the month. Jason Duncan (2-0, 0.55), Jeff Stallings (2-1, 0.93), Andrew Brackman (1-0, 1.80), Joey Devine (2-2, 2.37 with 5 saves) and Phillip Davidson (2-0, 3.43) were the staff leaders in April.
• Joey Devine's next save will be his 10th of the season and will make him the first reliever in school history to record 10 saves or more in a season three times. He will become only the third ACC pitcher to notch 10 saves three times, joining Thad Chrismon of North Carolina and Scott Winchester of Clemson, both of whom had at least 10 saves a year from 1993-95.
• Devine's intentional walk of Matt Ellington in Friday's win over UNC snapped a string of 79 consecutive hitters faced without a walk, and his walk of Reid Fronk on Saturday snapped a string of 95 consecutive batters faced without an unintentional walk.
• North Carolina snapped Jason Duncan's consecutive scoreless innings streak at 20 1/3 with an eighth-inning run on Saturday. Duncan had made nine consecutive scoreless appearances.
• The final attendance figure for the three-game weekend series came to 7567, the most for a three-game series at the new Doak Field, which features all chairback seating. Prior to the renovation, the ballpark featured only bleacher seating and standing room, which allowed for somewhat larger, if considerably less comfortable, crowds. The North Carolina series in 1997 drew a three-game attendance of 8369, and the 1999 series with the Tar Heels drew 8100.
• NC State is 30-1 when leading after eight innings ... The Wolfpack has 17 come-from-behind victories this year, six of them walk-off victories, including two against North Carolina this past weekend ... NC State's starting pitchers are 18-9 with a 4.13 ERA, while the bullpen is 14-4 with a 4.97 ERA and 12 saves.
