North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Softball Opens ACC Season at Home Against Boston College
3/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 17, 2006
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NC State softball (22-10) will host the newest member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Boston College (7-7), in the conference opener for both teams this weekend. The three-game series kicks off with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 18 at 1 p.m. at the Walnut Creek Softball Complex. The final game is slated for a 1 p.m. start on Sunday. NC State is fresh off of an 11-day spring break trip which culminated with the Silver Bracket championship of the USF adidas Invitational in Clearwater, Fla.
After posting an impressive 13-4 record over its spring break trip, NC State is ready to return home to Raleigh for only the second time this season, as 30 of the 32 games have been away from home.
NC State has won four straight games, all by shutout. Abbie Sims is tied for first in the conference in wins and leads the team with 12 wins and 139 strikeouts. Her 1.83 ERA is second on the team behind Shaina Ervin's 1.72. Ervin has posted a 4-2 mark in 11 appearances this season. Megan Dalthorp has emerged as a strong pitching option, and her 6-2 record is second on the team. She tossed her first shutout of the season in the championship game of the USF adidas Tournament against Purdue to lower her ERA to 2.18, third on the team.
Offensively the Wolfpack is riding the hot bat of Heather Gelbard. She hit .444 in the Buzz Classic with five home runs and leads the team with a .303 average this season. Miranda Ervin is hitting .300 and has 26 RBIs, five home runs and four doubles in just 26 games (18 starts). She is slugging .617, the fifth best mark in the ACC.
Shanna Smith has been nearly impossible to stop on the base paths, stealing 18 bases in 20 attempts. Her 18 steals rank first in the ACC and is the single season and career records for NC State. She has scored 24 runs in 32 games; six off of the school record for a single season.
Head coach Lisa Navas has 95 wins at NC State in three years and 430 in her career overall over 12 years.
