North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Baseball At The Beach
2/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. — The first home stand of the season was a rousing success, six wins in as many games. Now, the NC State baseball team takes its first road trip of the 2007 season, heading to Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Coastal Carolina’s annual Baseball at the Beach tournament.
NC State will play West Virginia on Friday at Coastal Carolina’s Watson Stadium in Conway. Game time is 2 p.m. On Saturday, NC State will play Coastal Carolina 12:30 p.m. at Myrtle Beach’s Coastal Federal Field, the home of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Class A Carolina League. On Sunday, the Pack will play TCU at 4 p.m., also at Coastal Federal Field.
“We’ve played very well so far this season, but this weekend will be a different kind of test for us,” Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent said. “First of all, we’ll be on the road for the first time. Also, we’re going to be facing a very good field in this event. West Virginia is off to a good start, and Coastal Carolina and TCU are both ranked, so this will be a very challenging weekend for us.”
RANKINGS: NC State has cracked the rankings in two of the four national polls that have been released so far this season. The Wolfpack is No. 21 in the rivals.com poll, and No. 26 by Collegiate Baseball magazine.
NC STATE VS. THE FIELD: NC State has faced two of its three Baseball at the Beach opponents previously. The Wolfpack has a series record of 7-2-1 vs. West Virginia. The Pack has won the last six meetings with the Mountaineers, with the last loss to WVU coming in 1966. NC State defeated West Virginia 12-4 in the Keith LeClair Classic a year ago in Greenville, N.C. NC State has a 9-7 mark against Coastal Carolina. The Wolfpack has lost the last two games against Coastal Carolina and three of the last five. The two teams have not met since 2000. NC State has never faced TCU.
THE ROTATION: NC State will send junior righthander Jeff Stallings to the mound Friday vs. West Virginia, junior righthander Andrew Brackman on Saturday vs. Coastal Carolina, and sophomore lefty Eric Surkamp on Sunday vs. TCU.
Stallings has pitched twice, one start and one relief appearance, and has allowed three runs on eight hits in nine innings. He has walked one and struck out nine. In his last outing, February 18 vs. Gardner-Webb, he worked four shutout innings in relief, allowing two hits and striking out five without issuing a walk. He retired 12 of the 14 men he faced, including eight of the last nine.
The temperature for Brackman’s two starts has been right at 40 degrees, but the weather did not appear to affect him adversely. He worked five innings in each start and allowed three hits in each. He pitched four scoreless innings in his first start, February 9 vs. William & Mary, before allowing two runs, one earned, in the top of the fifth. He walked one and struck out three in his five innings. The following week, February 17 vs. Gardner-Webb, he worked five scoreless innings, walked two and struck out eight, the third-highest strikeout total of his career.
Surkamp started the February 18 game vs. Gardner-Webb and allowed three runs, two earned, in four innings. He walked two and struck out a career-high nine, including the first eight outs he recorded. He fanned six in a row at one point.
HOT PARROTHEAD: Junior right fielder Ryan Pond has gotten off to a fast start for the Wolfpack, batting .357 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in six games. Pond hit just three home runs all of 2006 and just one as a freshman in 2005. Two of his three home runs this season tied the game, erasing the only two deficits NC State has faced in six games. Pond did not notch his 11th RBI last season until March 15 vs. UNC Greensboro, his 17th game of the season. As a freshman in 2005, he got RBI No. 11 on April 23 at Clemson, his 21st game of the year.
HOT FRESHMAN: In three appearances, both scoreless, freshman lefty Jimmy Gillheeney has retired 26 of the 32 batters he has faced, and has set down 26 of the last 30. He has allowed four hits and two walks in nine innings, with eight strikeouts. He has allowed two baserunners in an inning just twice, and has allowed just four runners to reach scoring position. Opponents are hitting .133 against him.
FAST START: This season’s 6-0 start marks the third time in the last four years that NC State has opened the season with at least six consecutive victories. The Pack went 6-0 a year ago before losing 4-3 to Nebraska, and opened the 2004 season with 11 consecutive wins before dropping a 7-4 decision at San Diego State. The 2004, 2006 and 2007 seasons are the only times in Elliott Avent’s 10-plus seasons as head coach that NC State has begun the season with six or more wins in a row.
BIG BOPPERS: NC State has hit 10 home runs in the first six games of the season, the most home runs by the Wolfpack through six games since the 1996 team hit a dozen long balls in its first six games. That team went on to his 58 homers in 61 games.
STARTERS: NC State’s starting pitchers have combined for a 5-0 record and a 2.42 ERA. Opponents are hitting .245 against the starters, who have walked seven and struck out 28.
RELIEF: NC State’s bullpen has a 1-0 record, three saves and a 0.96 ERA in 28 innings. The pen has allowed 16 hits, four runs, three of them earned, with three walks and 21 strikeouts. The quintet of Jimmy Gillheeney, Sam Brown, Eryk McConnell, Kyle Rutter and Clayton Shunick has combined to throw 21 1/3 innings in relief, allowing just two runs, one earned, on nine hits while walking three and striking out 16.
DO NOT WALK: NC State’s opponents have yet to draw more than three walks in a game and have drawn as many as three walks in a game just once, Gardner-Webb on February 17. Heading into this weekend at Baseball at the Beach, NC State pitchers have worked 17 2/3 consecutive innings and faced 65 consecutive batters without issuing a walk, striking out 14 in that stretch.
NC State will play West Virginia on Friday at Coastal Carolina’s Watson Stadium in Conway. Game time is 2 p.m. On Saturday, NC State will play Coastal Carolina 12:30 p.m. at Myrtle Beach’s Coastal Federal Field, the home of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Class A Carolina League. On Sunday, the Pack will play TCU at 4 p.m., also at Coastal Federal Field.
“We’ve played very well so far this season, but this weekend will be a different kind of test for us,” Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent said. “First of all, we’ll be on the road for the first time. Also, we’re going to be facing a very good field in this event. West Virginia is off to a good start, and Coastal Carolina and TCU are both ranked, so this will be a very challenging weekend for us.”
RANKINGS: NC State has cracked the rankings in two of the four national polls that have been released so far this season. The Wolfpack is No. 21 in the rivals.com poll, and No. 26 by Collegiate Baseball magazine.
NC STATE VS. THE FIELD: NC State has faced two of its three Baseball at the Beach opponents previously. The Wolfpack has a series record of 7-2-1 vs. West Virginia. The Pack has won the last six meetings with the Mountaineers, with the last loss to WVU coming in 1966. NC State defeated West Virginia 12-4 in the Keith LeClair Classic a year ago in Greenville, N.C. NC State has a 9-7 mark against Coastal Carolina. The Wolfpack has lost the last two games against Coastal Carolina and three of the last five. The two teams have not met since 2000. NC State has never faced TCU.
THE ROTATION: NC State will send junior righthander Jeff Stallings to the mound Friday vs. West Virginia, junior righthander Andrew Brackman on Saturday vs. Coastal Carolina, and sophomore lefty Eric Surkamp on Sunday vs. TCU.
Stallings has pitched twice, one start and one relief appearance, and has allowed three runs on eight hits in nine innings. He has walked one and struck out nine. In his last outing, February 18 vs. Gardner-Webb, he worked four shutout innings in relief, allowing two hits and striking out five without issuing a walk. He retired 12 of the 14 men he faced, including eight of the last nine.
The temperature for Brackman’s two starts has been right at 40 degrees, but the weather did not appear to affect him adversely. He worked five innings in each start and allowed three hits in each. He pitched four scoreless innings in his first start, February 9 vs. William & Mary, before allowing two runs, one earned, in the top of the fifth. He walked one and struck out three in his five innings. The following week, February 17 vs. Gardner-Webb, he worked five scoreless innings, walked two and struck out eight, the third-highest strikeout total of his career.
Surkamp started the February 18 game vs. Gardner-Webb and allowed three runs, two earned, in four innings. He walked two and struck out a career-high nine, including the first eight outs he recorded. He fanned six in a row at one point.
HOT PARROTHEAD: Junior right fielder Ryan Pond has gotten off to a fast start for the Wolfpack, batting .357 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in six games. Pond hit just three home runs all of 2006 and just one as a freshman in 2005. Two of his three home runs this season tied the game, erasing the only two deficits NC State has faced in six games. Pond did not notch his 11th RBI last season until March 15 vs. UNC Greensboro, his 17th game of the season. As a freshman in 2005, he got RBI No. 11 on April 23 at Clemson, his 21st game of the year.
HOT FRESHMAN: In three appearances, both scoreless, freshman lefty Jimmy Gillheeney has retired 26 of the 32 batters he has faced, and has set down 26 of the last 30. He has allowed four hits and two walks in nine innings, with eight strikeouts. He has allowed two baserunners in an inning just twice, and has allowed just four runners to reach scoring position. Opponents are hitting .133 against him.
FAST START: This season’s 6-0 start marks the third time in the last four years that NC State has opened the season with at least six consecutive victories. The Pack went 6-0 a year ago before losing 4-3 to Nebraska, and opened the 2004 season with 11 consecutive wins before dropping a 7-4 decision at San Diego State. The 2004, 2006 and 2007 seasons are the only times in Elliott Avent’s 10-plus seasons as head coach that NC State has begun the season with six or more wins in a row.
BIG BOPPERS: NC State has hit 10 home runs in the first six games of the season, the most home runs by the Wolfpack through six games since the 1996 team hit a dozen long balls in its first six games. That team went on to his 58 homers in 61 games.
STARTERS: NC State’s starting pitchers have combined for a 5-0 record and a 2.42 ERA. Opponents are hitting .245 against the starters, who have walked seven and struck out 28.
RELIEF: NC State’s bullpen has a 1-0 record, three saves and a 0.96 ERA in 28 innings. The pen has allowed 16 hits, four runs, three of them earned, with three walks and 21 strikeouts. The quintet of Jimmy Gillheeney, Sam Brown, Eryk McConnell, Kyle Rutter and Clayton Shunick has combined to throw 21 1/3 innings in relief, allowing just two runs, one earned, on nine hits while walking three and striking out 16.
DO NOT WALK: NC State’s opponents have yet to draw more than three walks in a game and have drawn as many as three walks in a game just once, Gardner-Webb on February 17. Heading into this weekend at Baseball at the Beach, NC State pitchers have worked 17 2/3 consecutive innings and faced 65 consecutive batters without issuing a walk, striking out 14 in that stretch.
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