North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Rivalry Week at the Doak: NC State vs. UNC
4/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. After four road series in five weekends, NC State gets a doozy of a weekend for a homecoming. Arch-rival North Carolina, ranked as high as No. 4 in the latest college baseball polls, comes to Doak Field at Dail Park this weekend for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series.
The Tar Heels, 35-9 overall and 14-7 in the ACC, lead the ACC’s Coastal Division by a half-game over Georgia Tech and Virginia, but have lost four of their last eight games, including a series loss last weekend at ACC-leading Florida State. The Wolfpack, 28-14 overall and 11-10 in the ACC, are third in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, 5 1/2 games behind the Seminoles and 1 1/2 games behind second-place Clemson. Boston College trails the Wolfpack by just two games and hosts Virginia Tech this weekend.
Fans can watch all three games live via online videostreaming on ACC Select at http://ncsu.accselect.com. In addition, all three games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and will be available on gopack.com through Pack Pass.
SOLD OUT: Tickets for this weekend’s series have all sold out. There will be no tickets available for any of the three games.
NC STATE VS. NORTH CAROLINA: The Tar Heels lead the series with the Wolfpack by a 144-117-1 margin. North Carolina defeated NC State three times in four meetings a year ago, sweeping the Pack by scores of 7-3, 3-2 and 4-0 at Boshamer Stadium behind their big three pitching rotation of Andrew Miller, Robert Woodard and Daniel Bard. Bard’s shutout in the series finale was the last time NC State has been blanked, a span of 60 games. NC State came back to defeat UNC and Miller 9-3 in the first round of the ACC Tournament behind the pitching of Gib Hobson and three hits and sterling defensive play from Drew Martin at third base. NC State has won three of the last four regular-season series from North Carolina and is 8-6 vs. UNC in that time. The Wolfpack has won 18 of 34 meetings with the Tar Heels since Elliott Avent became head coach in 1997, including a 4-11 record at Boshamer Stadium, a 10-5 mark at Doak Field at Dail Park, a 1-0 record in a non-ACC game at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in 1988, and a 3-0 record in Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament games.
THE ROTATION: Sophomore lefthander Eric Surkamp (3-2, 2.88) will start for the Wolfpack in the series opener on Friday. Surkamp has been the Pack’s tough-luck pitcher this season, with no-decisions in six of his last eight starts. In thhose eight starts, he is 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA, allowing 47 hits, walking 14 and striking out 47 in 53 1/3 innings. In his last appearance, April 20 at Georgia Tech, he carried a five-hit shutout into the bottom of the ninth only to lose 2-1 on a one-out double by Wally Crancer. For the season Surkamp has made 11 starts and allowed 58 hits, walked 20 and struck out 60 in 65 2/3 innings. Senior righthander Robert Woodard (7-1, 2.05) will get the start on Friday for the Tar Heels.
Junior righthander Andrew Brackman (6-4, 3.90) will start for the Wolfpack on Saturday. Brackman has made 11 starts and allowed 36 runs, 29 of them earned, on 70 hits in a career-high 67 innings. He has walked 28 and struck out 62. In his last start, April 21 at Georgia Tech, Brackman allowed four runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out nine, and took the loss in a 4-3 defeat. Freshman righthander Alex White (4-3, 3.26) will start on Saturday for UNC.
Freshman lefthander Jimmy Gillheeney (3-2, 4.43) will make his 13th appearance and his seventh start of the year in Sunday’s series finale. Gillheeney moved into the weekend rotation five weeks ago and is 2-1 with a 7.29 ERA since then, but his high ERA as a starter is largely due to subpar performances the last two weekends, at Miami and at Georgia Tech. Against the Yellow Jackets, he was roughed up for six runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out one. In his last two outings, Gillheeney is 0-1 and has allowed 11 runs on 12 hits in 4 1/3 innings. For the season, Gillheeney has worked 44 2/3 innings and allowed 47 hits, walked 15 and struck out 33. Sophomore righthander Luke Putkonen (6-1, 3.78) will start Sunday for North Carolina.
OFFENSIVE WOES: To say that NC State’s offense is struggling would be quite an understatement. In the team’s last six Atlantic Coast Conference games, the Wolfpack is hitting .232 and has scored 32 runs (5.3 runs per game). But those numbers include a 19-9 blowout of Miami on April 15. Take that game out of the equation and NC State, in the other five games in that six-game stretch, is hitting .163 and has scored 13 runs (2.6 per game). NC State batted .204 with runners on base in those five games, .188 with runners in scoring position.
In the Georgia Tech series this past weekend, NC State batted .167 and scored seven runs (2.3 per game). The Pack batted .167 (5-for-30) with runners on base, but only .118 (2-for-17) with runners in scoring position. NC State batters struck out 33 times in the three games, including 17 times in the second game of the series. That’s the most strikeouts in a game by NC State in at least 10 years, and the most in a thre-game span since the 2004 team fanned 39 times from April 3-April 7 (15 vs. Florida State on April 3; 10 vs. Florida State on April 4; and 14 vs. Old Dominion on April 7).
WHO’S HOT: NC State’s offense was shut down for most of the last two ACC series, but several hitters have been productive even during the cold stretch. Senior catcher Caleb Mangum went 2-for-13 in each of the last two weekend series. He rebounded on Wednesday with a single, a home run and four RBIs vs. UNC Wilmington. Mangum has 12 hits in his last 44 at-bats (10 games). Prior to that, Mangum had a 10-game hitting streak in which he batted .452.
Junior DH/first baseman Mike Roskopf had just one hit in eight at-bats at Georgia Tech, but the one hit was a home run. Over the last 15 games, Roskopf is hitting .373 (19-for-51) with six homers and 15 RBIs.
Sophomore left fielder Jeremy Synan had two hits in three at-bats Wwednesday vs. UNC Wilmington, but went 1-for-10 with a home run at Georgia Tech. He is batting .324 (11-for-34) in his last 10 games.
Freshman second baseman Dallas Poulk hit a double and a single in eight at-bats at Georgia Tech, and has been a consistent performer all season, hitting .353 for the year and .297 (11-for-37) in his last 10 games.
Junior shortstop Ramon Corona went 4-for-8 with a double and a homer in the Georgia Tech series, and has been hitting well the second half of the season. Corona is hitting .375 (6-for-16) in his last five games, and .350 (14-for-40) in his last 12 games.
STATISTICAL ODDITIES: In the for what it’s worth dept., NC State has less than 10 hits in each of the last four games, matching its season-long streak (March 4-9) ... The Wolfpack has homered in four consecutive games for the first time since the first six games of the season ... NC State pitchers have allowed 10 or more hits in a game in eight of the last 11 games, including six games in a row from April 6 vs. Florida State through April 15 vs. Miami ... Florida State has recorded double digits in hits against NC State eight games in a row ... The Pack has 25 hits in its last four games, the lowest hit total for a four-game stretch since getting 25 hits in the last three gamaes of the 2005 ACC Tournament and the first game of the 2005 NCAA Lincoln Regional ... The Wolfpack has averaged 1444 fans per game for its last seven home games ... NC State’s five hits April 4 vs. East Carolina was the fewest hits in an NC State victory since getting five hits and defeating East Carolina 3-0 in Greenville on April 20, 2005. The last time the Wolfpack had fewer than five hits in a game and won was April 10, 2005, in a 1-0 shutout at Virginia. NC State had four hits in that game. The Wolfpack matched its five-hit output April 14 at Miami in a 5-1 defeat ... NC State’s unbeaten streak in games in which it hit at least one home run ended March 24 in Wake Forest’s 16-3 rout of the Pack. NC State now is 21-5 when it hits at least one home run ... The Pack is 11-8 when its opponent scores first, and 7-2 when its opponent scores in the first inning ... The Wolfpack is 19-9 when the opponent starts a righthander and 9-5 when the other team’s starter is a lefty ... NC State is 5-0 in shutouts.
