North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Home For Midweek Game vs. East Carolina
4/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. — NC State will take a one-week respite from its lengthy road trip to play four huge games at home this week, beginning Wednesday night vs. East Carolina.
NC State enters the game with a 22-8 record and riding a five-game winning streak. The Wolfpack has won 10 of its last 12 games. The Pirates, meanwhile, enter the game at 21-8 and have won 15 of their last 17 games. ECU had a 14-game winning streak snapped this past Friday at Tulane, which won two of three games from ECU in a Conference USA weekend series. East Carolina currently is ranked No. 22 by Baseball America and No. 26 by Collegiate Baseball. NC State currently is unranked.
NC STATE VS. EAST CAROLINA: The Wolfpack holds a 59-36 advantage in the series vs. the Pirates, 11-8 under head coach Elliott Avent, and has won six of the last seven meetings between the two. The Wolfpack won an extra-innings thriller in Greenville during the Keith LeClair Classic on March 3, winning 5-4 in 10 innings on Mike Roskopf’s two-out pinch-single to left field. Eryk McConnell got the win with 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief. NC State and East Carolina played three one-run games a year ago, with each team winning at home. The Wolfpack won 5-4 on March 29 at Doak Field at Dail Park, dropped a 2-1 game in 13 innings April 12 at Clark-LeClair Stadium, then won 4-3 at the Doak on April 18 on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning.
ON THE MOUND: Freshman righthander Nate Karns (1-0, 1.38) is making his fourth appearance of the season and his fourth start tonight against East Carolina. Karns began the season on the shelf with a sore back, then made his first appearance on March 6 in a 10-8 loss at UNC Greensboro. He worked four innings and pitched well for the first three before tiring in the fourth and allowing three runs, two of them earned, on three hits. He walked three and struck out three. He has made two starts since then — March 13 vs. Valparaiso and March 28 vs. UNCG — and has been lights out, working nine shutout innings, allowing two hits, striking out 11 and not allowing a walk. Freshman righthander Mike Anderson (1-0, 1.50) will make his third appearance and his second start of the year for East Carolina.
400 WINS AND COUNTING: NC State’s 6-2 win April 1 at Boston College was Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent’s 400th win in his 10-plus seasons at NC State. Avent is the second NC State baseball coach to win 400 games or more, joining Sam Esposito, who went 513-253 from 1967-87. Avent’s career record now stands at 625-454 in 18-plus seasons. He spent nine seasons at New Mexico State prior to becoming NC State’s head coach in 1997.
HOME TURF: Since Doak Field underwent a $5 million renovation during the 2003-04 seasons, NC State has been tough to beat at home. Although the Wolfpack played 10 games at the Doak in 2003 and 27 more in 2004, those games were played while the ballpark was under construction.
The 2005 season was the first for the new Doak Field at Dail Park, and the Pack protected its home field well, posting a 27-5 record at home, the fifth best home record since Doak Field first opened in 1966. The Pack went 24-7 at home a year ago and is 14-3 at the Doak this season. That makes NC State 65-15 at home since Doak Field at Dail Park re-opened in 2005, an .813 winning percentage.
STATISTICAL ODDITIES: In the for what it’s worth dept., NC State’s unbeaten streak in games in which it hit at least one home run came to an end March 24 at Wake Forest. After sweeping Boston College this past weekend, the Wolfpack now is 17-1 when it hits at least one home run, and 5-7 when held without a homer … NC State has a 6-5 mark when its opponent homers … The Wolfpack is 7-1 when the opponent does not make an error (Virginia Tech on March 18 managed to snap the Wolfpack’s six-game winning streak in this category) … The Pack is 7-4 when its opponent scores first, and 5-1 when its opponent scores in the first inning … The Wolfpack is 16-5 vs. righthanded starters and 6-3 vs. lefties … NC State is 5-0 in shutouts.
ONE-RUN GAMES: NC State is 2-1 in its only one-run games of 2007. Based on recent history, the Wolfpack probably needs to play more one-run games. From 2003-06, the Wolfpack had a 39-18 record in games decided by one run, including a 12-3 mark in 2003 and an 8-3 mark in 2005.
HOT, COLD, HOT AGAIN: NC State began the season on an offensive tear, winning its first five games by big scores, scoring 56 runs (11.2 runs per game) and batting .321 as a team. The next 12 games, the Pack scored just 53 runs (4.4 runs per game) and batted .254. NC State went 6-6 in those 12 games. In its last 13 games, since the final game of the final game of the Maryland series March 11, NC State has batted .335 (159-for-475) and scored 117 runs (9.0 per game).
TOP OF THE ORDER BLUES: Throughout its offensive ups and downs, NC State has struggled to get production from the top three spots in the batting order. For the season, the Wolfpack’s 1-2-3 hitters are batting .259 (91-for-352).
PITCHING NOTES: NC State’s biggest strength all season has been its pitching staff, which has a .297 ERA and is holding opponents to a .277 batting average. Here are a few random notes on Wolfpack pitchers:
• NC State pitchers have held opponents to five runs or less in 24 of 30 games and the Wolfpack is 21-3 in those 24 games.
• NC State has allowed more than three walks in a game just nine times in 30 games, and has averaged just 2.67 walks per nine innings.
• The staff K/BB ratio is 2.80:1 (the school record for a season is 2.77:1 set in 2004).
• A total of 13 NC State pitchers have seen action this season, and 11 of them have worked at least 11 innings. Of those 11, six have ERAs of less than 3.00.
• With five shutouts in the season’s first 30 games, NC State is just two shy of the school record of seven shutouts, set in 1978 (39 games). The last time the Pack threw six shutouts in a season was in 1992.
• NC State pitchers have allowed six hits or less in a game 13 times in 30 games, including the last four games in a row. Wolfpack pitchers have allowed five hits or less in a game seven times, including three four-hitters, a three-hitter and a two-hitter.
• NC State has allowed fewer hits than innings pitched 21 times in 30 games and has a 19-2 record in those games.
• NC State has allowed just 17 home runs in 30 games, and 15 of the 17 long balls were solo shots.
• Freshmen Jimmy Gillheeney and Nate Karns combined are 5-2 with a 2.62 ERA in 12 combined appearances (34 1/3 innings). Opponents are batting .200 against them.
• NC State pitchers have held opponents scoreless in 201 of 270 innings pitched, have allowed more than one run in an inning just 22 times in 270 innings, and more than two runs in an inning just 11 times in 270 innings.
• NC State pitchers have allowed more than two hits in an inning just 42 times in 270 innings, and have allowed more than three hits in an inning just five times.
• NC State’s starting pitchers are 15-4 with a 3.03 ERA, and are holding opposing hitters to a .235 batting average.
• NC State’s bullpen is 7-4 with a 2.88 ERA and 10 saves, and has held opposing hitters to a .217 batting average.
• NC State is undefeated when leading after five innings (18-0), after six innings (19-0), after seven innings (20-0) and after eight innings (20-0).
• NC State relievers have inherited 38 runners and stranded 28 of them.
• NC State closer Eryk McConnell is 2-1 with a 0.42 ERA and six saves. He has retired 60 of the 76 batters he has faced and has allowed just one earned run. His one loss came on an unearned run.
• As a group, Jeff Stallings, Joel Brookens, Eryk McConnell, Jimmy Gillheeney, Andrew Taylor and Kyle Rutter are 4-3 with eight saves and a 1.64 ERA in 48 relief appearances covering 76 2/3 innings.
