North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball At Cary To Take On Rival Tar Heels
3/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. For the NC State baseball team, this is rivalry week. This weekend, the Wolfpack travels to the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary to take on rival North Carolina in a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series.
Game times for the three games at 7 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Saturday’s game time was originally scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, but was changed due to conflicts with North Carolina’s likely game Saturday in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
North Carolina (20-4 overall, 7-2 in the ACC) comes into the series ranked as high as second in the national polls. The Tar Heels have won four games in a row and 10 of their last 11. NC State is 14-8 overall and 4-5 in the conference. Struggling offensively, the Wolfpack has lost three of its last four games.
NC State junior righthander Clayton Shunick (2-2, 1.55) will start on Friday against sophomore righthander Alex White (3-2, 2.19) for North Carolina. On Saturday, Wolfpack junior lefthander Eric surkamp (1-2, 4.50) will face junior righthander Adam Warren (4-0, 4.56) for UNC. In the Sunday finalae, senior righthander Eryk McConnell (2-1, 4.62) will pitch for the Wolfpack and will be opposed by freshman righthander Matt Harvey (3-1, 1.19) for the Tar Heels.
North Carolina comes into the series ranked in the naitonal top 10 in both team batting average and team ERA. The H eels are hitting .332 as a unit, led by sophomore Dustin Ackleyfirst baseman-outfielder Dustin Ackley at .433 with four home runs and 21 RBIs. Kyle Seager (.394-33-32 with 16 doubles), Tim Fedroff (.385-7-26) and Seth Williams (.349-4-24) all have made major contributions to the North Carolina offense.
The Wolfpack enters the series having lost three of four, with two of the losses being low-hit performances, a two-hitter at Clemson last Sunday and a one-hitter at the hands of Marshall on Wednesday. Matt Payne (.373-1-17) and Marcus Jones (.329-2-15) are the Pack’s offensive leaders.
The Move to Cary: North Carolina is playing all of its home games at the USA Baseball site this season while Boshamer Stadium on the UNC campus undergoes a facelift.
NC State vs. North Carolina: NC State and North Carolina have met 266 times previously in baseball, with the Tar Heels holding a 147-118-1 advantage in the series. NC State head coach Elliott Avent is 19-19 in 11 seasons vs. North Carolina, which has won seven of the last 10 meetings between the two teams. NC State under Avent is 11-6 vs. North Carolina at Doak Field at Dail Park, 4-11 at Boshamer Stadium, 1-0 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, and 3-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. The two teams have never met in Cary.
NC State won the series opener at the Doak last season, exorcising some demons in the process with an 11-1 rout of longtime Wolfpack killer Robert Woodard. Marcus Jones’s grand slam home run in the first inning got the avalanche started, and the Pack rolled from there. NC State held a 3-2 lead after seven innings of the middle game of the series, but the Tar Heels erupted for six runs in the eighth and one more in the ninth to prevail 9-3. In the finale, North Carolina scored twice in the sixth, once in the seventh and twice more in the eighth to overcome a 5-2 NC State lead and take a 7-5 victory. Woodard then gained a measure of revenge in the second round of the ACC Tournament with a 14-5 win.
Slumbering Bats: NC State has lost three of its last four games, and the Wolfpack offense has been in hibernation during the four-game slide. Counting Tuesday’s 9-5 win over Marshall, the Wolfpack batted .158 (19-for-120) during the four games, and in two of those games March 23 at Clemson and March 26 vs. Marshall the Pack got a combined three hits in 57 at-bats. Clemson’s Graham Stoneburner tossed a complete-game two-hit shutout at the Wolfpack on Sunday, holding NC State to a second-inning single by Matt Payne and an eighth-inning infield single by Chris Schaeffer. On Wednesday, six Marshall pitchers combined on a one-hit shutout, and carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Marcus Jones’s one-out infield single broke up the no-hit bid. The four-game slump dropped NC State’s team batting average from .293 to .270.
No Decisions For Surkamp: NC State lefthander Eric Surkamp set an unoffical school record two years ago with with seven no-decisions as a starting pitcher, then matched that a year ago. On March 8 vs. Virginia and again March 21 at Clemson, Surkamp worked six strong innings, but did not figure in the eventual decisions. Surkamp now has 16 no-decisions in 33 career starts. With the season compacted from 16 weeks to 13 this season, Surkamp hopefully won’t match his school record this season.
Bullpen Notes: While NC State’s offense struggles, its bullpen dominates. For the season, Wolfpack relievers are 10-2 with a 1.65 ERA and eight saves. The bullpen has allowed 81 hits and 31 walks while striking out 91 in 98 innings of work.
Three different NC State relievers have recorded saves, and seven have been credited with victories. The bullpen was perfect in seven appearances last weekend at Clemson, working six shutout innings and allowing just four hits and walking three while striking out three. In the last 13 games, 37 NC State relievers have gone to the mound, have logged a 6-0 record, saved five games, and posted a 1.12 ERA. In 56 1/3 innings, the pen allowed 15 runs, seven earned, on 40 hits and 16 walks while striking out 44.
For the season, Wolfpack relievers have inherited 42 baserunners and stranded 28 of them. Kyle Rutter has stranded eight of 10 inherited runners, Jimmy Gillheeney has stranded six of seven, and Alex Sogard has stranded seven of 10. Joey Cutler has inherited four runners and stranded all four, and Jake Buchanan has inherited two runners and stranded both.
Jimmy Gillheeney Anchoring Bullpen: NC State pitching coach Tom Holliday began the season expressing the belief that NC State probably would not have one set closer for the 2008 season. Sophomore lefthander Jimmy Gillheeney made that belief obsolete with his strong performances in the late innings. In eight appearances, all in relief, Gillheeney has pitched 14 innings, allowed one run on five hits, won one game and recorded five saves. He has walked four and struck out 19. Gillheeney has won or saved the last six games in which he has appeared, working 8 2/3 innings with one run on two hits, two walks and 12 strikeouts.
Gillheeney has had some incredibly efficient outings. Against Virginia on March 8 in the second game of a doubleheader, he set down the side in order on 10 pitches in the ninth inning to preserve Clayton Shunick’s three-hit shutout. Gillheeney came back the next afternoon and struck out the only two men he faced on seven pitches to save a 4-2 win in the series finale for Eryk McConnell. Gillheeney allowed a home run to Miami’s Jemile Weeks leading off the top of the eighth inning March 16, but otherwise was perfect over 2 2/3 innings, throwing just 30 pitches. He got credit for the win when Matt Payne ended the game in the bottom of the eighth inning with a three-run home run. In his last five outings, Gillheeney has averaged just 12.5 pitches per inning.
Jake Buchanan Helps Anchor Bullpen: Freshman righthander Jake Buchanan has appeared in six games for NC State, all in relief, and has recorded two saves while posting a 1.46 ERA in 12 1/3 innings. Buchanan has allowed seven hits and one walk and has struck out seven. His only shaky appearance of the season came March 2 at The Citadel, his second college appearance. In that game he was charged with one run on one hit and one walk in 2/3 of an inning. Since then, he has appeared four times, pitched 8 2/3 innings and allowed just one run on four hits. On March 15 vs. Miami. with the Wolfpack trailing the Hurricanes 2-1 after six innings, Buchanan came on in relief of starter Clayton Shunick and cruised through the final three innings, retiring all nine men he faced on just 27 pitches, an average of three pitches per batter.
Clayton Shunick Emerges As An Ace: Junior righthander Clayton Shunick was a valuable and versatile pitcher for NC State a year ago, compiling a 6-3 record and a 6.15 ERA in 21 appearances. Shunick was good in 2007, but he has emerged as the early-season staff ace in 2008, moving to the Friday start for this weekend’s series vs. North Carolina. In five appearances, three of them starts, Shunick is 2-2 with a 1.55 ERA. In one of his two losses, a 3-2 loss at Clemson, Shunick pitched a shutout through six inning, then was charged with three seventh-inning runs on three hits, none of which was struck hard enough to break a pane of glass. In his other loss, a 2-1 decision to a Miami team that has to rank among the best offensive teams in the country, Shunick allowed two runs on five hits in six innings of work. A week earlier, on March 8, Shunick made his first start of 2008 and was masterful, earning ACC Player of the Week honors after shutting out Virginia on three hits through eight innings.
Prior to the Virginia game, Shunick was pitching out of the bullpen, and was pitching like an ace in relief. In two extended outings out of the pen, Shunick pitched nine innings and allowed just one run, unearned, on seven hits, no walks and nine strikeouts. He held opposing hitters to a .212 batting average and allowed just three baserunners to reach scoring position. In his three starts, he 1-2 with a 2.25 ERA in 10 innings. He has allowed 16 hits, walked four and struck out 23 in those four starts.
For the season, he has pitched 29 innings and allowed just six runs, five earned, on 23 hits with four walks and 32 strikeouts.
Miscellaneous Pitching Notes:
NC State has four pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched and an ERA of less than 1.00.
Wolfpack pitchers have allowed double-figure hits just seven times in 22 games, and double-digit runs just twice, both to Miami, which ranks 10th nationally in runs scored.
Through games of March 23, NC State ranked 12th nationally in staff ERA (3.02).
Through games of March 26, opponents were batting .244 against NC State, and the opponents’ batting average had not gone north of .250 since the third game of the season.
Lineup Juggling: With his team scuffling to score runs, NC State coach Elliott Avent has juggled his lineup and milked his roster in an attempt to find the right offensive combination. Through 22 games, more than a third of the way through the season, Avent has used the same lineup in consecutive games just once. He has used 11 different hitters in the six spot in the lineup, eight in the seven hole, and seven in the five spot. The Wolfpack has used six hitters in both the second and eighth spots in the order.
The most commonly used hitter at any spot in the starting lineup is Dallas Poulk, used 14 times as leadoff hitter.
Tough Start To ACC Play: NC State’s first four series in Atlantic Coast Conference play were Virginia, Miami, at Clemson and at North Carolina. Virginia is currently ranked as high as 15th nationally, while Miami and North Carolina are both consensus top-5 teams. Clemson, while having a down year, has been one of college baseball’s power teams for most of the last decade, and Doug Kingsmore Stadium is a difficult place for visitors.
