North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Baseball To Host Long-Lost Neighbor Duke
4/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. They only reside about 25 miles apart, but Duke and NC State will be relative strangers when they meet this weekend at Doak Field at Dail Park for a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series.
Thanks to ACC expansion and division play, the Wolfpack and Blue Devils have not met in baseball since 2005. The Wolfpack comes into the weekend at 21-10 overall, 8-6 and in second place in the ACC’s Atlantic Division. The Wolfpack is fourth in the overall standings in the 12-team conference. Duke is 22-10 overall, but is only 4-10 in conference play and is in fifth place in the Coastal Division.
Junior righthander Clayton Shunick (3-3, 2.13) will toe the rubber for the Wolfpack in the series opener on Friday night. Duke will start junior righthander Andrew Wolcott (2-2, 3.12). On Saturday, junior lefthander Eric Surkamp (2-2, 5.29) will pitch for NC State and will be opposed by freshman righthander Dennis O’Grady (3-0, 0.48) for the Blue Devils. In the Sunday finale, senior righthander Eryk McConnell (4-1, 4.33) will take the hill for NC State. Freshman righthander Grant Monroe (4-2, 4.99) will start for Duke on Sunday.
Game times are 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and will be available on the internet on gopack.com through the Pack Pass package. In addition, all three games will be webcast on ACC Select.
NC State comes into the series on something of a roll. After hitting rock bottom offensively on March 26 in a one-hit 3-0 loss to Marshall, the Wolfpack has been on an offensive tear. In nine games since the one-hitter against the Thundering Herd, NC State has gone 7-2 and walloped the ball with authority, batting .375 (121-for-232) with a .451 on-base percentage and a .582 slugging percentage. The Pack managed double-figure hit totals in seven of the nine games and double-figure run totals in four, including three of the last four games. NC State has bashed out 27 doubles and 12 home runs in the nine games, and has raised its team batting average 33 points in those nine games, from .270 to .303.
The leaders of this offensive onslaught are Ryan Pond, Jeremy Synan, Dallas Poulk and Tommy Foschi. In the nine games, Pond is hitting .472 (17-for-36) with four doubles, two home runs and 15 RBIs. Synan is hitting .469 (15-for-32) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and 11 RBIs. Poulk is hitting .433 (13-for-30) with three doubles, one triple, one home run and eight RBIs. Foschi is hitting .387 (12-for-31) with seven doubles and eight RBIs.
Duke took a 10-0 victory over UNC Greensboro on Wednesday, snapping a five-game losing streak, all five losses coming in ACC play. The Blue Devils have not lost a non-conference game all season. Duke has lost seven of its last 10 games overall.
Sophomore outfielders Alex Hassan and Jeremy Gould lead the Blue Devils. Hassan comes into the weekend batting .385 with 11 doubles, two home runs and 25 RBIs. Gould is hitting .367 with seven doubles, two homers and a team-high 29 RBIs. Duke is hitting .292 as a team with a staff ERA of 3.32. In ACC games, however, those numbers fall off. The Blue Devils are batting .240 in conference play, while the staff ERA soars to 5.09.
NC State vs. Duke: NC State holds a 138-115-1 lead in the series with Duke, which dates back to 1904 when Duke still was known as Trinity College. NC State has won nine of the last 13 meetings between the two, and holds a 17-12 lead in the series since Elliott Avent became NC State’s head coach in 1997. The Pack is 7-5 vs. Duke at Doak Field at Dail Park in that time, but the Blue Devils won the series the last time the two teams played at the Doak.
NC State enters this weekend’s series all alone in second place in the ACC’s Atlantic Division with an 8-6 mark, 5 1/2 games behind Florida State. Duke is in fifth place in the Coastal Division at 4-10, 8 1/2 games behind top-ranked Miami.
The Wolfpack’s Winning Ways: After going the better part of a month without winning a weekend series and struggling offensively, NC State took a season-longest seven-game winning streak into Wednesday night’s game vs. Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers ended the Pack’s winning streak 5-4, but NC State still is on an impressive run. The seven-game streak began with an 8-6 road win over North Carolina, currently ranked No. 4 in all four of the major national polls, then continued with a 4-3 win at East Carolina, ranked No. 24 by the NCBWA at the time. The following night, the Wolfpack took on an Elon team off to one of its best starts in school history at 22-6 and thumped the Phoenix 12-0, the first time Elon was shut out in 39 games.
This past weekend, the Wolfpack swept Wake Forest in a three-game series, winning 7-2, 14-4 and 18-6. NC State batted .426 (49-for-115) and scored 39 runs in the series. Next up was UNC Wilmington, fresh off a school-record 21-game winning streak and ranked No. 24 nationally. The Wolfpack pounded out 15 hits, including a season-high seven doubles, five of them in one inning, and sent the Seahawks home with a 12-5 defeat.
Seven Doubles Vs. UNCW: When NC State hit seven doubles April 8 vs. UNC Wilmington, it marked the most doubles in a game by the Wolfpack since the team hit seven doubles April 22, 2006, at Clemson. The Last time NC State hit more than seven doubles in a game was February 17, 2002, when the Pack hit eight doubles in a 14-8 win at The Citadel.
NC State vs. Ranked Opponents: With this week’s split vs. UNC Wilmington and Coastal Carolina, NC State is 6-6 vs. ranked opponents in 2008.
Foschi Doubling Up: Shortstop Tommy Foschi has hit seven doubles in the Wolfpack’s last nine games. Among Foschi’s teammates, only Devon Cartwright has hit more than seven doubles for the entire season. Cartwright has eight doubles in 23 games. Foschi leads the team with 12 doubles in 32 games.
Foschi also has driven in two runs in each of the Pack’s last four games.
Schaeffer’s Hitting Streak: Freshman catcher Chris Schaeffer enters the Duke series riding an 11-game hitting streak. During the streak, Schaeffer is batting .500 (17-for-34) with a home run and six RBIs. Schaeffer collected base hits in six consecutive at-bats covering three games of his hitting streak March 29 at North Carolina, April 1 at East Carolina, and April 2 vs. Elon. (For the record, the school record for consecutive hits is 12, set in 2002 by Brian Wright.) Schaeffer has more than doubled his batting average during the streak. After going 0-for-4 on March 21 at Clemson, Schaeffer was hitting .156. He enters the Duke series hitting .333.
Big Innings: NC State had its two biggest innings of the season during its recent offensive surge. In the third inning April 6 against Wake Forest in the final games of a three-game series, the Wolfpack erupted for eight runs on eight hits. Jeremy Synan and Ryan Pond had two hits and two RBIs apiece in the inning. Two nights later in the fifth inning against UNC Wilmington, NC State scored seven runs on seven hits. Synan, Marcus Jones, Drew Martin, Tommy Foschi and Pond each had a double in the inning, and Synan, Jones, Chris Schaeffer, Foschi, Dallas Poulk and Pond all drove in runs, with Foschi driving in a pair. Previously, NC State had scored as many as five runs in an inning this season.
Miscellaneous Pitching Notes: NC State enters play this weekend vs. Duke ranked second in the ACC and fifth nationally with a 3.12 ERA
The Wolfpack is third in ERA in ACC games at 3.73.
Clayton Shunick ranks fourth in the conference with a 2.13 ERA, and is ninth in ACC games at 2.70.
Shunick is second in the conference in total strikeouts with 51 and in strikeouts per game at 10.84. Shunick is tied for first in the ACC with 42 total strikeouts in conference games and leads the league with 11.32 K’s per ACC game.
Jimmy Gillheeney is fifth in the ACC in saves with seven, but is tied for the the conference lead with four saves in conference games.
Wolfpack pitchers have allowed double-figure hits 10 times in 31 games, and double-digit runs just twice, both to national powerhouse Miami.
NC State pitchers have allowed five hits or less in a game seven times.
Thanks to ACC expansion and division play, the Wolfpack and Blue Devils have not met in baseball since 2005. The Wolfpack comes into the weekend at 21-10 overall, 8-6 and in second place in the ACC’s Atlantic Division. The Wolfpack is fourth in the overall standings in the 12-team conference. Duke is 22-10 overall, but is only 4-10 in conference play and is in fifth place in the Coastal Division.
Junior righthander Clayton Shunick (3-3, 2.13) will toe the rubber for the Wolfpack in the series opener on Friday night. Duke will start junior righthander Andrew Wolcott (2-2, 3.12). On Saturday, junior lefthander Eric Surkamp (2-2, 5.29) will pitch for NC State and will be opposed by freshman righthander Dennis O’Grady (3-0, 0.48) for the Blue Devils. In the Sunday finale, senior righthander Eryk McConnell (4-1, 4.33) will take the hill for NC State. Freshman righthander Grant Monroe (4-2, 4.99) will start for Duke on Sunday.
Game times are 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and will be available on the internet on gopack.com through the Pack Pass package. In addition, all three games will be webcast on ACC Select.
NC State comes into the series on something of a roll. After hitting rock bottom offensively on March 26 in a one-hit 3-0 loss to Marshall, the Wolfpack has been on an offensive tear. In nine games since the one-hitter against the Thundering Herd, NC State has gone 7-2 and walloped the ball with authority, batting .375 (121-for-232) with a .451 on-base percentage and a .582 slugging percentage. The Pack managed double-figure hit totals in seven of the nine games and double-figure run totals in four, including three of the last four games. NC State has bashed out 27 doubles and 12 home runs in the nine games, and has raised its team batting average 33 points in those nine games, from .270 to .303.
The leaders of this offensive onslaught are Ryan Pond, Jeremy Synan, Dallas Poulk and Tommy Foschi. In the nine games, Pond is hitting .472 (17-for-36) with four doubles, two home runs and 15 RBIs. Synan is hitting .469 (15-for-32) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and 11 RBIs. Poulk is hitting .433 (13-for-30) with three doubles, one triple, one home run and eight RBIs. Foschi is hitting .387 (12-for-31) with seven doubles and eight RBIs.
Duke took a 10-0 victory over UNC Greensboro on Wednesday, snapping a five-game losing streak, all five losses coming in ACC play. The Blue Devils have not lost a non-conference game all season. Duke has lost seven of its last 10 games overall.
Sophomore outfielders Alex Hassan and Jeremy Gould lead the Blue Devils. Hassan comes into the weekend batting .385 with 11 doubles, two home runs and 25 RBIs. Gould is hitting .367 with seven doubles, two homers and a team-high 29 RBIs. Duke is hitting .292 as a team with a staff ERA of 3.32. In ACC games, however, those numbers fall off. The Blue Devils are batting .240 in conference play, while the staff ERA soars to 5.09.
NC State vs. Duke: NC State holds a 138-115-1 lead in the series with Duke, which dates back to 1904 when Duke still was known as Trinity College. NC State has won nine of the last 13 meetings between the two, and holds a 17-12 lead in the series since Elliott Avent became NC State’s head coach in 1997. The Pack is 7-5 vs. Duke at Doak Field at Dail Park in that time, but the Blue Devils won the series the last time the two teams played at the Doak.
NC State enters this weekend’s series all alone in second place in the ACC’s Atlantic Division with an 8-6 mark, 5 1/2 games behind Florida State. Duke is in fifth place in the Coastal Division at 4-10, 8 1/2 games behind top-ranked Miami.
The Wolfpack’s Winning Ways: After going the better part of a month without winning a weekend series and struggling offensively, NC State took a season-longest seven-game winning streak into Wednesday night’s game vs. Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers ended the Pack’s winning streak 5-4, but NC State still is on an impressive run. The seven-game streak began with an 8-6 road win over North Carolina, currently ranked No. 4 in all four of the major national polls, then continued with a 4-3 win at East Carolina, ranked No. 24 by the NCBWA at the time. The following night, the Wolfpack took on an Elon team off to one of its best starts in school history at 22-6 and thumped the Phoenix 12-0, the first time Elon was shut out in 39 games.
This past weekend, the Wolfpack swept Wake Forest in a three-game series, winning 7-2, 14-4 and 18-6. NC State batted .426 (49-for-115) and scored 39 runs in the series. Next up was UNC Wilmington, fresh off a school-record 21-game winning streak and ranked No. 24 nationally. The Wolfpack pounded out 15 hits, including a season-high seven doubles, five of them in one inning, and sent the Seahawks home with a 12-5 defeat.
Seven Doubles Vs. UNCW: When NC State hit seven doubles April 8 vs. UNC Wilmington, it marked the most doubles in a game by the Wolfpack since the team hit seven doubles April 22, 2006, at Clemson. The Last time NC State hit more than seven doubles in a game was February 17, 2002, when the Pack hit eight doubles in a 14-8 win at The Citadel.
NC State vs. Ranked Opponents: With this week’s split vs. UNC Wilmington and Coastal Carolina, NC State is 6-6 vs. ranked opponents in 2008.
Foschi Doubling Up: Shortstop Tommy Foschi has hit seven doubles in the Wolfpack’s last nine games. Among Foschi’s teammates, only Devon Cartwright has hit more than seven doubles for the entire season. Cartwright has eight doubles in 23 games. Foschi leads the team with 12 doubles in 32 games.
Foschi also has driven in two runs in each of the Pack’s last four games.
Schaeffer’s Hitting Streak: Freshman catcher Chris Schaeffer enters the Duke series riding an 11-game hitting streak. During the streak, Schaeffer is batting .500 (17-for-34) with a home run and six RBIs. Schaeffer collected base hits in six consecutive at-bats covering three games of his hitting streak March 29 at North Carolina, April 1 at East Carolina, and April 2 vs. Elon. (For the record, the school record for consecutive hits is 12, set in 2002 by Brian Wright.) Schaeffer has more than doubled his batting average during the streak. After going 0-for-4 on March 21 at Clemson, Schaeffer was hitting .156. He enters the Duke series hitting .333.
Big Innings: NC State had its two biggest innings of the season during its recent offensive surge. In the third inning April 6 against Wake Forest in the final games of a three-game series, the Wolfpack erupted for eight runs on eight hits. Jeremy Synan and Ryan Pond had two hits and two RBIs apiece in the inning. Two nights later in the fifth inning against UNC Wilmington, NC State scored seven runs on seven hits. Synan, Marcus Jones, Drew Martin, Tommy Foschi and Pond each had a double in the inning, and Synan, Jones, Chris Schaeffer, Foschi, Dallas Poulk and Pond all drove in runs, with Foschi driving in a pair. Previously, NC State had scored as many as five runs in an inning this season.
Miscellaneous Pitching Notes: NC State enters play this weekend vs. Duke ranked second in the ACC and fifth nationally with a 3.12 ERA
The Wolfpack is third in ERA in ACC games at 3.73.
Clayton Shunick ranks fourth in the conference with a 2.13 ERA, and is ninth in ACC games at 2.70.
Shunick is second in the conference in total strikeouts with 51 and in strikeouts per game at 10.84. Shunick is tied for first in the ACC with 42 total strikeouts in conference games and leads the league with 11.32 K’s per ACC game.
Jimmy Gillheeney is fifth in the ACC in saves with seven, but is tied for the the conference lead with four saves in conference games.
Wolfpack pitchers have allowed double-figure hits 10 times in 31 games, and double-digit runs just twice, both to national powerhouse Miami.
NC State pitchers have allowed five hits or less in a game seven times.
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