North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Faces Midweek Heavyweights
4/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. After weeks of gearing up for ranked opponents every weekend, the surging NC State baseball team has entered a phase during which the heavyweights are the midweek opponents. A week ago it was East Carolina and Elon. This week, it’s UNC Wilmington and Coastal Carolina, both of whom are ranked in the latest Baseball America poll.
The Seahawks (23-5 and coming off a 21-game winning steak) are scheduled to play the Wolfpack at Doak Field at Dail Park on Tuesday, with the Chanticleers (24-7 and winners of nine of their last 12) scheduled to arrive at the Doak for a Wednesday game.
A problem with the lights at Doak Field at Dail Park may force changes to the schedule. The games are currently scheduled for 6:30 p.m. starts, but could be played in the afternoon or moved to another site. Any changes in the schedule will be posted on the baseball page on gopack.com. Please check often.
Sophomore righthander Sam Brown (1-1, 2.75) is scheduled to start for the Wolfpack against UNCW on Tuesday. The Seahawks will counter with sophomore righthander Jesse Haney (1-0, 5.03).
NC State’s pitching plans are still to be determined for the Wednesday showdown with Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers will start sophomore righthander Austin Fleet (3-1, 5.23).
The Wolfpack (20-9 and riding a season-long six-game winning streak) is coming off a sweep of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series against Wake Forest. After struggling much of the year offensively and hitting rock bottom March 26 in a one-hit loss to Marshall, NC State has been swinging the bats with authority. The Pack batted .426 (49-for-115) and scored 39 runs in the Wake Forest series. In seven games since the loss to Marshall, NC State is hitting .377 (95-for-252) with a .583 slugging percentage and a .454 on-base percentage. The Pack has clubbed 18 doubles and 10 home runs in those seven games.
Veterans Jeremy Synan and Ryan Pond have led NC State’s offensive resurgence. Synan, a junior playing left field and DH, is hitting .522 with two doubles, a triple and 10 RBIs since the Marshall loss. Pond, a senior first baseman and outfielder, is hitting .429 with three doubles, a homer and 11 RBIs since the loss to the Thundering Herd. Freshman catcher Chris Schaeffer is the team’s hottest hitter since then, batting .571 (12-for-21).
For the season, Synan now is batting .346 (27-for-78) with two home runs and 19 RBIs. Pond is hitting .297 (27-for-91) with five homers and 22 RBIs. They are joined in the middle of a suddenly productive lineup by junior center fielder Marcus Jones (.310-4-20), senior right fielder Matt Payne (.359-2-22). Sophomore second baseman Dallas Poulk, hitting leadoff or second in the order, is hitting .303 with three home runs and 14 RBIs, and junior third baseman Drew Martin is hitting .271 with two home runs and 17 RBIs.
The Seahawks began the year losing four of their first five games before embarking on their 21-game winning streak. Even after dropping two of three games this past weekend at Northeastern, UNCW still is ranked at No. 22 in the latest Baseball America poll. Senior catcher Mark Carver leads the Seahawks offensively. He comes into action this week hitting .358 with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs in 29 games. Senior third baseman Nate Hall also has been hot at the plate for UNCW, hitting .387 with eight home runs and 36 RBIs. Six UNCW regulars are hitting .305 or better.
Junior catcher Dock Doyle leads Coastal Carolina offensively. Doyle checks in with a .364 average, eight home runs and 30 RBIs in 28 games. Junior outfielder Adam Rice leads the team in batting average with a .404 mark, and has hit six doubles and six homers while driving in 22 runs. Freshman third baseman Scott Woodward bats leadoff for the Chanticleers and has been an offensive catalyst, hitting .315 with 19 walks for a .472 on-base percentage. He has stolen 24 bases in 26 attempts and has scored 32 runs.
Wolfpack baseball notebook: NC State’s Ryan Pond was voted ACC Player of the Week for the week ending April 6. Pond paced the team with a .600 batting average (12-for-20) and helped NC State finish the week 5-0. In the series sweep over Wake Forest, he hit .545 with six hits in 11 at-bats, five RBIs, and a pair of doubles. Pond also turned in a stellar performance against Elon on Wednesday, notching four hits, four RBIs, three runs, a double and a home run as the Wolfpack shut out the Phoenix, 12-0. He also had two hits and two RBIs at No. 24 East Carolina last Tuesday. For the week, Pond collected 12 hits, six runs, 11 RBIs, three doubles, two walks and one home run.
Wake Forest swings the bats well and scored five runs, four earned, in nine innings against the NC State bullpen, which came into the series on a roll.
In its previous 17 games, the Wolfpack bullpen was 7-0 with seven saves and a 1.27 ERA. In 70 2/3 innings, the pen allowed 18 runs, 10 earned, on 49 hits and 19 walks while striking out 59.
The bullpen still is 11-2 with 11 saves and a 1.85 ERA for the season. The bullpen still has not lost a game since March 7 vs. Virginia, and has not blown a save opportunity all season.
Since Doak Field reopened in 2005 as Doak Field at Dail Park following a $5 million renovation, NC State has been tough to beat at home. The Wolfpack went 27-5 at home in 2005, the fifth best home record since Doak Field first opened in 1966. The Pack went 24-7 at home in 2006, and finished 24-8 at the Doak a year ago. Off to a 15-5 start at home in 2008, NC State is now 90-25 at home since Doak Field at Dail Park re-opened in 2005, a .783 winning percentage.
The Seahawks (23-5 and coming off a 21-game winning steak) are scheduled to play the Wolfpack at Doak Field at Dail Park on Tuesday, with the Chanticleers (24-7 and winners of nine of their last 12) scheduled to arrive at the Doak for a Wednesday game.
A problem with the lights at Doak Field at Dail Park may force changes to the schedule. The games are currently scheduled for 6:30 p.m. starts, but could be played in the afternoon or moved to another site. Any changes in the schedule will be posted on the baseball page on gopack.com. Please check often.
Sophomore righthander Sam Brown (1-1, 2.75) is scheduled to start for the Wolfpack against UNCW on Tuesday. The Seahawks will counter with sophomore righthander Jesse Haney (1-0, 5.03).
NC State’s pitching plans are still to be determined for the Wednesday showdown with Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers will start sophomore righthander Austin Fleet (3-1, 5.23).
The Wolfpack (20-9 and riding a season-long six-game winning streak) is coming off a sweep of a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series against Wake Forest. After struggling much of the year offensively and hitting rock bottom March 26 in a one-hit loss to Marshall, NC State has been swinging the bats with authority. The Pack batted .426 (49-for-115) and scored 39 runs in the Wake Forest series. In seven games since the loss to Marshall, NC State is hitting .377 (95-for-252) with a .583 slugging percentage and a .454 on-base percentage. The Pack has clubbed 18 doubles and 10 home runs in those seven games.
Veterans Jeremy Synan and Ryan Pond have led NC State’s offensive resurgence. Synan, a junior playing left field and DH, is hitting .522 with two doubles, a triple and 10 RBIs since the Marshall loss. Pond, a senior first baseman and outfielder, is hitting .429 with three doubles, a homer and 11 RBIs since the loss to the Thundering Herd. Freshman catcher Chris Schaeffer is the team’s hottest hitter since then, batting .571 (12-for-21).
For the season, Synan now is batting .346 (27-for-78) with two home runs and 19 RBIs. Pond is hitting .297 (27-for-91) with five homers and 22 RBIs. They are joined in the middle of a suddenly productive lineup by junior center fielder Marcus Jones (.310-4-20), senior right fielder Matt Payne (.359-2-22). Sophomore second baseman Dallas Poulk, hitting leadoff or second in the order, is hitting .303 with three home runs and 14 RBIs, and junior third baseman Drew Martin is hitting .271 with two home runs and 17 RBIs.
The Seahawks began the year losing four of their first five games before embarking on their 21-game winning streak. Even after dropping two of three games this past weekend at Northeastern, UNCW still is ranked at No. 22 in the latest Baseball America poll. Senior catcher Mark Carver leads the Seahawks offensively. He comes into action this week hitting .358 with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs in 29 games. Senior third baseman Nate Hall also has been hot at the plate for UNCW, hitting .387 with eight home runs and 36 RBIs. Six UNCW regulars are hitting .305 or better.
Junior catcher Dock Doyle leads Coastal Carolina offensively. Doyle checks in with a .364 average, eight home runs and 30 RBIs in 28 games. Junior outfielder Adam Rice leads the team in batting average with a .404 mark, and has hit six doubles and six homers while driving in 22 runs. Freshman third baseman Scott Woodward bats leadoff for the Chanticleers and has been an offensive catalyst, hitting .315 with 19 walks for a .472 on-base percentage. He has stolen 24 bases in 26 attempts and has scored 32 runs.
Wolfpack baseball notebook: NC State’s Ryan Pond was voted ACC Player of the Week for the week ending April 6. Pond paced the team with a .600 batting average (12-for-20) and helped NC State finish the week 5-0. In the series sweep over Wake Forest, he hit .545 with six hits in 11 at-bats, five RBIs, and a pair of doubles. Pond also turned in a stellar performance against Elon on Wednesday, notching four hits, four RBIs, three runs, a double and a home run as the Wolfpack shut out the Phoenix, 12-0. He also had two hits and two RBIs at No. 24 East Carolina last Tuesday. For the week, Pond collected 12 hits, six runs, 11 RBIs, three doubles, two walks and one home run.
Wake Forest swings the bats well and scored five runs, four earned, in nine innings against the NC State bullpen, which came into the series on a roll.
In its previous 17 games, the Wolfpack bullpen was 7-0 with seven saves and a 1.27 ERA. In 70 2/3 innings, the pen allowed 18 runs, 10 earned, on 49 hits and 19 walks while striking out 59.
The bullpen still is 11-2 with 11 saves and a 1.85 ERA for the season. The bullpen still has not lost a game since March 7 vs. Virginia, and has not blown a save opportunity all season.
Since Doak Field reopened in 2005 as Doak Field at Dail Park following a $5 million renovation, NC State has been tough to beat at home. The Wolfpack went 27-5 at home in 2005, the fifth best home record since Doak Field first opened in 1966. The Pack went 24-7 at home in 2006, and finished 24-8 at the Doak a year ago. Off to a 15-5 start at home in 2008, NC State is now 90-25 at home since Doak Field at Dail Park re-opened in 2005, a .783 winning percentage.
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