North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Facing Big ACC Series at Wake Forest
3/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. Off to a 1-5 start in Atlantic Coast Conference play, NC State faces a big showdown this weekend when it takes on Wake Forest in a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at the Wake Forest Baseball Stadium.
Game times are 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The series should feature two teams playing with a real sense of urgency. The Wolfpack, 10-9 overall, will take on a Wake Forest team that is 8-8 and 0-6 in the conference. The winner will take a first step back towards the middle of the conference standings.
“We’ve dug ourselves a hole with our first two series,” Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent said. “We haven’t played very well and things have kind of steamrolled. Guys are putting out great effort, but maybe it’s too much. Maybe we aren’t relaxed enough. This game is hard to play when you’re too keyed up. We played so well in the preseason and we just haven’t played to that level yet. I think they’re pressing a little bit, but if they keep going after it like the way they are in practice, I think things will turn around.”
NC State’s problems are mainly offensive. The Wolfpack is batting just .217 (35-for-161) in its last five games, scoring just 23 runs. The staff ERA in those five games, meanwhile, is 2.60.
Wake Forest has lost four of its last five games, snapping the losing skid with a 3-1 win over Appalachian State on Tuesday. The Deacons are hitting .297 as a team, but only 2.45 in ACC games. The overall staff ERA is 6.00, but that balloons to 13.67 in conference games. Wake Forest has lost three each to Virginia and Clemson.
Junior lefthander Jimmy Gillheeney (3-0, 2.54) will start the series opener for NC State. Senior righthander Brad Kledzik (1-3, 7.13) will start for the Demon Deacons. Sophomore righthander Jake Buchanan (1-2, 3.08) will start for NC State on Saturday. Freshman lefthander Austin Stadler (2-2, 3.32) will start for Wake Forest. NC State’s pitching plans for the series finale on Sunday are still TBA. Wake Forest will start junior righthander Phil Negus (1-1, 6.19).
“Saying this is a big series for us kind of overstates the obvious,” Avent said. “Wake Forest is kind of like us in that they’ve dug themselves a hole, and that makes them a dangerous team. They swing the bats pretty well, so we’ll have to continue to pitch well. Offensively, we have to put runs on the board. We need to have good at-bats, be competitive, and hope someone can provide a spark for us."
All three games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line on gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.
The Series vs. Wake Forest
NC State holds a 134-101-4 lead in the series against Wake Forest. The Wolfpack has won the last four meetings, six of the last seven, eight of the last 10, and 13 of the last 17 dating back to the second game of the 2003 series at Hooks Stadium. NC State is 21-18 vs. Wake Forest since Elliott Avent became the Wolfpack’s head coach in 1997.
The Wolfpack, which swept the Deacons at Doak Field at Dail Park a year ago, has won the last three series played in Winston-Salem, but all three took place at Hooks Stadium. The two teams last met at what then was Ernie Shore Field in 2001, and the Demon Deacons won all three games, by scores of 8-7, 11-7 and 12-2.
In 2008 in Raleigh, the Wolfpack won all three games. In the opener, junior righthander Clayton Shunick allowed a run on four hits in 7 2/3 innings to lead the Pack to a 7-2 triumph. Shunick walked two and struck out 12. Marcus Jones and Matt Payne had two hits apiece.
The two teams were rained out on Saturday, so the series wrapped up with a doubleheader on Sunday. In the opener, Dallas Poulk drove in three runs, and Payne, Jones, Chris Schaeffer and Marcus Jones all homered to lift NC State past Wake Forest 14-4. Junior lefthander Eric Surkamp worked five innings and limited Wake to three runs to even his record at 2-2. In the nightcap, the Wolfpack scored four in the first and eight in the third en route to an 18-6 rout. Synan went 5-for-6 with a double, triple and four RBIs, while Ryan Pond went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs. Poulk two singles, a home run and three RBIs in six at-bats. The beneficiary of that offensive outburst was senior righthander Eryk McConnell, who allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings.
Two years ago at Hooks Stadium, NC State won the opener 6-4 behind Surkamp, dropped the middle game 16-3 when Allan Dykstra drove in six runs, then won the finale 3-2 in Jimmy Gillheeney’s first college start.
Rutter Continues to Mow Em Down
Wolfpack reliever Kyle Rutter has been on a roll recently. In seven appearances since a hiccup vs. Rhode Island in the first game of the season, Rutter has been a magician on the mound, allowing three runs on four hits in 17 innings of work. He has walked five and struck out 17 in that time, and is 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA.
In particular, Rutter has been dazzling opposing hitters. In his last 14 innings pitched, Rutter has allowed just three runs on two hits and two walks. The two hits were home runs on consecutive pitches -- a walk-off by Miami’s Jason Hagerty, and a first-pitch bomb by North Carolina A&T’s Lester Rivenbark on March 11. Sandwiched around the consecutive-pitch home runs was a stretch of sheer dominance by Rutter. Before a walk to Ryan Jackson that preceded the Hagerty homer, Rutter had retired 18 consecutive batters, seven of them on strikes, including five strikeouts in a row vs. Villanova and Akron on March 4, and seven of nine batters during the Villanova, Akron and Miami games. Following the homer by Rivenbark, Rutter set down 12 consecutive Aggies, including five on strikeouts in a span of seven batters, then worked four shutout innings March 15 vs. Maryland. allowing just two walks. In his last five appearances, Rutter has retired 41 of the 47 batters he has faced.
Maynard Chases Frosh Homer Mark
Through 18 games, freshman jack-of-all-trades Pratt Maynard leads NC State with five home runs through 18 games, putting him on pace to challenge the school record of 11 home runs by a freshman, set in 1987 by Brian Bark and matched in 1991 by Pat Clougherty.
Maynard already is close to some elite company with his five bombs. He is one shy of matching the freshman home run totals set by a pair of recent NC State luminaries, Brian Wright (1999) and Joe Gaetti (2001), and if he leads the team in homers for the season he will be the first to do so since Tracy Woodson led the team with eight homers in 1982.
Following are NC State’s leaders for home runs by a freshman:
1. Brian Bark (1987), 11
Pat Clougherty, 11
3. Jake Weber (1995), 10
4. Tracy Woodson (1982), 8
Chris Combs (1994), 8
6. Chuckie Canady (1979), 7
Starter-Reliever Breakdown
NC State’s overall pitching numbers have been very good all season, and as the numbers pile up, the pitching staff is showing itself to have a stable starting rotation and a strong bullpen.
The starting pitchers are 6-4 with a 3.21 ERA in 87 innings. Starters have allowed 31 earned runs on 79 hits while walking 33 and striking out 82. The bullpen, meanwhile, is 4-5 with a 3.65 ERA. Relievers have made 58 appearances covering 93 2/3 innings, and have allowed 38 earned runs on 74 hits. Relievers have walked 37 and struck out 109. Six Wolfpack relievers have ERAs less than 3.00, and nine have ERAs less than 4.00. In addition, the bullpen has inherited 44 baserunners and stranded all but 12. Kyle Rutter has stranded seven of seven, and Joey Cutler has stranded five of six.
Double-Play Leaders
In just 12 1/3 innings pitched, freshman righthander Zak Sinclair already has thrown four double-play grounders this season. Sam Brown has managed to throw two double plays in 16 1/3 innings, while starter Jimmy Gillheeney has thrown a pair of twin-killings in 28 1/3 innings.
