North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Hosts 15th-Ranked Florida State
4/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. - The college baseball season heads into the final month of the regular season, and NC State finds itself in need of conference victories.
NC State is 19-18 overall and 7-11 in the ACC. The Wolfpack is 10th overall in the league and two full games behind eighth-place Duke. Standing between the Wolfpack and eighth place are four remaining conference series, beginning this weekend with Florida State at Doak Field at Dail Park. The Seminoles are ranked 15th in the latest poll by the National College Baseball Writers Association poll and come into the weekend 22-12 overall and 9-7 in the conference.
The Starting Pitchers: NC State will send junior lefthander Jimmy Gillheeney (5-1, 3.27) to the mound for Friday’s 6:30 p.m. series opener. Florida State will counter with freshman lefthander Sean Gilmartin (6-1, 2.84).
Junior lefty John Lambert (1-1, 5.46) will start Saturday for NC State. Florida State will send freshman lefty Brian Busch (1-2, 4.12) to the hill. Saturday’s game also will be a 6:30 p.m. start.
NC State’s pitching plans for Sunday’s season finale are to be determined. Florida State will start sophomore righthander Mike McGee (2-2, 5.46). Sunday’s game wll start at 1 p.m.
Scouting The Seminoles: Florida State has won four of its last six games and 12 of its last 16. A week ago, the Seminoles took two of three from fourth-ranked North Carolina to move into third place in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, 1 1/2 games behind division-leading Clemson.
Sophomore outfielder Tyler Holt leads the Seminoles in hitting at .413, in runs scored (47), on-base percentage (.537) and stolen bases (15). McGee, who plays left field when he isn’t pitching, is the team’s top run producer. He is hitting .371 and leads the team with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs. Junior infielder Stephen Cardullo enters the weekend hitting .378 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs. Junior infielder Jason Stidham is hitting .331 with 12 doubles, five homers and 32 RBIs.
Scouting The Wolfpack: NC State has split its last six games and its last 12 games. Freshman DH John Gianis leads the team with a .329 average. Junior outfielder Devon Cartwright is hitting .294 with eight doubles, four home runs and 54 RBIs. Freshman second baseman Andrew Ciencin is hitting .295 with nine doubles, a home run and 14 RBIs. Freshman utilityman Pratt Maynard is hitting .277 and leads the team with 10 doubles and 30 RBIs. He is the team co-leader in home runs with five.
Several hitters are entering the Florida State series on hot streaks. Gianis has hit safely in 16 of his last 19 games. He is hitting .355 (22-for-62) with two doubles and 11 RBIs in those 19 games. Junior outfielder Drew Poulk - who is hitting .269 with nine doubles, five homers and 27 RBIs - has hit safely in seven of his last nine games and is batting .367 (11-for-30) with two doubles, three home runs and 14 RBIs in that span. Tuesday night vs. Wofford, he hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in seven runs.
Junior shortstop Dallas Poulk is hitting .286 for the season and leads the team with 30 runs scored. He has hit safely in 19 of his last 24 games, has five hits in his last 12 at-bats and is hitting .350 (7-for-20) in his last five games. Maynard has hit safely in 13 of his last 16 games and is hitting .323 (20-for-62) with eight doubles and 16 RBIs in that time. Senior first baseman Pat Ferguson is hitting .266 with four homers and 17 RBIs for the season, but is hitting .333 (10-for-30) with two homers and nine RBIs in eight games dating back to the Boston College series.
The Series vs. Florida State: The Seminoles hold a 46-23 lead in the series with NC State. FSU has won seven of the last 11 meetings, and 13 of the last 20. Florida State holds a 29-13 advantage in the series since Elliott Avent became NC State’s head coach in 1997.
A Year Ago: Last season at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida State took two of three from NC State. The Wolfpack won the series opener 12-2 behind a combined three-hitter from Eric Surkamp, Sam Brown and Jimmy Gillheeney. Matt Payne went 3-for-6 and drove in three runs. Marcus Jones three hits and scored twice.
The Seminoles recovered to win the remaining two games in the series. Florida State handed the Wolfpack a heartbreaking 1-0 loss in the middle game of the series. Elih Villanueva, Jimmy Marhsall and Buster Posey combined on a three-hitter, outduelling the Wolfpack’s Clayton Shunick and three relievers, who combined on a six-hitter but lost on Jack Rye’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Florida State scored early and often in the series finale, putting three runs on the board in the first inning and four more in the second before coasting to an 8-1 victory. Ryan Strauss worked six strong innings to get the win, and Tony Delmonico went 3-for-3 and drove in four runs.
On The Air: All three games of the Florida State series will be carried live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line at gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.
