North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball To Play Key ACC Series This Weekend at Duke
4/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. Coming off a difficult and disappointing weekend at Boston College, NC State played perhaps its best game of the season Tuesday night in defeating UNC Wilmington 10-2 at Doak Field at Dail Park.
Now the Wolfpack needs to carry that momentum over into the weekend. NC State squares off with Duke in a crucial three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series beginning Friday at Jack Coombs Field in Durham. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. WKNC-FM (88.1) will broadcast all three games live, and the broadcasts will be available on-line on gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.
The series with Duke has implications that go beyond just the conference standings. Both teams are scrambling for a berth in the eight-team Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. The Blue Devils are 22-12 overall and 7-8 in the ACC, eighth in the overall standings. The Wolfpack is 17-15 overall and 6-9 in the conference, one game behind Duke in ninth place.
“It goes without saying that this is a big series,” Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent said. “We’ve kind of put ourselves behind the eight ball with the way we’ve played. I feel good going into the weekend because of the way we responded Tuesday against UNC Wilmington. We were coming off a very difficult series at Boston College where we let an eight-run lead get away in the last game of that series and lost. It would be easy for these guys to get down on themselves, but they came out Tuesday and, I thought, played a complete game for the first time all season. That was very encouraging.”
Junior lefthander Jimmy Gillheeney (4-1, 3.64) will start Friday for NC State. He is coming off one of his best outings of the season last Saturday at Boston College. He allowed the Eagles one earned run on seven hits in seven innings of work for his fourth win of the year. Gillheeney has been a workhorse for the Wolfpack this year, pitching into the sixth inning in all seven starts, including four starts with at least seven complete innings pitched. Senior righthander Andrew Wolcott (5-1, 1.94) will start the series opener for Duke.
Sophomore righthander Jake Buchanan (2-3, 5.21) will start the second game of the series for NC State. Junior lefthander Christopher Manno (2-4, 6.14) will start Saturday for Duke. NC State’s pitching plans for Sunday are still to be determined. Duke will start freshman lefthander Eric Pfisterer (2-1, 3.80).
The Series Vs. Duke: NC State holds a 140-116-1 lead in the series with Duke, which dates back to 1904 when Duke still was known as Trinity College. Due to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s scheduling policy, the two teams did not play one another in 2006 or 2007.
NC State has won 11 of the last 16 meetings between the two, and holds a 19-13 lead in the series since Elliott Avent became NC State’s head coach in 1997. The Pack is 9-6 vs. Duke at Doak Field at Dail Park in that time, and 8-7 vs. Duke at Jack Coombs Field. NC State took two of three the last time the two teams played at Duke, and the Wolfpack has five of the last six games between the two teams at Duke.
The UNCW Game: The Wolfpack’s 10-2 victory over UNC Wilmington was encouraging on a number of fronts. First, freshman righthander Cory Mazzoni was masterful, holding the Seahawks to just one run on three hits in six innings. Through the first five innings, Mazzoni had faced just one batter over the minimum. A 26th-round draft pick of the Washington Nationals a year ago and a highly regarded signee, Mazzoni struggled with his confidence through the early part of the season. His success against the Seahawks can only help him in future outings.
“That was the Cory Mazzoni we saw all fall and all through the preseason,” Avent said. ”We need for him to pitch like that so we can use him on the weekends.”
The UNCW game also was encouraging in that the Wolfpack did not commit any errors, the team’s first error-free game 11 games. NC State has committed 54 errors in 32 games, an average of 1.7 per game. The UNCW game was just the fifth all season without an error. More importantly, however, the Wolfpack made all the right decisions defensively against the Seahawks, which was much more important to Avent.
“We only made one [mental] mistake in that game,” Avent said. I think it was in the eighth inning when they scored their second run. We threw to second base when I thought we had a chance to get the runner at home plate. But other than that, I thought we did everything right on defense.”
The Wolfpack’s defensive problems have been a puzzle to Avent, who expects the team to continue to improve defensively through the remainder of the season.
“Everyone talked about how good last year’s team was defensively, and I look at this team and think it should be a better defensive team than last year,” Avent said. “We have much more speed in the outfield. The catcher, first baseman and third baseman are the same. Dallas Poulk is better defensively than Tommy Foschi was at shortstop, and Tommy was very good. This should be a better defensive team and I expect that it will be.”
Offense Heating Up: After struggling much of the season to generate an offense, NC State’s bats have started to heat up the last several weeks. The Pack was hitting .260 as a team through its first 20 games. In 12 games since then, NC State is hitting a robust .303 (134-for-442) with 26 doubles and 10 home runs. The Pack scored 103 runs in those 12 games.
In the last seven games, NC State has really started to swing the bats with authority, hitting .330 (87-for-264) with 16 doubles and six home runs. The Wolfpack has scored 64 runs in those seven games, an average of 9.1 per game.
Through the first 25 games of the season, NC State managed to reach double figures in base hits just eight times. In the last seven games, the Pack has 10 or more hits six times.
Several players have keyed the hot streak:
Senior outfielder Devon Cartwright enters the Duke series on a six-game hitting streak and is batting .423 (11-for-26) with two doubles, two homers and eight RBIs during the streak. Cartwright, hitting .329 for the season with four homers and 23 RBIs, hit a double and a homer and drove in two runs in each of his last two games.
Freshman second baseman Andrew Ciencin has hit safely in nine of his last 12 games coming into the Duke series, and is batting .349 (15-for-43) with five doubles and eight RBIs in those 12 games. Ciencin is hitting .313 for the season with seven doubles, one homer and 13 RBIs in 16 starts.
Senior first baseman Pat Ferguson caught a spark in the first game of the Boston College series and is hitting .471 (8-for-17) with two homers and seven RBIs in his last four games entering the Duke series. Ferguson, hitting .284 with four homers and 15 RBIs for the season, is 11-for-30 (.367) with three homers and 11 RBIs in his last nine games.
Freshman DH John Gianis has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games entering the Duke series and is batting .391 (18-for-46) with two doubles and nine RBIs in that time. Gianis is batting a team-high .344.
Freshman catcher/utilityman Pratt Maynard has hit safely in 10 of 11 games entering the Duke series and is hitting .349 (15-for-43) with six doubles and 12 RBIs in that time. Batting .279 overall, Maynard leads the team with five home runs and 25 RBIs.
Junior shortstop Dallas Poulk has hit safely in nine of his last 12 games entering the Duke series. Poulk had a five-game hitting steak snapped Tuesday in the UNC Wilmington game. He batted .316 (6-for-19) during the streak. Poulk is batting .276 and is tied for the team lead with 25 runs scored.
Sophomore catcher Chris Schaeffer has hit safely in 11 of his last 14 games entering the Duke series and is batting .306 (15-for-49) with three doubles, a home run and five RBIs in that time. Schaeffer is hitting .300 with three homers and 16 RBIs.
Junior center fielder Kyle Wilson enters the Duke series leading the ACC with 20 stolen bases and has a five-game hitting streak going. He is batting .455 (10-for-22) and has stolen eight bases during the streak. Wilson, batting .266 with two homers and 18 RBIs, is only the eighth player in NC State history to steal 20 or more bases in a single season, and is well on pace to shatter Jeff Meszar’s school record of 29 steals in a season, set in 1992.
Now the Wolfpack needs to carry that momentum over into the weekend. NC State squares off with Duke in a crucial three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series beginning Friday at Jack Coombs Field in Durham. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. WKNC-FM (88.1) will broadcast all three games live, and the broadcasts will be available on-line on gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.
The series with Duke has implications that go beyond just the conference standings. Both teams are scrambling for a berth in the eight-team Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. The Blue Devils are 22-12 overall and 7-8 in the ACC, eighth in the overall standings. The Wolfpack is 17-15 overall and 6-9 in the conference, one game behind Duke in ninth place.
“It goes without saying that this is a big series,” Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent said. “We’ve kind of put ourselves behind the eight ball with the way we’ve played. I feel good going into the weekend because of the way we responded Tuesday against UNC Wilmington. We were coming off a very difficult series at Boston College where we let an eight-run lead get away in the last game of that series and lost. It would be easy for these guys to get down on themselves, but they came out Tuesday and, I thought, played a complete game for the first time all season. That was very encouraging.”
Junior lefthander Jimmy Gillheeney (4-1, 3.64) will start Friday for NC State. He is coming off one of his best outings of the season last Saturday at Boston College. He allowed the Eagles one earned run on seven hits in seven innings of work for his fourth win of the year. Gillheeney has been a workhorse for the Wolfpack this year, pitching into the sixth inning in all seven starts, including four starts with at least seven complete innings pitched. Senior righthander Andrew Wolcott (5-1, 1.94) will start the series opener for Duke.
Sophomore righthander Jake Buchanan (2-3, 5.21) will start the second game of the series for NC State. Junior lefthander Christopher Manno (2-4, 6.14) will start Saturday for Duke. NC State’s pitching plans for Sunday are still to be determined. Duke will start freshman lefthander Eric Pfisterer (2-1, 3.80).
The Series Vs. Duke: NC State holds a 140-116-1 lead in the series with Duke, which dates back to 1904 when Duke still was known as Trinity College. Due to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s scheduling policy, the two teams did not play one another in 2006 or 2007.
NC State has won 11 of the last 16 meetings between the two, and holds a 19-13 lead in the series since Elliott Avent became NC State’s head coach in 1997. The Pack is 9-6 vs. Duke at Doak Field at Dail Park in that time, and 8-7 vs. Duke at Jack Coombs Field. NC State took two of three the last time the two teams played at Duke, and the Wolfpack has five of the last six games between the two teams at Duke.
The UNCW Game: The Wolfpack’s 10-2 victory over UNC Wilmington was encouraging on a number of fronts. First, freshman righthander Cory Mazzoni was masterful, holding the Seahawks to just one run on three hits in six innings. Through the first five innings, Mazzoni had faced just one batter over the minimum. A 26th-round draft pick of the Washington Nationals a year ago and a highly regarded signee, Mazzoni struggled with his confidence through the early part of the season. His success against the Seahawks can only help him in future outings.
“That was the Cory Mazzoni we saw all fall and all through the preseason,” Avent said. ”We need for him to pitch like that so we can use him on the weekends.”
The UNCW game also was encouraging in that the Wolfpack did not commit any errors, the team’s first error-free game 11 games. NC State has committed 54 errors in 32 games, an average of 1.7 per game. The UNCW game was just the fifth all season without an error. More importantly, however, the Wolfpack made all the right decisions defensively against the Seahawks, which was much more important to Avent.
“We only made one [mental] mistake in that game,” Avent said. I think it was in the eighth inning when they scored their second run. We threw to second base when I thought we had a chance to get the runner at home plate. But other than that, I thought we did everything right on defense.”
The Wolfpack’s defensive problems have been a puzzle to Avent, who expects the team to continue to improve defensively through the remainder of the season.
“Everyone talked about how good last year’s team was defensively, and I look at this team and think it should be a better defensive team than last year,” Avent said. “We have much more speed in the outfield. The catcher, first baseman and third baseman are the same. Dallas Poulk is better defensively than Tommy Foschi was at shortstop, and Tommy was very good. This should be a better defensive team and I expect that it will be.”
Offense Heating Up: After struggling much of the season to generate an offense, NC State’s bats have started to heat up the last several weeks. The Pack was hitting .260 as a team through its first 20 games. In 12 games since then, NC State is hitting a robust .303 (134-for-442) with 26 doubles and 10 home runs. The Pack scored 103 runs in those 12 games.
In the last seven games, NC State has really started to swing the bats with authority, hitting .330 (87-for-264) with 16 doubles and six home runs. The Wolfpack has scored 64 runs in those seven games, an average of 9.1 per game.
Through the first 25 games of the season, NC State managed to reach double figures in base hits just eight times. In the last seven games, the Pack has 10 or more hits six times.
Several players have keyed the hot streak:
Senior outfielder Devon Cartwright enters the Duke series on a six-game hitting streak and is batting .423 (11-for-26) with two doubles, two homers and eight RBIs during the streak. Cartwright, hitting .329 for the season with four homers and 23 RBIs, hit a double and a homer and drove in two runs in each of his last two games.
Freshman second baseman Andrew Ciencin has hit safely in nine of his last 12 games coming into the Duke series, and is batting .349 (15-for-43) with five doubles and eight RBIs in those 12 games. Ciencin is hitting .313 for the season with seven doubles, one homer and 13 RBIs in 16 starts.
Senior first baseman Pat Ferguson caught a spark in the first game of the Boston College series and is hitting .471 (8-for-17) with two homers and seven RBIs in his last four games entering the Duke series. Ferguson, hitting .284 with four homers and 15 RBIs for the season, is 11-for-30 (.367) with three homers and 11 RBIs in his last nine games.
Freshman DH John Gianis has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games entering the Duke series and is batting .391 (18-for-46) with two doubles and nine RBIs in that time. Gianis is batting a team-high .344.
Freshman catcher/utilityman Pratt Maynard has hit safely in 10 of 11 games entering the Duke series and is hitting .349 (15-for-43) with six doubles and 12 RBIs in that time. Batting .279 overall, Maynard leads the team with five home runs and 25 RBIs.
Junior shortstop Dallas Poulk has hit safely in nine of his last 12 games entering the Duke series. Poulk had a five-game hitting steak snapped Tuesday in the UNC Wilmington game. He batted .316 (6-for-19) during the streak. Poulk is batting .276 and is tied for the team lead with 25 runs scored.
Sophomore catcher Chris Schaeffer has hit safely in 11 of his last 14 games entering the Duke series and is batting .306 (15-for-49) with three doubles, a home run and five RBIs in that time. Schaeffer is hitting .300 with three homers and 16 RBIs.
Junior center fielder Kyle Wilson enters the Duke series leading the ACC with 20 stolen bases and has a five-game hitting streak going. He is batting .455 (10-for-22) and has stolen eight bases during the streak. Wilson, batting .266 with two homers and 18 RBIs, is only the eighth player in NC State history to steal 20 or more bases in a single season, and is well on pace to shatter Jeff Meszar’s school record of 29 steals in a season, set in 1992.
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