North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Prepares For Top-Ranked Tar Heels
5/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. - Seven games remain on the schedule for NC State, all at home, including two Atlantic Coast Conference weekend series. The fun begins this weekend when North Carolina comes to Doak Field at Dail Park.
Game times are 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturay, and 2 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line at gopack.com via Pack Pass.
The Starting Pitchers: NC State will send junior lefthander Jimmy Gillheeney (5-4, 3.54) to the mound for Friday’s series opener. He will oppose junior righthander Alex White (7-1, 3.36) o North Carolina in a matchup of two pitchers who should figure prominently in next month’s Major League Baseball Draft.
Junior lefthander John Lambert (1-3, 6.05) will start on Saturday for the Wolfpack. The Tar Heels will start senior righthander Adam Warren (5-2, 3.19). North Carolina sophomore righthander Matt Harvey (5-1, 6.40) will start on Sunday. NC State’s Sunday starter is still to be determined.
K's For Kay: Friday’s game will be K’s For K Day. Each fan entering Doak Field at Dail Park will be asked to fill out a “Ks for Kay” pledge card to donate a certain amount for the total number of strikeouts in the game. To read more about the K’s for K promotion, click the link at the top of this article.
Scouting The Wolfpack: NC State comes into the game at 22-27 overall and 8-16 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Wolfpack is in fourth place in the ACC’s Atlantic Division, 3 1/2 games behind third-place Boston College. Following a 5-1 defeat at UNC Wilmington on Wednesday, NC State has won two of its last three games, and three of its last six.
Eight UNCW pitchers combined to limit the Wolfpack to two hits Wednesday, with freshman third baseman Andrew Ciencin collecting both hits. Ciencin is now on a six-game hitting streak and is hitting .476 (10-for-21) with four doubles, two home runs and six RBIs during the hitting streak.
Ciencin has emerged as the Wolfpack’s leading hitter over the final stretch of the season. He is hitting .333 (11-for-33) over the last 10 games, and .296 (16-for-54) over the last 15. Both figures lead the team over that time. Ciencin and fellow freshman John Gianis lead NC State in ACC games. Gianis is hitting .354 (17-for-48) in 20 conference games. Ciencin is hitting .307 (23-for-75) in 21 ACC games.
Although the Wolfpack has struggled offensively for much of the season, the team has hit well over the last six games, Wednesday’s game notwithstanding. The team is hitting .307 and averaging 8.2 runs per game in the last six games. In addition to Ciencin, Russell Wilson (.375), Cameron Conner (.467, 2 doubles, 3 homers, 7 RBIs) and Pat Ferguson (.375) have hit well over the last six games.
Scouting North Carolina: The Tar Heels, ranked anywhere from No. 1 to No. 4 nationally, depending on which poll you prefer, were 36-11 pending a home game Thursday night vs. Longwood. UNC is 16-7 in the ACC and in first place in the Coastal Division, two games ahead of Georgia Tech in the win column. Entering the Longwood game on Thursday, UNC had won four games in a row and nine of its last 10.
North Carolina features a deep and balanced lineup that is hitting .308 as a team and is scoring 7.6 runs per game. Junior first baseman and center fielder Dustin Ackely leads the Tar Heels offensively. He is hitting . 392 with 11 doubles, three triples, 13 home runs and 43 RBIs. Ackley has stolen nine bases in 11 attempts. Junior third baseman Kyle Seager is hitting .392 with 21 doubles, three triples, three home runs and 41 RBIs. He has nine steals in as many attempts.
Junior catcher Mark Fleury leads the Tar Heels in runs batted in with 55, and is hitting .345 with 17 doubles, three triples and 10 homers. Freshman second baseman Levi Michael is hitting .311 with nine doubles, four triples, 12 home runs and 44 RBIs. Sophomore outfielder Ben Bunting is hitting .318 with seven doubles, four triples, two home runs and 29 RBIs from the leadoff spot.
The Tar Heels pitching staff sports a 3.73 ERA and is averaging 10.1 strikeouts per contest. Sophomore righthander Colin Bates leads the bullpen. He is 3-2 with a 2.58 ERA and six savbes. Junior Brian Moran (5-1, 2.17, 2 saves) and sophomore Logan Munson (1-1, 2.81, 2 saves), both lefthanders, give depth to the bullpen.
The Series vs. North Carolina: The Tar Heels lead the overall series between the two schools by a 148-119-1 margin. UNC has won four of the last five and seven of the last 10 meetings. In 12 seasons since Elliott Avent became head coach of the Wolfpack, the series has been more or less even, with UNC holding a 20-19 edge. NC State is 11-7 vs. the Tar Heels at Doak Field at Dail Park in that time, 4-11 in Chapel Hill, 1-1 at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, and 3-1 in the ACC Tournament.
A Year Ago: North Carolina spent the 2008 season playing its home games in Cary at the USA Baseball Training Complex, and the NC State-North Carolina series for 08 was held in Cary. The Tar Heels won the opener 5-2, scoring all five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning off Wolfpack starter Clayton Shunick. Chad Flack’s three-run homer capped the rally. White allowed two runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings to get credit for the win.
NC State scored three runs in the sixth and seventh innings to rally past UNC for an 8-6 win in the second game of the series. Dallas Poulk went 4-for-4 and drove in two runs, and Pat Ferguson came off the bench to double home a pair of runs in the eighth inning. Lefthander Alex Sogard allowed just one hit and a walk in 2 1/3 shutout innings to get credit for the win. Jimmy Gillheeney notched the last four outs to record his sixth save of the season.
The third and final game of the series was rained out.
