North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Readies for Fall Series This Weekend
10/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Oct. 27, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Fall baseball practice wraps up for NC State this weekend with the Wolfpack's annual fall intrasquad world series, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Doak Field at Dail Park.
Game times are 6 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free of charge and the public is encouraged to attend.
Friday will be scout night, with Major League Baseball scouts watching the Pack taking batting practice and then grading the team's draft-eligible players in various running, fielding and throwing drills. The Wolfpack will wrap up the weekend on Sunday with what is now a Halloween tradition of costumed batting practice.
The Wolfpack coaching staff will divide the team as evenly as possible for the best-of-3 series. The games will be seven innings apiece.
Sophomore righthanders Ethan Ogburn and Josh Easley will be the starting pitchers in the Friday game. Junior righthander Vance Williams and sophomore righthander Danny Healey will be the starters on Saturday. Junior righthander Cory Mazzoni and senior righty Rob Chamra will start the series finale on Sunday.
NC State, coming off a 38-24 campaign in 2010, will be looking to return to the NCAA regionals in 2011 for the 11th time in 15 years under head coach Elliott Avent, who became the program's all-time winningest coach last season.
"Every year's team is different, no matter how many guys you have back from the year before," Avent said. "Fall practice is the first chance we get as a team to carve out our identity for 2011. We've had about five weeks now, and it's been a very productive fall. That said, we still have a long way to go to be as good as we'll need to be in the spring in the Atlantic Coast Conference."
The Wolfpack should field a deep, talented and versatile everyday lineup in `11. Eight full- or part-time starters and 11 lettermen overall return from last spring's offensive juggernaut. Combined, those 11 players batted .313 with 100 doubles, 62 home runs and 340 RBIs in 2010. Their on-base percentage was .419, and they slugged a collective .521.
Senior catcher Chris Schaeffer (.315-11-35), junior infielders Harold Riggins (.331-12-44) and Andrew Ciencin (.316-10-77), and junior catcher/infielder Pratt Maynard (.273-11-49 with a school-record 64 walks) form the core of the offense. Their output is augmented by junior outfielder John Gianis (.363-3-24), sophomore catcher Danny Canela (.313-6-40), sophomore outfielder Tarran Senay (.313-6-22) and sophomore shortstop Matt Bergquist (.294-1-28).
Adding to the riches offensively are senior outfielder Ryan Mathews, who missed most of last season with an injuriy; sophomore outfielder Cameron Conner; and sophomore infielder Chris Diaz, who batted .309 in a reserve role.
"I think everyone knows we had a terrific offensive team last year and have several quality hitters back," Avent said. "At the same time, we lost three truly great players in Dallas and Drew Poulk and Kyle Wilson. Dallas was our glue for four years. Drew may have been the best defensive right fielder I've ever had and was a heck of a hitter. Kyle Wilson was an outstanding center fielder and leadoff hitter.
"I think we have a chance to be a very good offensive team this year, but we have to replace a great senior class, and not just the three guys I mentioned. Our seniors last year, hitters and pitchers, provided us with outstanding leadership, probably the best senior leadership we've had since I've been here."
As is usually the case in baseball, much of the Pack's fortunes in 2011 will depend on pitching. NC State's pitching staff is long on potential but short on proven experience. Juniors Cory Mazzoni (7-3, 5.20) and Grant Sasser (3-4, 3.56 with 5 saves) were key contributors, and senior righthander Rob Chamra (3-1, 4.22 in 25 appearances) had a solid 2010 season and is coming off a productive summer at Falmouth of the Cape Cod League.
The remaining 11 pitchers back from last year, however, were a combined 11-6 with a 6.67 ERA a year ago, and only two of them logged as many as 30 innings. Redshirt-junior righthander Vance Williams (1-1, 5.70, 1 save) made 18 appearances, but saved his best for last, allowing three hits in 5 2/3 shutout innings of relief vs. Stony Brook in the NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional. Williams limited opposing hitters to a .256 batting average for the season, second-lowest on the staff among pitchers with at least 30 innings.
Sophomore righthander Felix Roque (1-0, 4.65, 1 save) made three starts in his 16 appearances, including three shutout innings in the Wolfpack's 8-6 victory at East Carolina.
"We lost our Friday night starter in Jake Buchanan and our Sunday starter in Alex Sogard," Avent said. "That's two big losses. Heading into the fall, we knew that Cory Mazzoni would be our No. 1 starter this year, and that's it. Our pitchers have made progress as a staff this fall and we feel good about our pitching, but as a general rule we like to wait until February to define most of the roles on our staff. This year will be no different."
