North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Travels to Wake Forest
3/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Raleigh, N.C. - NC State (12-5) travels to Winston-Salem this weekend to begin a three-game series against Wake Forest (6-12). The first pitch is set to be thrown at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, March 19.
The starters for Friday's game are Jake Buchanan (2-1, 2.81) and Michael Dimock (1-2, 3.50).
For Saturday's game, the Wolfpack will put Cory Mazzoni (2-1, 5.40) on the mound, while Tim Cooney (2-0, 3.20) will throw for the Demon Deacons.
The probable starters on Sunday will be Alex Sogard (0-0, 6.35) and Austin Stadler (1-0, 5.96).
NC State vs. Wake Forest
NC State and Wake Forest have played one another 242 times in baseball, which is the third most games the Wolfpack has played against any school, traling only North Caroina (271) and Duke (260).
The Pack leads the overall series with the Deacons 136-102-1. NC State is 23-19 vs. Wake Forest since Elliott Avent became head coach in 1997. Avent is 12-6 vs. Wake Forest at Doak Field at Dail Park, 11-9 in Winston-Salem, including a 9-8 mark at the old Gene Hooks Stadium and 2-1 at the Wake Forest Baseball Stadium.
NC State won last year’s series at the Wake Forest Baseball series, the first time the two teams played an entire series at the old Ernie Shore Field, and the fourth, fifth and sixth games between the two teams at the old minor league stadium.
Wake Forest won the opener 6-3 behind five solid innings from starter Austin Stadler and four shutout innings from the bullpen. The Wolfpack rebounded and took the middle game of the series 10-3 thanks to home runs from Wade Moore and Dusty Quattlebaum and a complete-game, three-hitter from Jake Buchanan. Moore and Drew Poulk drove in three runs apiece in the finale, and Andrew Ciencin came off the bench to drive in two as the Wolfpack won the rubber game of the series 13-7.
Avent Piling Up The W’s
Head coach Elliott Avent, currently in his 14th season with NC State baseball (21st overall), has done a remarkable job following a long line of great Wolfpack head coaches. Avent has averaged more than 38 victories per season over the course of 21-plus years.
Heading into this weekend’s series at Wake Forest, Avent has a 720-525 overall record as a head coach, and 495-316 in 13-plus years at NC State.
Avent now needs just five victories to become the second coach in school history to win 500 games at NC State, and needs 18 wins to pass Sam Esposito and become the winningest baseball coach in school history.
Double-Doubles
NC State has scored 10 runs or more nine times and rapped out 10 hits or more 13 times, reaching double figures in both eight times.
NC State has had 20 hits or more four times, and 15 hits or more eight times. The Wolfpack has scored 15 runs or more six times, including 32 runs in the season opener vs. La Salle. The Pack has reached double figures for RBIs eight times, and twice for walks.
Wolfpack Hitters Stay Hot On The Road
NC State is batting .370 as a team, and is hitting .314 during the first five games of the current nine-game road swing.
Dallas Poulk has heated up the power numbers during the road trip, batting .364 (8-for-22) with three doubles, two home runs, seven runs scored and 10 RBIs during the first five games of the trip. Andrew Ciencin is hitting .435 (10-for-23) on the road trip, with a double, a home run and six RBIs. John Gianis has produced in a part-time role on the trip, hitting .500 (6-for-12) with a triple, a home run and five RBIs. Chris Schaeffer is hitting .364 (4-for-11) with two homers and six RBIs while playing in four of the five games. Kyle Wilson and Matt Bergquist both are hitting .429 during the trip. Wilson is 6-for-14, while Bergquist is 3-for-7.
Hitting Streaks
The trip to Clemson last weekend ended several lengthy NC State hitting streaks, and the trip to UNC Wilmington on Wednesday ended the longest of the season thus far.
Pratt Maynard hit safely in his first 10 games of the season, but went 0-for-3 in the first game of the Clemson series. Maynard batted .455 (20-for-44) during his streak.
Kyle Wilson hit safely in hit safely in NC State’s first 14 games, but had the streak snapped with an 0-for-1 in a pinch-hitting appearance in the finale of the Clemson series. He batted .455 (25-for-55) during his streak.
Chris Schaeffer had a nine-game hitting streak broken in the final game of the Clemson series. He batted .452 (14-for-31) during the streak.
Drew Poulk batted safely in the first 16 games of the season, but that streak went by the boards on St. Patrick’s Day at UNCW. Poulk batted .366 (26-for-71) during his streak. Drew Poulk also batted safely in the final five games of the 2009 season, giving him a multiseason streak of 21 games, which unofficially is tied for the fifth longest streak in NC State history.
