North Carolina State University Athletics
28th-Ranked Baseball To Play Midweek Series Vs. Coppin State
4/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
RALEIGH, N.C. — Ranked No. 28 in the latest poll from Collegiate Baseball magazine, NC State will play a pair of midweek games this week against Coppin State. Game times are 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday and 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
Both games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line at gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.
NC State enters the series with an 18-10 overall mark following its series win vs. previously top-ranked Virginia this past weekend. The Wolfpack won the first game of the series 6-5 in 11 innings, dropped the middle game 8-4, then recovered to take the finale 7-6. NC State has won three of its last four games, and four of its last seven.
Coppin State comes into play this week at 10-12, but riding a hot streak, having won eight of its last nine games. Coppin State won two of three this past weekend at Norfolk State, winning the opener 7-4, losing the second game 7-2, and winning the final game in a slugfest, 16-13.
NC State vs. Coppin State: NC State has won all three previous meetings with Coppin State, all three of which came in 2002. The Wolfpack won by scores of 23-2, 11-0 and 27-5.
Avent Surpasses The 500-Win Plateau: NC State’s 6-5 win over top-ranked Virginia on April 2 was the 500th win for head coach Elliott Avent in his 13-plus seasons in Raleigh. became just the second coach in program history to win 500 games at NC State.
Heading into this week’s series vs. Coppin State, Avent has a 726-530 overall record as a head coach, and 501-321 in 13-plus years at NC State. He needs 13 wins to pass Sam Esposito and become the winningest baseball coach in NC State history. Esposito went 513-253 from 1967-87.
The Return of the Cardiac Pack: Twice in the last two weekends, NC State has rallied for multiple runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to send a game vs. a nationally ranked opponent into extra innings. And the Wolfpack went on to win both games.
On March 27, NC State trailed Miami 6-1 with two out and no one on base in the bottom of the ninth inning and did the near-imposible — it rallied to tie the game and then went on to win in extra innings.
On April 2 in the opener of the series vs. top-ranked Virginia, the Wolfpack rallied for two runs twice in the late innings, in the bottom of the eighth and the ninth, to send that game into extra frames. John Gianis led off the bottom of the eighth with a double off the wall in left field, then trotted home on Kyle Wilson’s two-run homer to left-center.
After UVa retook the lead with two runs in the top of the ninth, Danny Canela led off the bottom of the inning with a double down the left-field line, and Dallas Poulk hit the next pitch for a two-run homer to tie the game. The rally took all of four pitches.
NC State won this game with a two-out, RBI single to right by freshman shortstop Matt Bergquist.
Stellar Relief Work: NC State has gotten excellent relief pitching ever since the start of the Miami series back on 26. In seven games since then, the Wolfpack bullpen has gone 4-0 with a 2.94 ERA in 21 appearances covering 33 2/3 innings. Relievers have retired 83 of 120 batters faced in those seven games, and held opposing hitters to a .244 batting average.
Grant Sasser has been phenomenal out of the pen and in four appearances in the last seven games, he has allowed one run on six hits while striking out eight for a 0.90 ERA. Opponents are hitting .188 against him in that span.
Rob Chamra has a 1.69 ERA in three appearances (5 1/3 innings) over the last seven games. Anthony Tzamtzis is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA in three appearances covering 6 1/3 innings.
Danny Healey, Nate King, Rey Cotilla and John Lambert have combined to make five appearances and worked four innings without allowing a run. Healey, Sasser, Roque and Cotilla combined to face 16 Old Dominion hitters March 31 and retired 15 of them, including 13 in a row at one point.
Kyle Wilson Igniting The Offense: Senior center fielder Kyle Wilson has been a classic leadoff hitter for NC State this season. Wilson’s overall numbers say plenty — .413 batting average, 37 runs scored, 11 steals in 12 attempts, .624 slugging percentage and a .522 on-base percentage — but a deeper look at his season is quite revealing.
Wilson has 12 multiple-hit games and eight multiple-run games. He has hit safely in all 26 games he has started. He has had hitting streaks of 14 games and 12 games, the latter streak being current.
Wilson began the season by reaching base safely in each of his first five plate appearances. He has yet to go more than four plate appearances without reaching base safely, and has gone four plate appearances without reaching base just four times all season.
Wilson had a season-best streak of eight consecutive plate appearance in which he reached base, covering a three-game span (March 4 vs. Xavier through March 6 vs. Quinnipiac).
Hitting Streaks: Kyle Wilson enters the Coppin State series riding a 12-game hitting streak, the longest current hitting streak on the team. Wilson is batting .377 (20-for-53) with two doubles, four home runs and 12 RBIs during his current hitting streak.
Wilson has hit safely in all 26 games he has started, batting .417 (45-for-108). His lone hitless outing came March 14 when he lined out in his only plate appearance, pinch-hitting in the eighth inning at Clemson.
Wilson hit safely in NC State’s first 14 games and batted .455 (25-for-55).
Both games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and on-line at gopack.com through the Pack Pass package.
NC State enters the series with an 18-10 overall mark following its series win vs. previously top-ranked Virginia this past weekend. The Wolfpack won the first game of the series 6-5 in 11 innings, dropped the middle game 8-4, then recovered to take the finale 7-6. NC State has won three of its last four games, and four of its last seven.
Coppin State comes into play this week at 10-12, but riding a hot streak, having won eight of its last nine games. Coppin State won two of three this past weekend at Norfolk State, winning the opener 7-4, losing the second game 7-2, and winning the final game in a slugfest, 16-13.
NC State vs. Coppin State: NC State has won all three previous meetings with Coppin State, all three of which came in 2002. The Wolfpack won by scores of 23-2, 11-0 and 27-5.
Avent Surpasses The 500-Win Plateau: NC State’s 6-5 win over top-ranked Virginia on April 2 was the 500th win for head coach Elliott Avent in his 13-plus seasons in Raleigh. became just the second coach in program history to win 500 games at NC State.
Heading into this week’s series vs. Coppin State, Avent has a 726-530 overall record as a head coach, and 501-321 in 13-plus years at NC State. He needs 13 wins to pass Sam Esposito and become the winningest baseball coach in NC State history. Esposito went 513-253 from 1967-87.
The Return of the Cardiac Pack: Twice in the last two weekends, NC State has rallied for multiple runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to send a game vs. a nationally ranked opponent into extra innings. And the Wolfpack went on to win both games.
On March 27, NC State trailed Miami 6-1 with two out and no one on base in the bottom of the ninth inning and did the near-imposible — it rallied to tie the game and then went on to win in extra innings.
On April 2 in the opener of the series vs. top-ranked Virginia, the Wolfpack rallied for two runs twice in the late innings, in the bottom of the eighth and the ninth, to send that game into extra frames. John Gianis led off the bottom of the eighth with a double off the wall in left field, then trotted home on Kyle Wilson’s two-run homer to left-center.
After UVa retook the lead with two runs in the top of the ninth, Danny Canela led off the bottom of the inning with a double down the left-field line, and Dallas Poulk hit the next pitch for a two-run homer to tie the game. The rally took all of four pitches.
NC State won this game with a two-out, RBI single to right by freshman shortstop Matt Bergquist.
Stellar Relief Work: NC State has gotten excellent relief pitching ever since the start of the Miami series back on 26. In seven games since then, the Wolfpack bullpen has gone 4-0 with a 2.94 ERA in 21 appearances covering 33 2/3 innings. Relievers have retired 83 of 120 batters faced in those seven games, and held opposing hitters to a .244 batting average.
Grant Sasser has been phenomenal out of the pen and in four appearances in the last seven games, he has allowed one run on six hits while striking out eight for a 0.90 ERA. Opponents are hitting .188 against him in that span.
Rob Chamra has a 1.69 ERA in three appearances (5 1/3 innings) over the last seven games. Anthony Tzamtzis is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA in three appearances covering 6 1/3 innings.
Danny Healey, Nate King, Rey Cotilla and John Lambert have combined to make five appearances and worked four innings without allowing a run. Healey, Sasser, Roque and Cotilla combined to face 16 Old Dominion hitters March 31 and retired 15 of them, including 13 in a row at one point.
Kyle Wilson Igniting The Offense: Senior center fielder Kyle Wilson has been a classic leadoff hitter for NC State this season. Wilson’s overall numbers say plenty — .413 batting average, 37 runs scored, 11 steals in 12 attempts, .624 slugging percentage and a .522 on-base percentage — but a deeper look at his season is quite revealing.
Wilson has 12 multiple-hit games and eight multiple-run games. He has hit safely in all 26 games he has started. He has had hitting streaks of 14 games and 12 games, the latter streak being current.
Wilson began the season by reaching base safely in each of his first five plate appearances. He has yet to go more than four plate appearances without reaching base safely, and has gone four plate appearances without reaching base just four times all season.
Wilson had a season-best streak of eight consecutive plate appearance in which he reached base, covering a three-game span (March 4 vs. Xavier through March 6 vs. Quinnipiac).
Hitting Streaks: Kyle Wilson enters the Coppin State series riding a 12-game hitting streak, the longest current hitting streak on the team. Wilson is batting .377 (20-for-53) with two doubles, four home runs and 12 RBIs during his current hitting streak.
Wilson has hit safely in all 26 games he has started, batting .417 (45-for-108). His lone hitless outing came March 14 when he lined out in his only plate appearance, pinch-hitting in the eighth inning at Clemson.
Wilson hit safely in NC State’s first 14 games and batted .455 (25-for-55).
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