North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Hosts Buffalo and GMU This Week
3/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 14, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Baseball returns to Doak Field at Dail Park this week with a pair of midweek games. NC State (8-7) will host Buffalo (2-9) on Tuesday and George Mason (9-7-1) on Wednesday. Game times both days are set for 3 p.m.
Both games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and will be available with videostreaming on-line on GoPack.com's All-Access package. Live stats will be available on Gametracker. Just click the Gametracker icon on the baseball schedule page on GoPack.com.
NC State, which had a three-game winning streak snapped this past weekend at Duke, is 3-0 this season in midweek games, with a win over Davidson and two over Radford.
The Series vs. Buffalo and George Mason
NC State is 2-0 vs. Buffalo, which was known as SUNY Buffalo at the time. The Wolfpack defeated SUNY Buffalo 2-1 in 1985 and 12-0 in 1986.
NC State is 21-4 all-time vs. George Mason. The Wolfpack and Patriots last played on March 10, 2009, a game George Mason won 11-4 behind Scott Krieger's four RBIs and the combined four-hit pitching of four GMU hurlers.
NC State and George Mason split a two-game midweek series March 9-10, 2004. The Patriots won the opener 5-2 behind 7 2/3 innings of six-hit pitching from starter Stacen Gant and two RBIs from Bruce Baldwin. The Wolfpack rebounded to win the second game 6-3 thanks to a two-run homer and an RBI single by David Hicks and 5 1/3 strong innings from Derek McKee.
Strong Relief For The Wolfpack
Pitching has been NC State's strongest and longest suit through the first 15 games of the season, with a staff ERA of 4.12 through 131 innings. The bullpen has been especially stingy, posting a 5-2 record with a 3.59 ERA and two saves through 52 2/3 innings.
Grant Sasser and Brandon Price have made 11 combined appearances and worked 13 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run. Four NC State relievers have ERAs of 3.00 or lower. Ethan Ogburn and Nick Rice each have allowed one earned run in seven combined innings of relief work.
NC State has a 3.12 ERA in the eighth and ninth innings, with a 1.64 ERA in the ninth.
In two of his last three appearances, Price has inherited bases-loaded jams and not allowed an inherited runner to score. Price has inherited seven baserunners from previous pitchers and has stranded six of them.
Nine-Game Strikeout Binge
NC State pitchers have struck out 96 batters in 79 innings the last nine games heading into this week's action, and have recorded double-digit strikeouts in six of those nine games. Wolfpack pitchers are averaging 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings during the nine-game span. You have to go back to the first nine games of 2009 to find a comparable stretch of strikeout prowess by the Wolfpack.
In the first nine games that year, NC State hurlers fanned 102 batters in 90 innings, an average of 10.2 K's per nine innings. The highlight of the 2009 stretch was a March 4 game vs. Akron at Lake Worth, Fla., a school-record 31-inning marathon during which 11 NC State pitchers combined to strike out an NCAA-record 31 batters. Wolfpack pitchers only reached double figures in strikeouts four times during that streak.
Diaz On Eight-Game Hitting Streak
NC State shortstop Chris Diaz enters play this week riding an eight-game hitting streak, longest by any Wolfpack hitter this season. Diaz began his streak with a 2-for-4 performance on March 4 vs. Penn State. He has had two or more hits in four of the eight games, including three of the last four. Diaz is batting .429 (12-for-28) during the streak, and .636 (7-for-11) in the last four games of the streak.
Maynard Begins To Heat Up At The Plate
Pratt Maynard had his six-game hitting streak snapped March 13 in the finale of the Duke series, but before his 0-for-3 game vs. the Blue Devils, Maynard was really starting to tattoo the baseball.
During the six-game streak, Maynard batted .417 (10-for-24) with four doubles, a homer and five RBIs. He doubled twice and had three hits March 11 during the first game of the Duke series, driving in the tying run in the seventh inning and scoring the winning run in the ninth. Maynard also had three hits, including his first homer of the year, March 9 in the finale of the Radford series.
Vance Williams On A Roll
Dating back to last year's NCAA Myrtle Beach Regional, Wolfpack junior righthander Vance Williams is on something of a roll. In five games starting with that regional appearance vs. Stony Brook, Williams has allowed five runs on 10 hits in 17 innings, striking out 15 and walking just one for a 1-0 record and a 2.65 ERA.
Williams made the best start of his career March 8 vs. Radford, allowing a run on two hits in a career-best six innings. His first two appearances of the season, both scoreless, were an inning in relief vs. Pacific and two-thirds of an inning vs. Penn State.
Williams allowed four runs on four hits and struck out four without a walk in 3 2/3 innings March 13 in the finale of the Duke series. He began the four-game run by working 5 2/3 scoreless innings in relief vs. Stony Brook in the 2010 Myrtle Beach Regional, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out five.
* * *
As always, please visit GoPack.com regularly for full coverage of all NC State athletics news and events.
