North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball To Host UNCW
4/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 12, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. -- NC State goes out of conference Wednesday when UNC Wilmington comes to Doak Field at Dail Park for a 6 p.m. game.
The Seahawks (17-14) have won their last two games in a row but dropped four of five and nine of 14 prior to that. NC State (18-15) was swept a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series this past weekend at Miami, but won eight of 10 prior to the trip to Coral Gables.
Sophomore righthander Danny Healey (1-3, 6.81) will start for NC State against vs. junior righthander Travis Bradley (0-2, 1.74) for the Seahawks.
NC State vs. UNC Wilmington -- The Series
The Wolfpack holds a 58-18 advantage in the series vs. the Seahawks, although the series is much closer in recent seasons. Since Elliott Avent became head coach in 1997, NC State's lead in the series is 18-11. Avent's Wolfpack teams have won 12 of 14 games vs. UNCW played at Doak Field at Dail Park, but are 5-9 at UNCW. NC State won the only game in that time played at a neutral site. The Seahawks have won the last three games in the series, four of the last five, and five of the last seven.
UNC Wilmington won both games vs. NC State a year ago. The Seahawks defeated the Pack 9-6 at Brooks Field in Wilmington on March 17, then came to Raleigh on April 14 and defeated the Wolfpack 7-4.
The Seahawks jumped to an 8-0 lead after three innings in the game in Wilmington, then withstood a Wolfpack rally in the middle innings. Dallas Poulk and John Gianis hit home runs for NC State. Danny Healey, Nick Rice, Rob Chamra and Mike Clark combined to allow two runs on seven hits in six innings of relief.
In the April 14 game at the Doak, Harold Riggins and Danny Canela drove in a run apiece in the first inning to stake Rey Cotilla to a 2-0 lead. Relievers Grant Sasser, Chamra, John Lambert and Felix Roque combined to allow three runs on eight hits over the final 6 2/3 innings.
NC State Still Unbeaten In Midweek Games
NC State is 9-0 so far in midweek games in 2011. The pitching staff has a 2.22 ERA in the midweek, and the offense is batting .322 and scoring 6.4 runs per game.
Pratt Maynard leads the hitters with a .405 (15-for-37) midweek average with two doubles, a home run and eight RBIs. Chris Diaz is a .379 hitter (11-for-29) in the midweek. Harold Riggins is batting .367 (11-for-30) in midweek games and leads the team with nine RBIs. Cameron Conner (.353), John Gianis (.333) and Andrew Ciencin (.333) all have hit well in midweek games.
The pitching staff has been equally strong in the midweek, with four pitchers boasting ERAs of less than 2.00 in at least 10 innings. Vance Williams is 1-0 with a 0.79 ERA in two midweek appearances, both starts. Ethan Ogburn has made three appearances, two of them starts, in the midweek, and is 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA. Chris Overman is 4-0 with a 1.35 ERA in midweek games. Rob Chamra is 2-0 and 1.74 in the midweek.
The pitching staff has held opposing batters to a .197 batting average, a .289 on-base percentage and a .282 slugging percentage in midweek games.
The Comeback Vs. Miami
Although the final result was a defeat, NC State's comeback from a nine-run deficit April 9 at Miami is worth noting. The Wolfpack trailed 13-4 heading into the top of the eighth inning and rallied for eight runs in the eighth to cut the lead to 13-12, then tied the game and sent it into extra innings with a run in the ninth.
Even though this one did not ultimately result in a victory, comebacks like that are always special, and NC State has staged a few comebacks of that magnitude over the years.
• On March 25, 2005, the Wolfpack trailed Lehigh 9-0 heading to the bottom of the eighth inning, then scored seven in the eighth and three in the ninth to win on Ramon Corona's one-out double.
• On May 22, 1998, in the second round of the NCAA West Regional at Palo Alto, Calif., NC State fell behind No. 1-ranked Alabama 9-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth and 10-3 after seven complete, but scored 10 runs in the bottom of the eighth to stun the Tide by a 13-10 score.
• On May 22, 1997, in the NCAA South II Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., the Wolfpack fell behind Wichita State 8-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, but scored six in the bottom of the seventh and three more in the bottom of the eighth to tie the score at 9-9, then won 10-9 on Jason Smith's RBI single in the bottom of the 10th.
• On April 1, 1997, NC State trailed The Citadel 11-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, but scored 11 in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a grand-slam homer by Scott Lawler and back-to-back homers from Jake Weber and Chris Combs, and won going away, 17-13.
Maynard's 12-Game Hitting Streak Ends
Pratt Maynard had his 12-game hitting streak snapped April 8 in the first game of the Miami series. His 12-game streak was the longest by an NC State hitter this season. Maynard batted .386 (17-for-44) with two doubles, a home run, 10 walks, seven runs scored and eight RBIs during the streak.
Maynard's streak began March 19 at Georgia Tech with a 1-for-3 game. He has had four multiple-hit games in the streak: March 23 vs. Northwestern (2-for-4); March 29 at UNC Greensboro (2-for-5); April 3 vs. Wake Forest (2-for-5); and April 5 vs. East Carolina (3-for-4).
Up Next
Following tonight's game vs. the Seahawks, the Wolfpack will play a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series this weekend vs. North Carolina here at Doak Field at Dail Park. Game times are 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
