North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Entertains Camels On Tuesday
4/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 18, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. — There’s nothing like a sweep of your arch-rival to rejuvenate a team. NC State swept fifth-ranked North Carolina this past weekend and now heads into play this week having won 11 of its last 17 games after a 10-10 start.
The Wolfpack will look to continue its winning ways this week with a home game Tuesday vs. Campbell, followed by a game Wednesday at UNC Wilmington and then a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series at No. 1 Virginia.
Game time for the Campbell and UNCW games is 6 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on WKNC-FM (88.1) and will be available on-line on GoPack.com’s All-Access package. Live streaming will be available on GoPack.com for the Campbell game. Live stats will be available on Gametracker. Just click the Gametracker icon on the baseball schedule page on GoPack.com.
NC State vs. Campbell — The Series
NC State leads the series with Campbell by a 42-12-1 mark. The Wolfpack is 15-5 vs. the Camels since Elliott Avent became head coach in 1997. The Pack is 9-2 at home vs. the Camels in that time, and 6-3 at Taylor Field in Buies Creek. Campbell has won three of the last four meetings. NC State won seven of eight prior to that. NC State has won six of the last seven meetings at Doak Field at Dail Park.
The Wolfpack and Camels split a pair of games a year ago, with NC State taking a 9-8 win at home, but falling 15-10 in Buies Creek. In the first game, righthander Jake Buchanan started and allowed just one hit in 5 2/3 shutout innings, retiring 17 of the 19 men he faced.
The bullpen could not hold a 5-0 lead, however, as the Camels scored two in the seventh and three in the eighth and ninth to tie the score at 8-8 and send the game to extra innings.
Andrew Ciencin finally won the game for the Wolfpack with a one-out RBI single in the 11th, driving in Dallas Poulk with the winning run. Rob Chamra got the win after pitching two scoreless innings of relief.
In the game at Buies Creek, NC State batters bashed three first-inning homers and took a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the first. Campbell responded with seven runs in the bottom of the first, six of the runs unearned, and led 15-5 through seven innings.
The Pack got three runs in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Ciencin and a two-run double by Pratt Maynard, then added two more in the ninth.
NC State vs. UNC Wilmington — The Series
NC State and UNCW met just last week, with the Seahawks hanging a 9-1 defeat on the Pack. Following that game, the Wolfpack’s lead in the series with UNCW stands at 58-19.
Since Elliott Avent became head coach in 1997, NC State’s lead in the series is 18-12. Avent’s Wolfpack teams have won 12 of 15 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 four games in the series, five of the last six, and six of the last eight.
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.
About That Sweep
NC State’s sweep of fifth-ranked North Carolina this past weekend was the Wolfpack’s first sweep of the Tar Heels since 1997, which was Elliott Avent’s first season as head coach. Avent now holds a 25-23 record vs. North Carolina in his 15 seasons at the helm.
Avent is 16-8 vs. the Tar Heels at Doak Field at Dail Park, and 5-13 in Chapel Hill. Avent’s Wolfpack teams are 1-1 vs. North Carolina at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, won a 1998 neutral-site game at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, and 2-1 in the ACC Tournament.
As a team, NC State batted .330 for the weekend. Cameron Conner and John Gianis were the Wolfpack’s leading hitters. Tarran Senay led the Pack for the weekend with four RBIs, and Brett Williams hit the team’s only home run. Williams also made the incredible catch-and-throw play in the fourth inning of Sunday’s game, turning a possible two-run triple for the Tar Heels into an inning-ending double play.
Conner batted .556 (5-for-9) with three doubles and three RBIs for the series. Gianis matched his career high for hits in a game with a 4-for-5 performance on Sunday and was 5-for-8 with a double and two RBIs for the series. Pratt Maynard was 5-for-12 (.417) with four doubles and two RBIs. Chris Diaz was 4-for-11 (.364) and scored three runs. Senay went 2-for-5 with a double and four RBIs.
The Wolfpack pitching staff posted a 4.00 ERA for the series, and starters Cory Mazzoni and Rob Chamra, and reliever Chris Overman stood out in particular.
Mazzoni allowed four runs, all in the second inning, on four hits in seven innings of work on Friday. Aside from the second inning, Mazzoni was his usual untouchable self, allowing no runs or hits in innings one, three, four and five, and one hit but not runs in inning six.
Chamra got the start on Sunday and ran into trouble just once — in the fourth — in 5 1/3 innings. Chamra retired nine of the 11 men he faced in the first three innings.
UNC put runners on first and second with one down in the fourth for Chaz Frank, whose drive into the gap in right-center looked for all the world like extra bases and two runs. Instead, Brett Williams made a lunging catch in full stride just as he reached the warning track, ran into the wall, and then turned and fired a bullet to shortstop Chris Diaz to double the lead runner off second base.
Chamra then cruised through the fifth and into the sixth before turning the ball over to the bullpen.
Overman pitched only 2 2/3 innings in the series, but got credit for a save in each of the first two games, both of which were one-run nail-biters. He walked two and struck out three.
Overman came into Friday’s game with runners on first and second and one out in the eighth inning, and set down five in a row for his third save of the year, preserving a one-run lead.
On Saturday, Overman got to the mound with runners on first and second and the Pack up three. UNC got the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position before Overman recorded the final out for his fourth save and second in as many nights.
Attendance News
The series between NC State and North Carolina drew near-record crowds to Doak Field at Dail Park. Friday’s crowd of 2775 was, at the time, the fourth-largest crowd at the Doak since the ballpark was renovated in 2003-04.
Two days later, 2828 fans squeezed their way into the ballpark, making that the fourth-largest crowd in stadium history and bumping Friday’s crowd to No. 5. Had it not been for the severe weather and tornadoes that roared through the Raleigh area Saturday afternoon, the series could well have drawn more than 8000 fans, which would have made it one of the two most-attended three-game series in stadium history.
Despite the severe weather that afternoon, a crowd of 1727 came out for Saturday evening’s game. The final tally for the three games was 7330, which ranks as the third-largest attendance for a series since the stadium was renovated.
The big crowds for the series with the Tar Heels pushed attendance for the season to 29,449 through 23 dates, an average of 1280 per game.
At that pace, with 11 games remaining, NC State would draw 43,529 fans for the year, which would rank second in stadium history. The stadium record is 48,263 set in 2008. Second on the list currently is 41,846 set in 1995, the first year the ballpark had lights.
This season’s average attendance of 1280 per game, should that continue, would rank third in stadium history.
Who’s Hot
Entering this week’s five-game schedule, several Wolfpack hitters have been swinging the bat well in recent weeks. In particular, Chris Diaz, Andrew Ciencin, Pratt Maynard and Cameron Conner stand out.
Diaz is batting .353 (12-for-34) with a double, a home run and five RBIs in his last 10 games. Ciencin has hit .276 (16-for-58) in his last 14 games, with four homers and a team-best 14 RBIs.
Maynard has hit consistently all season, including a 5-for-12 series vs. North Carolina. In his last nine games, Maynard is batting .350 (14-for-40) with six doubles and eight RBIs.
Conner has seen only part-time action this season but has made the most of it, and is batting .448 (13-for-29) with five doubles in his last 11 games.
Overman and Ogburn
Cory Mazzoni has gotten most of the attention on the NC State pitching staff this season, and deservedly so, but while Mazzoni has humiliated opposing hitters on Friday nights, sophomore righthanders Chris Overman and Ethan Ogburn have been shutting down enemy offenses as well. Between them, the Wolfpack’s O Boys have won nine games and saved four more.
Overman is 5-1 with four saves and a 2.30 ERA for the season. In his last 11 appearances heading into this week’s games vs. Campbell and UNCW, Overman is 4-1 with a 1.23 ERA and four saves, and has allowed 13 hits, walked four and struck out 21 in 22 innings.
After allowing four runs, three earned, in 2 1/3 innings on Feb. 19 at Elon in his first outing of the year, Overman is 5-1 with a 1.44 ERA in 25 innings over his last 14 appearances.
Ogburn has been been just about as dominant as Overman, posting a 4-2 record and a 3.89 ERA for the season. He has gotten stronger and stronger as the season has progressed, and a seven-run outing March 20 at Georgia Tech makes his numbers appear worse than they should be.
Minus that game in Atlanta, Ogburn’s ERA for the season is 2.08. In his last six appearances, Ogburn is 4-0 with a 2.01 ERA in 22 1/3 innings, allowing 15 hits and striking out 15 in that time. Overman is 5-1 with a 2.30 ERA in 15 appearances and 27 1/3 innings as a reliever this season.
As always, please visit GoPack.com regularly for full coverage of all NC State athletics news and events.
