North Carolina State University Athletics
No. 13 Wolfpack Awaits Weekend Series at Maryland
4/5/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 5, 2012
COLLEGE PARK, MD. - No. 13 NC State takes the field at Maryland (19-12, 3-9 ACC) Friday at 6 p.m. to begin a three-game set with games following Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Wolfpack (20-7, 8-4 ACC) enters the series on the momentum of consecutive wins: a thrilling Sunday finale to take the series from Virginia, and a decisive midweek win over Old Dominion Wednesday. The 16-6, seven-inning win over the Monarchs marks the 20th victory of the season for State, making the 2012 squad the fastest since 2006 to reach 20 wins.
Ethan Ogburn (3-1, 1.59 ERA) opens the series against righthander Brett Harman (4-1, 2.38). Ogburn’s ERA ranks tied for second in the ACC, and represents a large part of the reason that NC State sits 5-1 in Friday games.
Saturday will pit Carlos Rodon (4-0, 1.49) against fellow lefthander Jimmy Reed (0-1, 0.48). Reed will make his first start of the season, Saturday, after being used primarily as a closer thus far in 2012. Rodon holds the lowest ERA in the ACC, and took over the national freshman lead in strikeouts after fanning 12 against Virginia to improve to 59 on the year against 12 walks.
In Sunday’s finale, Logan Jernigan (3-1, 4.44) matches up with righthander David Carroll (3-1, 3.53). Jernigan returned to form against Virginia after a pair of difficult outings against Wake Forest and North Carolina, and ranks second in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (3.76).
NC State head coach Elliott Avent has done a tremendous job reshaping his team around a small-ball philosophy this season. The Pack ranks seventh in the nation and tops in the ACC in opponent’s batting average (.217). State also leads the conference in strikeouts (8.64 per game), good for 12th in the country, and strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.73 to 1).
The Wolfpack infield has turned an ACC-best 1.23 double plays per game, which ranks fifth in the NCAA. Trea Turner’s 28-for-28 stolen base record leads the nation by two, helping the Pack to 14th-nationally (2.0 per game). State ranks third in the ACC when it comes to sac bunts, fourth in sac flies.
Radio coverage for all three games will be provided by 88.1 WKNC. Fans can follow Twitter updates from @NCStateBaseball, and live stats will be available at GoPack.com.
