The N.C. State baseball team returns to Doak Field at Dail Park for its first home ACC series this weekend against the Clemson Tigers. State (12-10, 1-5 ACC) will host the No. 15-ranked Tigers (12-7, 3-3 ACC) beginning Friday in a three-game series.
The Wolfpack will look to bounce back in conference play after starting 1-5, losing two of three games to Duke and dropping all three games last weekend to No. 17-ranked Georgia Tech. It won’t be easy in a conference as tough as the ACC, but the Pack intends to climb out of an early hole and realize the importance of this series as the team looks to make the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
“Once you get into ACC play, every weekend is big” said Andrew Ciencen, a junior infielder. “I think everyone knows what it takes to be good in this league now with two weekends under our belt. Taking two or three from Clemson would be huge.”
Clemson has established itself as one of the most consistent college baseball programs in the country. The Tigers are coming off a 2010 season where they reached the College World Series and come into the weekend with a five-game winning streak after winning two games in a midweek series against Elon and sweeping Duke last weekend at home.
The Tigers are averaging over eight runs a game and batting .335 as a team led by Spencer Kieboom’s .455 batting average and 15 RBI’s. The Pack will also have to look out for Phil Pohl who is hitting .426 with a pair of home runs and 14 RBI’s, as well as Chris Epps, who leads the team in home runs (four) and stolen bases (six). Will Lamb will also look to extend his current 11-game hitting streak against the Pack.
Clemson will send right-hander Scott Weismann to the mound today where he will look to pick up his third win of the season. He is currently 2-2 with a 5.84 ERA in five starts. The Tigers have yet to determine a pitcher for Saturday’s matchup, but righty Scott Firth will make his second start of the season in the series finale on Sunday. He boasts a 1-0 record with a 2.93 ERA and has also made four relief appearances this season.
State is coming off two wins over Northwestern this past week and continues to search for the right balance and mix of players as they head into the bulk of the ACC season. The Pack has pitched well for the most part, but coach Elliott Avent and his staff are still waiting for someone to emerge as the team’s third weekend starter. The Wolfpack has also shown glimpses of batting capability, but has been unable to put it all together up to now.
“Are we doing everything right? Heck no. Are we still fighting the game a little bit and fighting ourselves? Yea,” Avent said. “But are they hanging in there; are they giving everything they’ve got? You better believe it.”
With the exception of sophomore infielder Chris Diaz who is hitting a team-high .368 and Pratt Maynard who is batting .341 and leading the team with 15 RBI’s, the rest of the offense has been mostly quiet. State is averaging 5.2 runs per game and hitting .282 as a team, a significant drop-off from last season’s nationally ranked offense.
The power numbers have also gone down as the Pack has only hit eight home runs through its first 20 games compared to 30 at this point last season. Some of it may be in part to new NCAA regulated bats that are designed to hit more like wooden bats, but regardless of the reason, the team will have to look for other sources of offense besides the long ball.
“[There’s] no reason for this offense to not be scoring more runs than we’re scoring,” Avent said. “We have a little bit of speed, we have good athletes, and we play hard. We just have to come out and relax, know we can play well, keep plugging and we’ll get better.”
Junior right-hander Cory Mazzoni will take the bump for the Pack on Friday entering with a 1-2 record and a 3.31 ERA. Mazzoni has been State’s most consistent starting pitcher, but has been the victim of a few crooked innings that have cost him. Avent is uncertain of who will pitch Saturday and Sunday, but sophomore righty Danny Healey (1-2, 6.49 ERA) will start one of those games. Freshman lefty D.J. Thomas (0-1, 4.85 ERA) is expected to get his first career start as the Wolfpack hopes someone will step up as the third weekend starter.
“We know Clemson, they’re a good ball club,” Avent said. “But hey, we’re playing at home, we love playing at home and it should be a fun weekend.”
