I made the mistake of not preparing this week’s baseball preview early, thus I am putting this together after what might have been the most gut wrenching loss in NCSU Basketball history…and that’s saying something. If I inexplicably go off on tangents of swearing and/or crying, you’ll know why.
That gut punch is gonna sting for a while.
Let’s get this over with…..
Week in Review
Speaking of gut punches, Wolfpack Baseball got a trio of them in Tallahassee last weekend. You might remember that before that series began I told you here that FSU could hit and score, and that State’s pitching might be in for a rough go. Sometimes I hate being right.
Not that the Pack9’s offense gets off the hook easily either,especially Friday and Saturday.
Ultimately, in spite of staking themselves to 1-0 leads in each of the three games played, the Pack ended up 0-fer Tallahassee, including Sunday’s 13 inning game in which the Pack9 took a lead in the top half of the 13th only to yield a two run walk off 13th to the ‘Noles in the bottom half.
The end result was a sweep for the ‘Noles and the first (and hopefully only) 3 game losing streak of the year for the Pack, including Carlos Rodon’s 3rd loss of the season. The only bright spot is that it’s still early and the ‘Noles are in the rear view mirror.
State’s mid-week game vs Elon got rained out. Too bad that couldn’t have been an option in Orlando last night.
I’m in a bad mood, so I’m not really in the mood to talk the Pack up a whole lot this week, but it does rate mentioning that Andrew Knizner (.448) and Brett Austin (.391) are 1st and 2nd respectively in the ACC in BA; and that in spite of his early season rough patch, Carlos Rodon leads the league with 42 Ks and 36.2 IP.
Currently, the Pack sits at 14-5 on the year (3-3 ACC), tied for 3rd in the Atlantic with Wake, 2 games back of both FSU and Clemson.
State travels to beautiful and scenic College Park this weekend. Yippee-friggin’-doo. Try not to get shot.
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Maryland Terrapins
13-6 (2-4 ACC), Last 10: 6-4, Streak: Won 2
2013: 28-27 (11-19 ACC)
Twice already in this academic year (football and basketball) we’ve been told that Maryland was leaving and we wouldn’t be seeing them again. But like the herpesvirus they are, they just won’t seem to go away and stay gone. Now we get to say goodbye to them once again, this time in baseball.
Batting
The Terps average just under 5 runs per game. They aren’t the best hitting club, but they do have a few guys that can get it done.
Kyle Convissar (#22,SR,OF/DH) – .303 avg, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 7 runs scored, 8K/4BB
Brandon Lowe (#16,FR,2B) – .302 avg, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 13 runs scored, 3 doubles, 6K/9BB, 4/6 SB
Anthony Papio (#13,SO,RF) – .298 avg, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 7 runs scored, 19K/6BB, 6/8 SB
Blake Schmit (#1,SR,SS) – .297 avg, 9 RBI, 12 runs scored, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 9K/2BB, 8/11 SB
Mike Rescigno (#40,FR,3B/1B/DH) – .289 avg, 5 runs scored, 4 doubles, 9K/7BB
Charlie White (#4,JR,CF) – .247 avg, 13 RBI, 11 runs scored, 4 doubles, 4K/5BB, 9/9 SB
UMd will try to swipe an extra base given the chance (37/49), especially White, Papio and Schmit.
Pitching/Defense
With a staff ERA of 3.23, and giving up under 4 runs per game overall, the Terps have some decent pitching, especially their Friday and Saturday starters who are more than just decent:
Jake Stinnett (#7,SR,RHP) – 2-3, 2.91 ERA, against avg .133, 37K/7BB
Mike Shawaryn (#18,FR,RHP) – 4-0, 1.26 ERA, against avg .217, 23K/7BB
The Terps’ Sunday starter slot appears to be somewhat up for grabs at this point. Up until last weekend, Jared Price had been getting the ball on Sundays but Kevin Mooney got the nod last weekend vs Carolina, and BOTH Price AND Mooney tossed an inning in relief vs UMBC two days ago.
So basically, your guess as to who takes the hill for UMd on Sunday is as good as mine, but here’s both of their stat lines anyway (and it’ll probably turn out to be someone completely different in all likelihood).
Jared Price (#9,SO,RHP) – 1-2, ERA 6.11, against avg .234, 18K/12BB
Kevin Mooney (#33,SO,RHP) – 0-1, ERA 2.45, 2 Saves, against Avg .226, 11K/6BB
With a team fld pct of .977, Maryland is very good defensively and rarely cause themselves much in the way of extra headaches.
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ACC Standings
| Conference | Overall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | schools | W-L-T | PCT | W-L-T | PCT |
| 1. | Florida State | 5-1-0 | .833 | 17-3-0 | .850 |
| 2. | Clemson | 5-1-0 | .833 | 13-7-0 | .650 |
| 3. | NC State | 3-3-0 | .500 | 14-5-0 | .737 |
| 4. | Wake Forest | 3-3-0 | .500 | 13-9-0 | .591 |
| 5. | Maryland | 2-4-0 | .333 | 13-6-0 | .684 |
| 6. | Notre Dame | 0-6-0 | .000 | 7-12-0 | .368 |
| 7. | Boston College | 0-6-0 | .000 | 6-12-0 | .333 |
| Conference | Overall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | schools | W-L-T | PCT | W-L-T | PCT |
| 1. | Virginia | 5-1-0 | .833 | 16-3-0 | .842 |
| 2. | North Carolina | 4-2-0 | .667 | 14-6-0 | .700 |
| 3. | Duke | 4-2-0 | .667 | 14-8-0 | .636 |
| 4. | Miami | 4-2-0 | .667 | 12-10-0 | .545 |
| 5. | Georgia Tech | 3-3-0 | .500 | 13-8-0 | .619 |
| 6. | Virginia Tech | 3-3-0 | .500 | 10-8-1 | .553 |
| 7. | Pitt | 1-5-0 | .167 | 9-10-0 | .474 |
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Elsewhere in the ACC this Weekend:
- Wake @ BC
- Duke @ Pitt
- GT @ Carolina
- VT @ ND
- FSU @ Clemson
- UVa @ Miami
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Games Schedule – Probable Starters
- Friday, 3/21 6pm – Carlos Rodon vs Jake Stinnett
- Saturday, 3/22 2pm – Logan Jernigan vs Mike Shawaryn
- Sunday, 3/23 1pm – Brad Stone vs Whothehellknows?
No TV for this weekend’s games
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I’m feeling a lot like Harry Doyle currently….
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Go Pack!!!!
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