Weekend Baseball: ACC Play Begins – Notre Dame

The first 3 weeks of the 2014 baseball season are in the books, and with only a few little surprises here and there (some good, some not so good), it’s pretty much gone as expected as the Pack has won 10 out of its first dozen contests.

One of the not so good surprises is that all-everything junior lefty Carlos Rodon’s early season record sits at 1 win against 2 losses.  Yes, in both of the Pack’s losses Rodon was the pitcher of record.

But it doesn’t take a lot of deep investigation into the stats to see that thus far, Rodon has once again been the victim of poor run support.  The Pack has lost two games, both of which are hung on Rodon’s back, and both of which were shutouts for the opposition (Canisius 3-0, UCLA 2-0).

Now that’s not to say that Rodon has yet been in mid-season form or that some of the responsibility for those losses doesn’t belong to him.  Having perodically battled control issues he has complicated things for himself at times.  Nonetheless, his ERA still sits at a more than respectable 2.14 (also, if your teammates don’t score any runs for you, winning is a tall order no matter how well you pitch).

Bottom line….I’m not at all worried about Carlos Rodon.

What about the rest of the pitching staff?

Well I’m awfully glad you asked me that.

Junior righty Logan Jernigan has been consistently stifling thus far.  His ERA of 1.04 leads the team, as does his against avg. of .161.  Soph lefty Brad Stone has also been pretty darned good so far, with an ERA of 2.20 and an against avg. of .193.  Along with Rodon, they could end up being quite a weekend rotation for opposing hitters to face.

Junior lefty Patrick Peterson, a newcomer to the Pack’s staff (transfer from Temple) has manned the weekday starter slot thus far, with an ERA of 5.84 and and against avg. of .300.

The Pack’s bullpen has been just this side of awesome, btw, including newcomer junior righty Eric Peterson (Patrick’s brother, also a Temple transfer).  With only a single earned run yielded in 8.2 IP for an ERA of 1.04, and a .111 against avg., Eric has been one of many bright spots out of the pen, along with senior righty Andrew Woeck (9.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, .161 against avg), soph righty John Olczak (6.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, .105 against avg) and senior lefty DJ Thomas (5.1 IP, 1.69 ERA, .211 against avg).

The bullpen’s numbers as a whole: ERA 1.58, against avg .187.  Not too shabby.

Feast or Famine.

As mentioned above, the Pack’s only two losses thus far came when the bats went completely silent.  Fortunately, that sort of famine has only happened twice so far, and the batting order has more often feasted, at times in bunches.

As a team, the Pack is batting .293 and scoring more than 8 runs per game.  The usual suspects have been present and accounted for (Trea Turner .370 avg, 7 RBI, 13 runs scored; Brett Austin .333 avg, 6 RBI, 12 runs scored; Jake Fincher .306 avg, 7 RBI, 11 runs scored) but there have been some pleasant surprises at the plate as well.

Logan Ratledge has recently found a groove, elevating his avg to .244 with 2HR, 10 RBI, and 10 runs scored (if we played NC A&T every game he might just be an All-American….inside joke for those of you who have been paying attention thus far).  Jake Armstrong (.258, 2HR, 7RBI, 9 runs scored) and JC transfer Bubby Riley (.277, 9RBI, 8 runs scored) have each provided some pop as well.

But perhaps surprisingly, the biggest early offensive stick belongs to Andrew Knizner.  The freshman 3rd baseman leads the team (and the ACC) in avg (.432).  He is also tops on the team in RBI (12), doubles (4) and slgpct (.659).  His two HRs also ties him for first on the team (Ratledge, Armstrong).  He’s gone down on strikes only twice, but interestingly enough he has yet to draw a walk.  That will change if he keeps up that kind of offensive production however.

So….consider yourselves caught up on the Pack9’s first three weeks of play in 2014.

ACC Play Begins

This weekend the Pack welcomes conference newcomers the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame to town for their very first ACC series ever.

 

ND2  Notre Dame Fighting Irish

5-6 (0-0), Last 10: 4-6, Streak: Won 2

2013: 34-24 (10-14 Big East)

 

The Irish are a bit of a mystery thus far in the early going.  Offensively, the Irish have had a hard time scoring runs at times, averaging well under 5 runs per game with a team avg of only .247.  On the other hand however, they’ve been fairly solid with pitching (staff ERA 3.27, against avg .254).

One big factor to keep in mind however, is that the Irish have been road warriors so far in ’14 and have not yet played a true home game (1-2 Away, 4-4 Neutral).  Also, they’ve been in the triangle for well over a week, having hosted the Irish Classic at the USA Baseball complex in Cary last weekend.  I don’t know what that all means, if anything, but they likely won’t be tired from travel and by now have probably at least become somewhat accustomed to being away from home.

Batting

Zak Kutsulis (#16,JR,LF) – .295 avg, 6RBI, 6 runs scored, 4 doubles, 11K/3BB, 3/3 sb.
Lane Richards (#4,SO,SS) – .278 avg, 1RBI, 5 runs scored, 4 doubles, 9K/2BB, 1/1 sb.
Blaise Lezynski (#8,JR,IF/OF/DH) – .273 avg, 7RBI, 5 runs scored, 2 doubles, 8K/2BB, 2/2 sb.
Cavan Biggio (#23,FR,2B) – .263avg, 1HR, 4RBI, 8 runs scored, 6K/7BB, 4/4 sb.

As a general rule, the Irish strikeout more than they walk, a good thing considering our staff’s performance thus far.  For the most part they have been a very good basestealing team when they get aboard (18/22 as a team).

Remember the name Cavan Biggio.  He’s a freshman and he hasn’t found his groove just yet, but he will (hopefully not this weekend).  His last name is not a coincidence.

Pitching

The three starters the Pack will be facing are:

Sean Fitzgerald (#18,SR,RHP) – 2-1, ERA 1.93, against avg .143, 20K/6BB
Nick McCarty (#5,SO,RHP) – 0-2, ERA 3.86, against avg .262, 7K/5BB
Robert Youngdahl (#25,JR,LHP) – 1-0, ERA 2.03, against avg .261, 7K/15BB

Defensively, the Irish are fairly solid, though first baseman Ryan Bull has been suspect at times, as have Biggio (2B) and Fiala (3B).

Games Schedule – Probable Starters – TV

Updated to reflect Friday’s weather issues:

  • Saturday, March 8 – Game One (2pm) – Carlos Rodon vs Sean Fitzgerald – ESPN3
  • Saturday, March 8 – Game Two (approx 30 mins after Game One) – Logan Jernigan vs Nick McCarty – ESPN3
  • Sunday, March 9, 2pm – Brad Stone vs Robert Youngdahl – ESPN3

 

Weekend notes (GoPack.com)

Elsewhere in the ACC This Weekend

  • Pitt @ Carolina
  • Wake @ GT
  • UVa @ Duke
  • UMD @ FSU
  • VT @ Clemson
  • BC @ Miami

Hopefully, the Pack can get off on the right foot this weekend in conference play because things will likely get difficult very quickly as the Pack hits the road to the sunshine state to first face Stetson in a midweek game next week (Tuesday, 3/11, 6:30pm), and then will face FSU for 3 next weekend in Tallahassee.

Go Pack!!!!

About Wufpacker

A 2nd generation alumnus and raised since birth to be irrationally dedicated to all things NC State. Class of '88 and '92.

ACC & Other NC State Baseball

Home Forums Weekend Baseball: ACC Play Begins – Notre Dame

Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 36 total)
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  • #44589
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    The first 3 weeks of the 2014 baseball season are in the books, and with only a few little surprises here and there (some good, some not so good), it’
    [See the full post at: Weekend Baseball: ACC Play Begins – Notre Dame]

    #44618
    VaWolf82
    Keymaster

    Outstanding update. Thanks.

    #44619
    44rules
    Participant

    Yes, we really do. I don’t post a lot, but your updates and the Pack’s play over the last few years have me interested in paying attention to college baseball, which I never did before, even back in the glory days of Tim Stoddard.

    Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy. Mao Zedong

    #44621
    tjfoose1
    Participant

    Thanks for the update Wuf’. An excellent fill-in for the Doctor. Actually, you’ve probably bypassed ‘fill-in’ status.

    #44646
    MP
    Participant

    ^ No offense to the doctor, but I think it’s officially the other way around dating through last season.

    Excellent timing for this post, thank you! Good to get an update pre-ACC – Coming from someone who has a harder time keeping up from a distance, but loves some baseball.

    #44654
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Friday’s game ppd. Updated weekend sched TBD.

    #44689
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Saturday double dip, first game at 2pm.
    Sunday start time moved to 2pm.

    #44749
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    At the risk of beating this particular horse to death, Rodon is thus far receiving his accustomed level of offensive support.

    Pack finally breaks thru in the 5th, knots the first game with the Irish up at 1 after 5 complete.

    #44757
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Jake Armstrong’s 2RBI single in the bottom of the 8th is the difference as the Pack takes game one by a 5-3 final.

    Rodon goes the distance (7Ks) to get the win and even his record up at 2-2.

    #44762
    tjfoose1
    Participant

    That’s good news.

    I’m sitting in a downtown office in Jackson, MS. Reading that is just about the most exciting thing I’ve experienced all weekend.

    Yes. Sad. I know.

    #44763
    tjfoose1
    Participant

    Oh sweeeeet! It’s on ESPN3. I got my laptop hooked up to the monitor in the conference room and viola! Big screen Wolfpack baseball action.

    #44764
    tjfoose1
    Participant

    Oh.. it’s between games. Oh well, Ill be ready.

    #44765
    Tuffy2
    Participant

    Just got back from game one. Very exciting game. Looked to me that Rodon did not have his best stuff and struggled. To show how great a pitcher he is he gave up 9 hits but only three runs. Yes, great defense by the infield but when it came down to crunch time he stepped up. They all did!

    #44766
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    ‘foose needs a sidetrip to Starkville.

    It was great weather for ball today. Quite the pleasant change from every freaking freezing softball game sat through so far.

    As Spring has sprung, so shall Rodon’s location.

    Starkville calls, man.

    #44769
    tjfoose1
    Participant

    Yep. As I recall the past few years, Rodon’s accuracy is a little rough early in the season, so it’s either the weather or he just takes a few weeks to warm up and loosen that arm. Or both.

    #44770
    tjfoose1
    Participant

    Are you referring to Starkville today, or Starkville circa 70s/80s? It’s spring break down here, btw, so if we’re talking Starkville, I would think that would not be an insignificant variable.

    I have a week before I return to RDU.

    #44773
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    ^
    Yes, perfect. Fewer peeps around the greenhouses and such.

    Besides,I always found the women of antebellum Starkville to be very interesting. More so than the cowbell clad coed.

    #44775
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    LMAO ‘Dog….yer gonna get ‘foose fired. He’ll be holed up with that conference room door barricaded dancing around nekkid.

    #44784
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    Paki can do the run. A quick little boost on the research farms on campus,

    A stop at any, of numerous, White mansions, load the prettys up, and make way to Jackson.

    Stress buster and best buds.

    #44785
    redcanine
    Participant

    My stress buster begins with an “X” and ends with an “X”.

    1-0 Pack in the top of the 6th.

    #44786
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    ‘Dog, gimme the detailed specs. I’ll stop on my way east in a few weeks and roll into town bearing gifts. 😀

    LOL red. Always made me too sleepy….that’s no fun.

    #44787
    bill.onthebeach
    Participant

    .fwiw…. dem yankies dunt no nuttin bout no Mississippi….

    Brookhaven > Starkville
    Hattiesburg > Starkville
    Natchez > Starkville
    Tupelo > Starkville

    #NCSU-North Carolina's #1 FOOTBALL school!
    #44788
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    Hey. We is talkin’ baseball in this thread, and the college baseball garden of heaven, is smack dab in the middle of the research field of dreams.

    Dudy Noble Field. Yankees know plenty ’bout Mississip.

    🙂

    #44791
    Wufpacker
    Participant

    Logan Jernigan (7.1 IP, 8Ks) and DJ Thomas combine to blank the Irish 1-0 in game two and sweep the doubleheader. Pack goes for the series sweep tomorrow at 2pm.

    Softball also swept a doubleheader today vs Pitt for their 10th straight win.

    #44792
    TheCOWDOG
    Moderator

    Wuf…I’ll detail later. Just stay clear of that Federal stuff in Oxford.

    All kinds of “secret” stuff resides amongst the cowbells in Starkville.

    BTW. ND is going to be a burr under some Dixie teams’ backside.
    Those Great Lakes area boys play ball.

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