GREENSBORO, N.C. – With the start of Southern Conference play looming, the UNCG baseball team will face off against NC State in a midweek home-and-home series beginning Tuesday at 6 p.m. inside the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The Spartans and Wolfpack will also match up Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. in Raleigh.
As always, admission is free. The first 100 fans will receive UNCG glassware as well as an iPhone case. Hot dogs will also be available for just one dollar.
UNCG is coming off a weekend during which it defeated UNCW 10-4 in Wilmington Friday before falling to Columbia by an 8-7 count Sunday. Junior RHP Ryan Clark was stellar against the Seahawks, throwing seven innings and allowing just one run on two hits with eight strikeouts. The split put the Spartans at 6-10 overall heading into the midweek series with NCSU.
Freshman infielder Austin Embler earned the first two starts of his collegiate career over the weekend and is hitting a team-best .400 with four hits and three RBI. As a team, the Blue and Gold is hitting .268. In the last seven games, the Spartans are batting .310 with a .520 slugging mark. UNCG will start freshman RHP Andrew Wantz (2-0, 7.94) in Tuesday's game.
The Wolfpack come into the week with a 10-7 overall record, suffering a sweep at No. 19 Miami over the weekend to begin ACC play. Preston Palmeiro leads the offensive attack with a .391 batting average while, as a team, NCSU is hitting .280. The Wolfpack will send LHP Ryan Williamson to the mound Tuesday as he has no record and sports a 3.86 earned run average in just seven innings pitched.
LAST MEETING (Feb. 28 in Savannah, Ga.): NC State took advantage of three UNCG errors to come away with a 4-2 win. The Spartans led through the first five innings of the game before the Wolfpack took the upper hand for good in the bottom of the sixth. Senior RHP Brennen James (0-2) was outstanding in the loss as he tossed a career-high six and two-thirds innings and allowed just two earned runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked only one. Brian Brown (2-0) picked up the victory after he threw six innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits with four strikeouts and a walk. UNCG did not have a player with more than one hit while NSCU received a 2-for-4 performance from Logan Ratledge. Woody and sophomore catcher Jake Kusz notched a hit and a run scored each for the Spartans.
BITS AND PIECES : After putting together double-digit hits in just two of its first nine contests, UNCG has turned the trick in five of its last eight outings ... The Spartans are nearly halfway to matching their home run total from last season (25), hitting 13 so far this campaign ... MacAneney has a current team-long seven-game hitting streak ... In five home games this season, the Spartans are hitting .341 with a slugging mark of .634. UNCG is also perfect defensively with no errors in those contests ... The Spartan pitching staff has struck out 10 or more batters in five games, including four of the last eight.
Follow the UNCG baseball team all season by logging on to www.uncgspartans.com and following the Spartans' official Twitter accounts @uncgbaseball/@uncgsports.
