Sophomore infielder Matt Camp leads NC State with a .404 batting average.

April 1, 2004

RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State takes its first road trip in the Atlantic Coast Conference this weekend when the Wolfpack plays a three-game series vs. Florida State at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on WKNC-FM (88.1) and the broadcasts will be available on gopack.com through Yahoo's subscriber service. Live in-game stats will be available on gopack.com through the Gametracker.

The Wolfpack is 19-8 overall, 3-3 in the ACC, and has won four games in a row. The Seminoles are 21-8 overall and 4-2 in the conference.

THE STARTING PITCHERS: Redshirt-sophomore righthander Michael Rogers (4-1, 3.04) will start on Friday against the Seminoles. Rogers has made seven starts and worked 47 1/3 innings thus far in 2004. He has allowed 20 runs, 16 of them earned, on 37 hits. He has walked eight and struck out 48. He has been named ACC Pitcher of the Week twice. Three times in seven starts this season, Rogers has taken a no-hitter into the sixth inning, and four times he has taken a shutout into the sixth. In his last start, March 26 vs. Virginia, Rogers had one of his worst starts at NC State, allowing six runs on eight hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out three. The five-inning stint ties for the second-shortest start of Rogers' career, the shortest being 4 2/3 innings vs. Wake Forest on March 23, 2002. He had to come out of that game after taking a line drive off his shin and breaking his leg, a season-ending injury.

Senior righthander Vern Sterry (4-1, 1.98) will pitch the middle game of the series for the Wolfpack. Sterry officially has made six starts, although he started and went six innings on February 14 vs. Campbell in a game that was suspended in the middle of the seventh inning with NC State leading 5-1. That game will be resumed at that point when Campbell returns to Doak Field on April 14, but the stats will not count until the game has been completed. Sterry has officially worked 41 innings and allowed 13 runs, nine earned, on 36 hits. He has walked five and struck out 40. In his last start, March 27 vs. Virginia, Sterry made perhaps his best start ever, the second scoreless start of his career, and the first against an ACC opponent. Sterry worked seven shutout innings against the Cavaliers, allowing just three hits, walking one and striking out six in a 12-1 rout that tied the three-game series at a game apiece. He allowed just three runners to reach scoring position, and retired 13 of the last 14 men he faced and 18 of the last 20.

Senior righthander Derek McKee (1-0, 3.86) is the probable starter for the final game of the series. McKee missed all of the 2003 season recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum, but has pitched well since returning this season. This will be McKee's fifth appearance and his fourth start. He has pitched 16 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs on 118 hits. He has walked two and struck out 19. In his last appearance, a start on March 28 vs. Virginia, McKee allowed four runs on six hits in four innings, although he allowed all four runs in the same inning. He walked one and struck out three. He did not figure in the decision.

NC STATE VS. FLORIDA STATE: The Seminoles lead the overall series with the Wolfpack by a 35-16 margin. Florida State has won the last two meetings, five of the last seven, seven of the last nine, and 17 of the last 22. Since 1997, Elliott Avent's first year as head coach, NC State is 7-18 against the Seminoles.

The two teams split four games a year ago, with NC State taking two of three games in the regular season at Kinston's Grainger Stadium, and Florida State winning a non-elimination game in the ACC Tournament in Salem, Va. On March 22, in the first game of a doubleheader at Grainger Stadium, Colt Morton and Justin Riley homered to back the five-hit pitching of Michael Rogers and Joey Devine as the Wolfpack cruised past the Seminoles 4-2. Rogers allowed two runs on five hits in eight innings, and Devine struck out all three men he faced (14 pitches) to record his eighth save. In the second game of the doubleheader, Vern Sterry allowed two runs on three hits in eight innings, and was backed by the long-ball hitting of Colt Morton (two homers) and Tim Coffield. The Seminoles won the series finale 3-1 on March 23 behind the stellar pitching of Daniel Davidson, Kevin Lynch and Daniel Hodges. In the ACC Tournament game, the Noles broke open a 3-2 game with 10 runs in the top of the fifth inning and cruised to a 17-6 blowout.

MAYNOR OUT FOR SEASON: NC State lost a key contributor March 28 when junior center fielder Marc Maynor broke his ankle while shagging fly balls in batting practice prior to the Wolfpack's game that day vs. Virginia. Maynor, who is lost for the season, caught a spike on a small board that sticks out about a half-inch at the bottom of the outfield wall. Successful surgery was performed that afternoon at Raleigh's Rex Hospital, and Maynor is expected to make a full recovery. He was hitting ..297 with four doubles, two triples, nine RBIs and five stolen bases.

NEVER OUT OF IT: Thanks to its stellar pitching staff, NC State is never out of a game. In its eight losses this season, the staff ERA is still a remarkably respectable 4.96. Want some perspective on that number? A year ago, when the Wolfpack finished the season with a 45-18 record and ranked 12th in the country, the staff ERA for the entire season was 4.14, which was the best by an NC State pitching staff in a decade. Seven times in the last 10 seasons, the staff ERA for the entire season was over 5.00, and that includes four teams that went to the NCAA Tournament.

BREAKING OUT: Heading into last weekend's series against Virginia, the NC State offense was struggling, having batted just .220 and scored only 15 runs in its previous five games. The offensive struggles continued in the first game of the UVa series, which the Cavaliers won 9-2 over Wolfpack All-American Michael Rogers.

The bats awoke from their slump following that game. In four games since the middle game of the Virginia series, the Pack is scalding the ball at a .333 clip (46-for-138) with eight doubles, two triples and three home runs. NC State has scored 42 runs, 10.5 per game, in those four games.

TIGHT PITCHING: NC State came into the 2004 season expecting to have a strong pitching staff, and the first seven weeks of the season seem to bear that out:

* The staff ERA is 2.92

* Opponents are hitting just .216 against NC State pitching, .222 against the starters and .133 against the bullpen

* Through 240 innings, Wolfpack pitchers have allowed just 93 runs, 15 of them unearned, on 187 hits (7.0 hits per nine innings)

* Wolfpack pitchers have walked 64 and struck out 244, a ratio of 3.81-to-1

* NC State pitchers went 15 innings and faced 50 batters before issuing their first walk of the season, and are averaging just 2.40 walks per nine innings

* The staff has allowed three runs or less in 17 of 27 games, and allowed six or more just six times

* The season high for runs allowed is eight

* The bullpen went 31 2/3 innings this season before allowing an earned run, and still has a 5-4 record with eight saves and a 2.36 ERA through 87 2/3 innings

* The bullpen has struck out 98 and walked 28 in 87 2/3 innings

* Wolfpack relievers have inherited 36 runners this season and allowed just 13 to score, a success rate of 64 percent

* The starting pitchers have been equally impressive, posting a 14-4 record with a 3.25 ERA in 152 1/3 innings

* Wolfpack starters have issued 36 walks and 146 strikeouts in 152 1/3 innings