March 19, 2009

Wake Forest Game Notes | ACC Release

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest baseball team returns to conference play this weekend as it hosts Atlantic Coast Conference rival NC State. Friday and Saturday's games are scheduled for 6 p.m., while Sunday's game will begin at 1 p.m. All three games of the series will be aired on WakeForestSports.com, while Saturday's game will be aired live on 98.1 WBRF-FM.

The Demon Deacons are now 9-8 on the season after picking up a pair of wins in midweek games. Wake opened the week with a 3-1 win at Appalachian State, before beating High Point 6-5 on Wednesday.

Against the Panthers on Wednesday, Wake Forest trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the sixth inning, but rallied for four runs. Steven Brooks hit a game-winning, two-run double to put the Deacs on top to stay. High Point had the bases loaded with one out in the eighth inning, but Brandon Johnson shut down the Panther offense to pick up the first save of his collegiate career.

Wake Forest enters the weekend with an 0-6 record in ACC play. The Deacs dropped three games at Clemson last weekend.

NC State is 10-9 on the season and 1-5 in league play. The Wolfpack split a pair of non-conference games during the midweek, defeating North Carolina Central 8-4, before falling to Elon 5-3 on Wednesday night. In its last ACC action, NC State dropped two of three games to Maryland.

Pratt Maynard leads NC State with five home runs and 13 RBIs. Maynard is hitting .235 on the season. Kyle Wilson has homered twice and has a team-high 14 RBIs. As a team, the Wolfpack is hitting .260 and they are holding opponents to a .227 batting average. The NC State pitching staff has a 3.44 earned run average through the first 19 games of the season.

Senior Brad Kledzik will start for Wake Forest in the series opener on Friday night. Kledzik has a 1-3 record with a 7.13 ERA on the season. The senior from Fairfax Station, Va., suffered the loss in his last start at Clemson last weekend, giving up three runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.

NC State will counter with junior lefty Jimmy Gillheeney on Friday. Gillheeney, who will be making his fifth start of the season, has yet to suffer a loss on the season, coming in to the weekend with a 3-0 record and a 2.54 ERA. He leads NC State with 30 strikeouts on the season and opponents are hitting .202 against him on the season.

Coming off his best start of the season, Demon Deacon freshman Austin Stadler will make his fifth start of the season on Saturday. Stadler is 2-2 on the season and has a 3.32 ERA. Stadler has struck out 21 batters on the season, while walking just six, and opponents are hitting .278 against him. In his last start against Clemson, Stadler allowed three runs, only one of which was earned, on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Wolfpack sophomore Jake Buchanan will counter Stadler in Saturday's game. Buchanan is 1-2 on the season with a 3.08 ERA and has fanned 28 batters in 26 1/3 innings, while allowing just five base on balls. Buchanan pitched well in his last start against Maryland last weekend, giving up three runs on 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out six and walked one against the Terrapins.

Wake Forest junior right hander Phil Negus will start the series finale. Negus, who will be making his team-leading eighth appearance of the season, has a 1-1 record with a 6.19 ERA. Negus picked up the loss in his last start against Clemson, surrendering five runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings.

NC State has yet to announce a starter for Sunday's series finale.

NC State holds a 98-52 advantage in the all-time series against Wake Forest. The Wolfpack have won four consecutive games against the Demon Deacons, including sweeping a three-game series in 2008.

Live stats and recaps of all three games of the series will be available at WakeForestSports.com.

Weekend Schedule (Times Eastern and Subject to Change) - Winston-Salem, N.C.
Friday, March 20 - 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 21 - 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 22 - 1 p.m.

Ticket Information
Single-game tickets are $6 and can be purchased on game day or in advance at WakeForestSports.com.

Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday, March 20
RHP Brad Kledzik (Sr., 1-3, 7.13) vs. LHP Jimmy Gillheeney (Jr., 3-0, 2.54)

Saturday, March 21
LHP Austin Stadler (Fr., 2-2, 3.32) vs. RHP Jake Buchanan (So., 1-2, 3.08)

Sunday, March 22
RHP Phil Negus (Jr., 1-1, 6.19) vs. TBA

Records
Wake Forest - 9-8, 0-6 ACC
NC State - 10-9, 1-5 ACC

Rankings
Wake Forest - Not Ranked
NC State - Not Ranked

Radio (WBRF with Alan York and Brock Bowling)
Saturday - 98.1 WBRF-FM

Internet Coverage
An audio broadcast of each game of the three-game series will be available on WakeForestSports. Live stats for each game will also be available.