N.C. State Hires Former FSU All-America As Pitching Coach

Roberts, a two-time All-America at Florida State, comes to N.C. State after twoyears as pitching coach at Western Carolina, where he had a profoundimpact on the Catamounts pitching staff.

In just two years under Roberts, Western Carolina's pitchers sawtheir staff ERA fall from 6.06 in 2001 to 4.59 in 2002 and 3.77 in 2003.That last number was good enough to rank second in the SouthernConference and 28th nationally.

"Chris Roberts comes to N.C. State very highly recommended," Aventsaid. "I took my time in making this hire because I wanted to get theguy who was just the right fit for our program. Everyone I spoke with about Chris, from (FSU coach) Mike Martin to (WCU coach) Todd Raleigh, had nothing but great things to say about him."

A native of Middleburg, Fla., Roberts played outfield and pitched for the Seminoles from 1990-92. He was a third-team All-America and Metro Conference player of the year as a sophomore in 1991 afterhitting .321 with 14 home runs and 77 RBI as an outfielder and going7-2 with a 3.52 ERA on the mound.

Roberts earned second-team All-Americahonors as a junior after posting an 8-4 record with a 2.34 ERA in14 appearances as a pitcher and batting .286 with 12 homers and 59 RBI.

For his career in Tallahassee, Roberts went 23-8 with a 3.30 ERAas a pitcher, while batting .301 with 32 home runs and 175 RBI in threeyears in the outfield. He helped lead Florida State to the College WorldSeries in 1991 and '92.

Roberts played for Team USA in the 1991 Pan Am Games in Havana, Cuba, and then was the starting left fielder for the USA Olympicbaseball team in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992.

The New York Mets picked Roberts in the first round of MajorLeague Baseball's June draft in '92. He played in the Metsorganization from 1993-97 before moving on to one-year minor-leaguestints with the Oakland Athletics (1998), Colorado Rockies (1999) and Milwaukee Brewers (2001).

Roberts spent the 2000 season with the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Japanese Pacific League.

Roberts will inherit a strong pitching staff at N.C. State. TheWolfpack posted a 4.14 staff ERA last season, and strong pitching helped lead the Wolfpack to a 45-18 record and a berth in the NCAA Super Regionals inCoral Gables, Fla.

Three N.C. State pitchers -- senior righthander VernSterry, redshirt-freshman righthander Michael Rogers and freshmanrighthander Joey Devine -- earned All-America honors. It marked the first time an ACC school has had three pitchers make All-America.

"Having all that experience on hand should certainly make thetransition easier for me," Roberts said. "With some of those guys, I'lltry not to get in their way and at the same time try to bring some ofthe other guys along.

"It is a tremendous staff, and they had a greatseason. I got to see some of those guys first-hand when we played them, and they have some tremendous arms, yet there is still some upside.That's exciting."