Wolfpack downs South Carolina by a score of 2-1 while only allowing 3 hits for second time this weekend!
Baseball America has a nice article that can be read by clicking here.
In our NCAA tournament preview podcast last week, I said North Carolina State’s pitching was very good, but not great. John Manuel disagreed.
I was wrong, and John was right.
The Wolfpack has a solid starting rotation, but what makes its staff truly great is its deep, versatile bullpen. The strength of that pen was on full display at the Raleigh regional this weekend, and it came up huge again in Sunday’s regional-clinching 2-1 win against South Carolina.
State will play the winner of Monday’s Georgia Tech - Georgia game in the Super Regional with the winner advancing to the College World Series!
Good luck, boys!
Pretty amazing win for the Pack! Come up short so often, but not tonight. Big for Avent too. Now State needs to go to the next level.
State used the recipe they’ve used all season. Pitching, pitching and some pitching on the side. They also got a little bit of pop from the offense; those pesky little things called homers I mentioned that you need to win these things.
Outstanding weekend for NC State baseball. An undefeated regional win– the first ever regional in Raleigh. Not only that, but they absolutely shut down South Carolina twice– this is a good offense, and a team that was in the top 10 during the early part of the season. (Incidentally, RPI-wise this was one of the tougher regionals- if not the toughest- in the tournament this year).
Again, just a great weekend for State baseball. Gotta love it for the seniors (and perhaps those that leave early for the draft) who got a chance to not only play a home regional, but win it.
And somewhere, I’m sure Lee Fowler just climaxed while shouting FACILITIES!! at the top of his lungs…
Let’s make something clear, Lee Fowler is only concerned about one thing right now: finding a tooth pick to get that well-done flank steak gristle out of his tooth.
Great job Pack! Props were given on ESPNU to the job our pitching staff has done to SC.
ANybody have any background on Georgia? When does the series start?
UGA is ranked #8 in 2 of 3 polls, #17 in the third
PAPacker– Georgia has Gordon Beckham at SS who will probably go in the top 5 or 10 in the draft (SEC player of the year, that’s saying something considering Smoak- who we just saw- was pretty darn good). Whomever we end up playing, I’ll put a similar preview up to the one I did for the regional (maybe a bit more in-depth, since it’s only two teams). But first, we have to see who wins that last GT-Georgia matchup.
I thought UGA just beat GT today 8-0. Is there another game Monday?
GT was in the winners bracket. It’s double elimination, so tomorrow it’s winner-take-all.
Sorry about that. I thought today was the elimination game. Go Tech!
According to Tony Haynes on the postgame on 88.1, since the GT game in the ACC tourney State’s bullpen has pitched 15.1 innings with one hit and no earned runs. That is just outstanding.
What’s goin’ on? Did somethin happen back home?
This is excellent news. Let’s go Georgia Tech so we can host next weekend.
Such an Awesome weekend!! The atmosphere was incredible!! GO PACK!!
If you had told me before the game that we would only score 2 runs this evening than I would have just assumed we would be playing on Monday…
What a fantastic job by the pitching staff this weekend. BTW…I thought coaches/managers (Holiday in particular) did a great job with the staff…mixing them in the right spots & taking visits to mound before key at bats.
I must say, after flying to London last Tuesday and not having any ‘Pack news in nearly two weeks, to come home and see that we have not only hosted but won our regional without losing is pretty fantastic news.
And because we are seeded higher than GT IF and a big IF they beat UGA on Monday we host our Super regional correct? Please help if I am mistaken.
Spanky…you are correct.
Well, it is assumed that the Pack would host GT in a superregional. BUT, it is an NCAA decision and there is a chance they’d do something screwy.
Tech has a super awesome baseball facility, and this is NC State we’re talking about here, so I wouldn’t put it past the NCAA to pull something screwy if Tech wins the Athens regional tomorrow.
Well deserved and much needed regional win this weekend. NC State athletics needed this badly. Credit to the baseball team and Coach Avent for making this one count!
I think this is our best shot in a long, long time to get to Omaha. I like our chances against either GT or UGA better than I did against Miami in 2003.
What’s the closest we’ve ever gotten to Omaha since the ‘68 team (other than 2003)? Did any of Tanner’s teams get very far?
closest we’ve gotten was the only other super regional we’ve been to, 2003 against Miami, lost the series 2-0. correct me if I’m wrong on this one
Great writeup on Baseball America:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/college/?p=469#more-469
Here is some love from ESPNU:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=3421812
Question : Do we want to host and play GT…..which we have had little success against or play UG away?
Just asking……
Way to go, Pack!
Media bias alert - for Sunday’s and today’s Winston Salem Journal - the front page of Sports Section has UNC-Ch’s win, States win relegated to back pages. At least they are consistent.
News and Observer gave the same coverage to both. But actually since UNX has a higher national ranking — we probably could give the WSJ a pass this time.
“The lot of them combined to give up just one hit in 11 shutout innings during the regional.”
An amazing statisitic considering the offensive firepower we faced this weekend.
graywolf, are you joking? Take the games at home any day and twice on Sunday.
I’ll take the home games ANY day… especially since I live on the same block as Doak! Its been nice seeing so much red around here in the dull days of summer!
for a guy that dislikes baseball so much, I sure am getting excited!
MEMO TO LEE FOWLER:
See the positivity that WINNING brings?!
Wish we could have gotten the games on TV in VA. Seems like all we were able to get were the VA and Miami games. Also, ESPNU didn’t do a very good job of posting the scores to the other games. Our internet is so slow that we could only get that we won yesterday. Play by play was impossible to follow. Great win - Go Pack!
the espn, espn2, and espnu ticke were all the same. They’d run the scores from 2 regionals and then you’d have to go through another whole cycle of other sports before you’d get the next 2. It would literally be an hour before you could get the entire set of regionals but by the time they all cycled the scores were stale. Of course by that time you also had seen that Jason Taylor was going to play next season trade or not at least 8 times.
I was ready to pull my hair out because the NCAA scoreboard updates were slower than that. All around very maddening for scoreboard watchers.
Trying to edit your comment on an iPhone is pretty maddening too
If anyone needs any extra motivation to follow the Pack Baseball team to Athens, GA for the Super Regional this weekend… assuming the Bees aren’t victorious today and we host:
http://www.collegecolosseumcontent.com/videos/hottest_coeds_in_the_country
“But actually since UNX has a higher national ranking — we probably could give the WSJ a pass this time.”
I would give them the benefit of the doubt if I thought that it had anything to do w/ national rankings - and if national rankings were relevant when it comes to covering advancing in a tournament.
UNC is the No 2 overall seed - and they’ve earned it. As expected, they advanced. We were seeded high enough to earn hosting a regional. Like UNC, we swept our competition. Unlike UNC, we beat a national power to do so. Somehow, I think that factor warrants at least a shared bi-line.
Don’t expect much from the pig but a grunt. Anyone who has read John DeLong at the WSJ knows what to expect. As for the Pack, I think that GA Tech would be the better match-up, obviously, but we can defeat Georgia also. Congrats to Avent and the Pack, but this thing is far from over. If pitching got us this far, hitting needs to get us past Georgia. Hopefully, the bats can show up and take over in Athens.
nice for NCSU & the baseball team, congrats!
also, a good read on wral about JJ & Sid’s take on next year’s team/style.
If it’s the WSJ’s (Delong) nature to be pro UNX — then nothing we say is going to dress the pig up to make him pretty. It isn’t paranoia when it’s real. Wish it were different.
What time is the UG/GT game?
^ 7pm
Bo - I don’t think Delong is pro-UNC, but Bill Cole definitely is pro-UNC. Delong covers the Panthers and the Charlotte beat, too…as a result, well, he probably didn’t cover the NC State sub regional.
HEY FOWLER!!! ND needs an AD. I am sure you are going to ask about the position. Only in Bizarro world would that ever happen. Oh, how I wish I lived in Bizarro world right now.
so who should we pull for between GA and GT?
Absolutely, I think GT.We have faced them before AND we would get to play at home again!
Man we had some pitching. Love this team. Go Wolfpack!
07 season we were 1-3 against GT
08 we are 0-1 against GT
This is why I mentioned the same thing earlier.
how many of those 5 games were in Raleigh AND in front of almost 3000 rabid screaming wolfpack faithful. I wouldnt underestimate the importance of the home crowd and home field advantage. The players have remarked on how much the crowd has picked them up this weekend.
It definitely was pitching and defense. In comparison look at UNCC, twenty runs in two games, not a win, and they’re back home. I would like to see the bats get hot just to lower my own pulse rate, but I’m not complaining either way.
i think the homefield advantage far out weighs the previuos record against GT. If not for untimely errors–we wouldhave beat them last time
After 1 inning it’s UGA 3 and GT 5. This is going to be one long offensive battle!
Any updates on the GT/UGA game????
Right now, 6-5 UGA in the top of the 4th. UGA at bat, men on 2nd and 3rd, no outs.
Bases loaded, nobody out. GT dips into the bullpen.
8-5 UGA, no outs.
Getting worse by the minute……10-5 UGA, STILL no outs.
thanks for the updates
10-5 after 3 and a half. GT can comeback….remember what they did to us in the ACC tourney. You gotta think UGA pitching is going to get tired.
IDK what kind of ‘pen Georgia has.
Finally an error by UGA to make it 6-10.
UGA 2 run HR…now 12-6 UGA.
Were this the ‘Pack playing, I’d gut out the rest of the game, but gotta be at work at 4, so…hope GT comes back and eliminates the Dawgs.
Can yall curb your enthusiasm? I’ve got a killer nap goin’
Now 16-6. Looks like the Pack will be headed to Athens. Thanks for letting down the ACC, GT. Now it’s up to the Pack to redeem us!
So is it a foregone conclusion that Georgia hosts? I’m guessing they are ranked higher. They really put a beatdown on GT. Hope our pitching shows up against them like they did this past weekend.
I don’t think there’s any way around it, but nevertheless I think we have a good chance down there. I don’t know a whole lot about Georgia to be honest, but it’s my perception that they are a better version of South Carolina. This weekend will be a great opportunity for our pitching to continue to shine, I hope they step up to the challenge.
A neat fact I noticed (sorry if this has been talked about a lot already): we allowed the fewest runs of anybody through all of regional play
PackerInRussia- Georgia was the #8 National Seed; the top 8 are “protected” so they are hosts at each level untill Omaha.
Catcher Nick Stanley from GoPack.com
Take that Lee!
UGA’s win may just be a blessing in disguise for the Pack. More than almost any other sport, baseball is a game of tendencies, especially for a team that is built predominantly around its pitching as is N.C. State. As much as we would all have loved for State to host a Super Regional, it might have meant playing Ga. Tech, a team that the Pack faced 4 times over the regular season and in the ACC Tourney. If any team in the Athens regional had time to solve the riddle of States pitching, it was Ga. Tech. In traveling to Athens to face UGA, we are matching up with a team that is a lot like the one that we just knocked off in USC, and a team that has never faced our pitching, or anything like the depth we bring to the mound. I am not saying that this means that State is a lock, just that it gives us an advantage over Georgia that we would not have had over Tech.
GO PACK!!!
Game times and TV for the super regional:
Friday: Noon, ESPN
Saturday: Noon, ESPN2
Sunday (if necessary): 4 pm, ESPN
wufpaxno1- One slight correction, we only played GT in the ACC tournament. GT was the lone team we did not face in conference play this year.
Thanks, Dr.BadgerPack. I guess that throws a little dirt on my premise, however, Ga. Tech has played us in the past and did have an answer to our pitching in the Tourney, 10 runs, even if three of them where following fielding errors committed by the Pack in the top of the ninth.
^I meant to point out the correction and say “But, your premise is sound”… Sorry about the omission; was typing comments and putting together the super regional preview at the same time.
He’s usually pretty easy to get along with, but you gotta watch your P’s and Q’s around DrBP right now, he’s a taskmaster on this baseball stuff.