The Wolfpack baseball team beat Georgia on Saturday10-6 and can punch their ticket to their first College World Series in 40 years with a win in Athens on Sunday!!
We cannot over-emphasize the significance of today’s opportunity is for the entire NC State Athletics Department.
Since Lee Fowler became Athletics Director at NC State, Virginia - whose overall athletics program ranks near the top of the ACC with extremely strong, broad athletic success - and NC State are the only athletics programs in the ACC to have failed to participate in at least a Frozen Four, a College World Series, a BCS Bowl, or a National Basketball Championship game.
^THIS will (FINALLY) change with a win today and would also serve to position State for a chance to advance to the National Championship series. Since Fowler’s arrival in Raleigh, NC State is the only pre-expansion Atlantic Coast Conference school who has not won a National Championship in any sport. Virginia Tech, who joined the ACC with expansion in 2004/2005 is the only other ACC school to fail to win a National Championship.
GOOD LUCK BOYS!!!
Go Pack!!!!
Ain’t it fun to compete?
No matter what happens, baseball has had a great year… Let’s keep it going boys!!!
There is a great catfish restaurant and par 3 in Athens.
This baseball has been excellenent throughout, but the tourney play (ACC up to now) has been exciting exemplified. Win or lose this team has shown it has the right stuff.
Maybe I’m crazy but in a swealtering hot baseball game played for all the marbles, I’ll take the team with a crafty junk-baller. Surkamp pitches at different speeds with different degrees of break on his pitches. When he’s on he is nasty, and even when his stuff isn’t the best he show’s tremendous courage to stand out there and give it everything he’s got and hope for a little lady luck.
Maybe Avent learned how much pine pitch is allowed under the brim of a pitchers cap from fridays affair. In the ACC’s we had a player thrown out of the game for a judgement call concerning rules govering NCAA baseball. So far the pine pitch and third base coach literally holding up a baserunner (contact), and yesterday a player for Georgia purposefully trying to run into Poulk to break up a DP has resulting in squat for consequences.
I don’t know anything about the the last 17 W’s in elimination games they’ve had at home, but if they make it 18 when anymore of this bush league stuff then it might cause some of doubt about what kind of “home cooking” these Dawgs have mustered over the years. GO PACK!
vtpackfan- All I know is, “karma’s a bitch…” Georgia will get theirs; if not from us, from CWS teams. I will root for any team playing Georgia (including UNC). But, wait- I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ll take care of ‘em today!
I like our chances today.. it seemed UGA had more trouble with the heat than did we…we seemed sharper mentally down the stretch. Tnat being said, i didn’t think we were ever going to get that last out!!!
We were 7-12 with runners in scoring position, we had pull back bunt chop hit work, every hit and run was a success, Synan made an incredible diving catch in the “bermuda triangle” AND they walked 9 batters.
Whether it was heat related or not, you can’t depend on those type of things to all work out in you favor day after day. We will have to see the bat’s and pitching be in command to pull this one out today IMO.
Great pitching and overall play yesterday as compared to Friday. Keep it up pack and take us to the cws.
Unrelated:
Not that it means anything considering he wouldn’t be the first “favorite” in the search, but Vinny Del Negro is said to be the latest favorite for the Bulls’ head coaching position.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3430388
I probably stayed in front of the TV longer than I should have around noon yesterday, then I had to leave for a graduation party. Anyway, I saw the first inning, the first hitter, and the HR for UGA, then turned off the TV and left the house. Needless to say, I wasn’t too confident when I finally got to a TV around the seventh inning. I’d also say that if many of us were to be absolutely honest about it, not too many NCSU fans were expecting a whole lot after Friday’s game. As a matter of fact, most of the postings I read on this site had already shifted into the familiar WTNY mode before yesterday’s game.
But I was very proud to see that Coach Avant and the kids were able to regroup, make the necessary adjustments, and then continue to play with CONFIDENCE after a day like Friday. That is the mindset and spirit that we’ve been missing in all of athletics at NCSU for way too many years.
Wolfpack pitching is underrated and superior, just keep making the base runners count!
GOOD STUFF!!! Waiting for noon. GO WOLFPACK!!!
Check that…Waiting for 4:00. GO WOLFPACK!!!
I have been in Williamsburg since early afternoon, but should be home by 6. Look forward to seeing the last few innings at least!
How are the other ACC teams doing? Sure would be nice to send the Holes home from Omaha.
Hopefully after today that changes- but it’s going to be real tough.
UNC is up 1-0 vs Coastal
^Not about to watch it, but it’s 12-0, last I checked.
To slightly alter a line from a Richard Gere movie…
“Nothing but —— and Chanticleers in Durham.”
Upfates?
Surkamp walks two, gives up two hits, 3-0 Georgia. NO ONE OUT IN THE 1ST INNING!!!
^^I would call it downfate.
I know it’s early, but could it start any worse? To add to the update, Surkamp replaced by Sam Brown who immediately gave up a bunt single; bases loaded none out.
Ugh, 6-0 with one out. Surkamp is gone.
See how much Lee cares about us? He wants us to be average so we won’t feel the disappointment in such a sorry early effort!!!! What an A.D. that guy is?
Um, what was that mercy rule again?
3rd pitcher OF THE INNING!!!! 9-0 Georgia.
9-0 with 2 out in the first. our 3rd pitcher is coming into the game. Out of the game are Surkamp and Brown.
All I can do is laugh.
I’m too depressed to laugh.
Hope they brought their shovels.
1st inning: 14 batters went to the plate; 8 hits; 9 runs; 3 pitchers used for the Pack. Did someone replace our pitchers with little leaguers?
WE NEED MORE FACILITIES!
If we had a domed stadium this wouldn’t have happened
The pathetic circular life of an NC State fan, hanging all of our hopes on a middling team to somehow, someway get deep into a postseason championship tournament, all the while knowing that our hopes are futile, since we are, after all, NC State.
NC State: always several key pieces short of a championship caliber team:
Football: great offense, no defense (vice versa)
Baseball: great hitting, no pitching (vice versa)
Basketball: great guard play, no interior (vice versa)
And on it goes…
NC State - the epitome of irrevalance. One win away from the CWS, and not even on the tube in favor of LSU and UC Irvine. Go figure.
Our facilities definitely need to become more competitive. (Yes, it’s bad enough that “facilities jokes” are rearing their ugly heads).
Re-reading WV Wolf’s work from last month. We all should again pay homage to him who gave us the mirror once again.
We didn’t get the coverage until it was 3-0 in the first and Surkamp was pulled. The after it’s 9-0 and we batted in the 2nd (with no luck), ESPN switched to the Irvin-LSU game without even mentioning they were giving up on us. Any updates on the score would be appreciated eventhough it seems pretty grim right now.
espn.com shows 9-0 top of the third. Oh well.
9-0 still in the 4th. State has managed ONE hit.
wow, shame on me for expecting something good to happen. I also love hearing how we are the lone ACC team from the super regional not making the CWS.
if you are local they are showing it on the non-hd espn, for me that is channel 31 if any of you have the balls to watch the rest.
I’m watching. We do have one thing going for us and that is Joey Cutler. However, instead of him being the 1st out of the bullpen, he was 4th.
Surkamp really came through for us today. But hell, he’ll move on to his professional contract and we’ll just continue to marinate in our secret blend of mediocrity. Time for someone to come on and tell us it’s our negativity that did us in today. In brighter news, Tim Clark also fell apart today in Memphis. Came in with a 2 stroke lead (they were actually going to have to show him on TV) but triple bogeyed the first hole. I guess they didn’t have to show him after all. Was going to be a good NCSU day…. I guess I’ll have to settle for merely a typical NCSU day. Go Pack.
Both ESPN stations are showing Irvin-LSU. Same OL same OL … no respect.
9-1 .. do NOT call it a comeback!
9-3.
I don’t want to sound like I am harping on the negative and I am VERY proud of this team. BUT - this team is the perfect example of NC State athletics. Anything they did after last weekend can certainly be considered over-achieving. We were all hoping against hope, knowing that it was all gravy. Other teams like Georgia, Miami and frankly UNC-CH expect to be in the hunt, and know that doing so is not over-achieving.
I really don’t know when we can “expect” high levels of achievement in any sport. It certainly won’t happen anytime soon.
Good point, SMD. I wonder if Lee is in the crowd. I’m sure with his busy schedule, he wouldn’t want to actually appear at this potential defeat. That would somehow put undue pressure on Avent to get to a CWS in 12 years as head coach. Again, Mike Fox has reached two straight championship games in 7 years as UNC’s head coach. We wouldn’t want Elliot to think that his boss expects a true championship appearance since Avent’s been deprived of facilities for so long.
Wolftown,
I don’t think ESPN showing the LSU-UCI game has anything to do with respect, but rather the fact that the LSU-UCI game is still a competitive contest, whereas ours…not so much.
And I’m watching State right now on ESPN, so it must be a regional thing anyway.
I understand the competitive thing. However, the other game was already being shown. So we got two channels with the same Irvine-LSU game. ESPN does what they want. Wish there was an alternative. At 12-3 its looking more and more like a blow out.
Let’s see what other records our pitchers can give Georgia today. Do they have any 20-run games at home in their career? I’m sure we can provide.
17-4 in the 8th.
I don’t even know how to begin to respond to some of the latent stupidity around here… Yes, I can even haul out prior posts– this team did what many of you want out of the “big programs/sports”. Newsflash- GEORGIA IS GOOD! If you want to say it’s a choke, go ahead… (leaping off soapbox…)
I’m proud of our guys. Georgia after all is the #8 team in the country. Yeah today is embarrassing but at this point any State fan ought to be able to come to grips with loss and disappointment pretty quickly. We’ve said it before but it’s like the entire athletic department somehow knows exactly when we fans see that glimmer of hope. That thought that maybe this is the moment when we will break through and become the winner generations of fans have been waiting for. And when they realize that the moment has arrived and the fans are filled with hope, they crush it. Hope can lie dormant for weeks or months or even years but the moment hope rears its head, our athletic teams obliterate it. I mean absolutely destroy it. With a vengeful purpose. It’s like something was built on an Indian burial ground or something. Or Jimmy V went to a witch doctor upon being fired and paid for the ultimate whammy of a curse. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just a 30 year life lesson. Don’t get too high and don’t get too low. Well God, I get the message.
We are the Mississippi State of the ACC. No wait, they’ve actually won baseball titles and made it to championship games in the past 25 years. Sorry folks but it’s truly a sad state of affairs.
DBP –
1) No one is claiming that NC State was necessarily a better team than Georgia. You yourself gave us the preview that told us Georgia was the best potential matchup in a Super Regional. Given that I believed that, and I agree still now (that Georgia was the best draw NC State could have received), I’m horribly upset that our team only played ONE game up to its potential and won. Yes, Georgia could do serious damage in Omaha, but so could have we.
2) My contention all season was that the bats never lived up to pre-season expectations, and they still haven’t. I also said that the bats were needed to win this Super Regional and they didn’t show up (except in Game 2). Given that we never reached closer than 6 runs in a must-win game, I’m sickened at our performance.
3) We had a good season, again, in another sport were I personally had great expectations because of potential talent and coaching. However, I’m still flaming mad that Russell Wilson (2 for 4 in Game 2 with an RBI) didn’t start today’s game. I thought Surkamp was the right choice for the start. I thought Cutler was clearly the 1st choice from the bullpen if Surkamp got in trouble. Cutler was easily the best pitcher today and he didn’t see the mound until we were down 9-0.
4) The contempt that I happen to share with the posters should be expected. We all have too stark a recollection of too many championship games, must-win games, etc which we (as a university) have performed poorly in to expect anything other than scorn and ulcers from our passionate fan-base.
5) I, although upset and hurt, am proud of our team. I hope that this is the building block for our baseball team and not the wrecking ball. Despite my pride, a 42-22 season is exactly the same place we’ve been during Elliot’s 12-year coaching stint. We’re the 4th best team in the ACC and the 9th best team (looking at the tournament pairings myopically) in the country. We’re all still going to be State fans and alumni tomorrow, with just one more scar on our hearts.
No way Georgia is so much better than us that they run out to a nine run lead in the very first inning of the biggest game of the season, essentially ending any chance we may have had.
Being a State fan, quite frankly, blows.
It wasn’t so much that we lost, it’s how we lost. You send out an upper classman and he can’t get a single out in the biggest game of his college career, the day after a freshman came in and did a super job to put you in that position. The game is virtually over before we get a single out! No one was expecting that and sorry, I don’t understand how we are somehow bad fans if we don’t have low expectations for the program on a year-in-year-out basis. And it does not make it OK to not COMPETE when we are finally, I mean finally, so close we can smell it, regardless whether you expected to be there or not.
I agree…Great comments ncsslim. That’s it and a bag of chips.
“My contention all season was that the bats never lived up to pre-season expectations, and they still haven’t.”
This is so wrong it is frightful. Who outside of the Dail Park batting cages this last off season thought this team had any thunder in the line up. Dallas Paulk, a no name replacement middle infielder was the only star in the whole returning line up.
Everyone knew that Pond and Synan could smoke the ball when it was grooved to them but they hadn’t shown anything better then that. Marcus Jones was good for a couple homers on Jackie Robinson day and that was it.
Offense sucked last year and it improved tremendously over the course of this year. When you see how we match up bat for bat against Ohmaha teams you realize that the recruiting in hitting has left alot to be desired and that has to change.
“It’s like something was built on an Indian burial ground or something. Or Jimmy V went to a witch doctor upon being fired and paid for the ultimate whammy of a curse.”
Now it’s clear. Like the Redsox had the curse of the Bambino, we have the curse of the Valvano. Let’s hope it doesn’t last 80 years!
I was out all day and have just logged on to see what the team’s fate was … ohh dear, this is sad
…………………….
but not surprising
being an NC State fan RAWX !!!
Vtpackfan, hitting is not always about power hitting. Everyone knew this team didn’t have a big home-run bat. As I read stuff from the pre-season (from gopack.com and a few other sites), I took their previews to mean that State had a good hitting lineup, meaning they were base-hitters, hitters-for-average. It turned out that they were average college hitters, which can work if your pitching is good, and ours was very good for much of the year. I was wrong to think that this team was improved in any way offensively from last year given our few runs scored over the season. Knowing that we didn’t have a stick hitter (like Aaron Bates), meant that we (fans and players) knew that the team needed to play a smaller game with timely hitting in the RISP category, and this team didn’t provide enough of that.
There’s no curse of the Valvano. There is a curse of a boob in the AD’s office, but that’s another matter.
Joe and Adam on 850 the Buzz used the lead in on this blog for mockery this morning. Basically made a lot of fun over the frozen Four and the “We cannot over-emphasize the significance of today’s opportunity is for the entire NC State Athletics Department.” line.
At least you got air time — albeit not the best.
Tough Last Game, but Congrats to the team for a great season.
And here lies the main problem w/ NC State athletics. Alone, while a disappointing ending on so many levels, this was a solid season. This was the kind of season that if this was your “average” - you’d be thrilled.
Unfortunately, this is the high water mark for the baseball team - and unfortunately, for the sports that most people follow - this was the high water mark for men’s and overall athletic department programs for 2008.
We shouldn’t let that fact dampen our collective enthusiasm, but you know, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a magical run that ended well in any sport allows bragging rights. It also doesn’t help that our rival is heading to their 3rd straight CWS.
And IMHO, this is where I really get frustrated w/ Fowler. He should be frustrated - and he should understand how lucky he is to have fans who even show up for these games in a state where you’re athletic department is the worst of the Big 4. I would expect him to say, “I know it’s frustrating always being the bridesmaid…” instead of “Well, that’s just the lunatic fringe…”
Actually, I think we have another program on the upswing. IIf we can keep Holladay working with the Coach — we can have a strong line of recruits and overall team every year. Sort of like football — things are improving and we have to be patient. Patient in the sense that good decisions (finally) have been made and quality coaches are in place in baseball and football. And hopefully basketball — the jury is still out on that one.
BKN71 - I’m willing to wait. We do seem to be trending in the right direction. And I think we can take a lot of positives from this season on the kind of execution and intensity necessary to be a “player” on the national scene.
As for the bats in states lineup———-it is my belief that Avent didnt tap into the talent that he had. we had several guys on the bench with much better numbers and potential than those on the field–that is ALWAYS a problem. the lineup against a team like georgia should consist of the guys with the most potential to get a HIT—not necessarily the guy who might make a play once or twice in a game. That batter will get up to bat 4 of 5 times–Just my opinion
SaccoV- I liked your rebuttal… Well thought out. Props to you. (Maybe I shoudn’t have made my preview indicte we had a “good” chance at beating Georgia…)