Rodon Masterful, But Silent Bats Doom Pack

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Freshman LHP Carlos Rodon

Carlos Rodon, recently named ACC Freshman of the Year and ACC Pitcher of the Year, showed a capacity crowd in Greensboro precisely why he was deserving of those accolades. On Saturday night Rodon had what was arguably his best outing of the year, going 9.0 complete shutout innings, giving up only four hits and striking out twelve. Both his control and velocity made him all but unhittable on a night when that’s what the Pack needed.

For the second straight game, Trea Turner led off the game with some spark, this time with a bunt single and his 55th stolen base of the year. Unfortunately, Turner’s 1st inning display would be the Pack’s offensive highlight of the night, also for the second straight game. The Pack would muster only four more base hits for the next twelve innings, and only Jake Fincher would manage to get to Carolina pitching more than once (2 for 4).

 

GoPack.com – State Falls Short of Championship After 11 Scoreless Innings

GREENSBORO, N.C. – NC State came up one win shy of playing for the ACC Championship after dropping a 4-0, 12-inning battle with second seeded North Carolina, Saturday at NewBridge Bank Park.

Freshman Carlos Rodon dazzled a crowd of 10,229, the largest ever to witness a college baseball game in the state of North Carolina, with nine shutout innings and 12 strikeouts to tie his career high, but left with the no decision at the end of regulation.

With its championship hopes on the line, the Wolfpack (39-17) clawed its way through 11 scoreless innings before the Tar Heels (44-14) managed to push four across in the top of 12th.

Box Score

 

It would be easy to start tossing salvos at the Wolfpack hitters. And granted, a single run isn’t much to ask for as far as run support when your ace is throwing his heart out. But give Carolina’s pitching staff credit. If you can throw four pitchers over the course of twelve shutout innings, give up only five hits, strike out twelve and walk only three….AND your closer can go 5 full shutout innings to get the win?

I hate Carolina as much as anyone, but on this night you have to tip your hat to them. On a night when their skipper was at his hotel room (doing who knows what) and they had no championship to play for, the effort their staff displayed was every bit as impressive as what Rodon showed.

So, the Wolfpack returns home for a likely NCAA Regional hosting gig starting next Friday. The Pack’s loss to the Heels does not damage their hosting chances, with their RPI holding steady at #11. The Heels solidified their claim on a national seed with the win over the Pack, moving up to #4 in the RPI. Despite dropping three straight in Greensboro, FSU at #3 is still solid for a national seed as well

The ACC now has four teams in the top 10 of the RPI. Joining Florida State and Carolina, Virginia checks in at #8 and Miami at #10. A Miami win today could move them up a slot and possibly pull the #11 Wolfpack into the top 10 with them.

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So, for those that still care, Pool A winner Georgia Tech will face Pool B winner Miami today at noon. I have a feeling that ticket sales and ESPN2 ratings just went in the dumper.

Potential good news for GT: All of the three previous teams to go 3-0 in pool play (Miami ’08, UVa ’09 and ’11) have not only gone on to take the conference championship, but also to reach the CWS in Omaha.

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About Wufpacker

A 2nd generation alumnus and raised since birth to be irrationally dedicated to all things NC State. Class of '88 and '92.

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14 Responses to Rodon Masterful, But Silent Bats Doom Pack

  1. state73 05/27/2012 at 10:31 AM #

    The ACC needs to take notice. The only 2 schools that could draw this large a crowd in baseball are NC STATE and UNX. It is the best interest of this conference that these 2 schools be in the same division and play each other the max number of times each year in all sports. Once a year part of the time in basketball is so stupid. Even if the “holes” don’t want to reconize us as their #1 rival it is obvious. I was at the game and Rodon was great.

  2. vtpackfan 05/27/2012 at 11:01 AM #

    Rodon was a beast and the defense was sharp (Fincher assist from CF sent tingles).
    Thought Avent did nothing to push the envelop. We could have broken the rhythm by bunting more with Turner, Diaz, Gianis and Fincher. All move great and Carolina pitchers didn’t look right for fielding. Moran has only been back at third a few weeks and Stalings is a big catcher who could have some difficulty coming out in the field. Could’ve gotten and error and extra base or two. Bunting also gives batters a chance to see the off speed pitches better.

    Whatever, what do I know. I for one am in Avents corner-we play in the best conference and compete strongly. I had a bad feeling when I saw the brackets and realized pitching was premium and besides Rodon we’re unpredictable.

  3. BJD95 05/27/2012 at 11:13 AM #

    I continue to be mostly Avent neutral. He’s good, but not great. I wouldn’t hand out a huge raise or make a change. We definitely have Top 25 caliber program. It also debunks the notion that a strong conference is somehow an impediment to success.

  4. Wufpacker 05/27/2012 at 11:36 AM #

    ^ That pretty much sums up where I am on Avent as well. Have to admit though, that part of it has to do with watching what Ray Tanner has built at SCar.

  5. SaccoV 05/27/2012 at 12:16 PM #

    Situational hitting was a huge problem in the ACC tournament for us. Bad swings on first pitches after walks or long at-bats seemed puzzling to me. It also appeared that from the 7th inning on, we were swinging for the fences, knowing that one run would in it (and it would have). When we managed a runner on-base, we hit into three (maybe more) double plays. I like that we’re a good team; but I hate being a good team in a great league. Being third or fourth in this league isn’t bad, but having the tremendous pitching talent that we have, it’s frustrating to not get over the hump.

    Defense was definitely outstanding, especially Canella behind the plate and Fincher in center. Diaz made a great catch to save a run, also. I’ve been very critical of State’s defense but last night, the defense was stellar.

  6. TOBtime 05/27/2012 at 12:34 PM #

    If you haven’t seen Rodon pitch in person I highly suggest you do so. This guy is the real deal. Hard to believe he has the control he does 1 year out of high school.

    Agree on the above comments concerning our defense. As I posted in another thread, Fincher in CF is amazing. Not only can the guy cover ground but he has a great arm that is ACCURATE. I cannot emphasize that enough. Lots of guys have big guns but make errant throws when you have to have a good one. I saw him make 4 throws from CF in this series that were all long and all on the money. 2 resulted in runners being thrown out and a 3rd would have thrown out a runner at home. Canela is also good behind the plate and a very consistent opposite field hitter.

    I told my Dad late in the game we were toast if we couldn’t win in regulation. I did not think we had the bullpen to go many innings and we didn’t. However, as BJD posted Avent makes some puzzling moves. When a reliever is smoothly mowing guys down why replace him? The last 3 pitchers were desperation. The holes have good pitching but not as great a set of bats as they have had in recent years.

    Our bats looked like, well, college freshman seeing good pitching for the first time. We have the best foundation I’ve seen at State in 20 yrs. Bats will improve and it looks like the fundamentals are sound in the field. Time will tell but I’m excited for the future. Good to see Debbie and Gott there at the game. They got a round of applause when shown on the jumbo screen. Didn’t see ‘ol roy or bubba. Must have been mingling.

  7. graywolf 05/27/2012 at 1:31 PM #

    Went to the game last night. The crowd was as advertised…..HUGE for a college game. The cheaters were out in numbers as was the wolfpack faithful.

    Rodon is as good as anyone in the college game….he was masterful and you are right in saying that the bats were deafly silent last night. Between our pitching depth and hitting we were sunk.

    Yes, the wal-mart fans were there too and as obnoxious as ever. If we can hold onto the incoming recruiting class without them going in the draft we will be better next year.

    Go Pack!

  8. backnine 05/27/2012 at 2:46 PM #

    So is next year’s recruiting class similar in quality as last year’s? We have a lot of freshman making major contributions. Excited to see that group mature and improve. Need to follow that up with another impact group.

    And regarding our program, I’m happy we are competitive but I’ve been waiting for 15 years to see us take the next step and so far we haven’t been able to do it.

    We do indeed compete in the best conference in America, which is tough. And I also recognize that a majority of the conference enjoys much better facilities than we do. Our last renovation of Doak barely scratched the surface of what we needed. It still looks weak compared to most top-25 programs.

    Avent continues to live right on the line of “acceptable” and not quite “fireable”. I call this the Herb-zone. He needs to parlay this season into a big showing in the NCAA tourny and carry it over to next year as well. With no championships won during his “long” tenure, he’s one moree bad season away from being replaced. His time to shine is NOW and the only acceptable direction is upward. There’s no backtacking left for him in managing this program. Nor should there be at this point. And he no doubt knows it.

  9. Dr. BadgerPack 05/27/2012 at 3:12 PM #

    As expected, Raleigh gets a regional…

    http://www.ncaa.com/news/baseball/article/2012-05-27/division-i-regional-hosts-announced

  10. Wufpacker 05/27/2012 at 3:25 PM #

    Pack flip-flops with Miami, now #10 in RPI.

  11. BJD95 05/27/2012 at 3:57 PM #

    I think Avent’s clearly done a better job than Herb (I used to call him “Baseball Sendek”). Whereas Herb was a consistent B-, Avent has been a solid B that has shown flashes of becoming a B+. IMHO, that’s certainly not fireable (or even “need to mutually move on”) for a non-revenue HC.

    He’s much more comparable to TOB than Sendek, in my view. I think TOB is about the max that NC State football can get (until we get that SEC bid, hee hee) and the same holds true for Avent. I happen to like TOB a little better than Avent, but can understand how others’ mileage may vary.

  12. PackerInRussia 05/27/2012 at 4:23 PM #

    Feel bad for Rodon pitching like that and not getting a win. Hopefully the bats will come alive for the post-postseason.

  13. Wufpacker 05/27/2012 at 4:55 PM #

    I wouldn’t want to be the host schools who will get ACC teams sent to their regional.

  14. elvislives 05/27/2012 at 9:31 PM #

    16 Regional Hosts by Conference.

    5 – ACC
    4 – PAC 12
    3 – SEC
    2 – BIG 12
    1 – BIG 10
    1 – CONF USA

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