Rain & Pack Fall in Game One; Do or Die Sunday in Gainesville

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Wolfpack Baseball dropped a soaker to the top seeded Florida Gators Saturday in game one of the NCAA Super Regionals in Gainesville, by a final score of 7-1. By the time they had scored their lone run of the day on senior John Gianis’ pinch hit RBI single, the Pack was already down to its last out and it was all over but the crying. Most Pack fans were already likely praying for a quick and painless end by that point (literally).

On a day when the most interesting thing to talk about was Carlos Rodon’s appearance as a pinch hitter, and in a game that was ugly enough without the weather adding to the misery, the Wolfpack seemed to have their spikes stuck in the mud even before the skies opened up. Two rain delays, nearly three hours total of play stoppage, and seven shutout innings later, and the Pack never could string together enough to even make a dent in Gators’ starter Hudson Randall’s armor. Randall shut the Pack out for seven innings, scattering 6 hits along the way while striking out four against zero walks.

So the Pack has its back against the wall (bad news), but with their best chance taking the ball to the hill tomorrow (good news). Also, the Pack is on a three game win streak in elimination games this post-season (kinda good news) so it’s not something they should be terribly phased by at this point.

Florida will counter Rodon with Soph. RHP Jonathan Crawford (6-2, ERA 2.92).

Game time set for 1pm.

TV: ESPNU

Not much more to say, win or go home. But if you want more details…

 

Media Coverage

GoPack.com – Pack Drops Rain-Soaked Game One in Gainesville

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – NC State slogged through two rain delays, combining for two hours and 51 minutes worth of stoppage, and dropped game one of the Gainesville Super Regional to Florida 7-1, Saturday at McKethan Stadium.

Danny Canela led the Wolfpack (43-19) with a 2-for-3 outing that included a walk. Ryan Mathews reached safely in his 30th consecutive game in a 1-for-4 effort. Brett Austin went 2-for-4 with a double and State’s only run. Jake Fincher came up with a 2-for-4 afternoon. John Gianis had an RBI single in a pinch hit appearance in the ninth.

Pack starter Ethan Ogburn (5-4) took the loss after giving up five runs, three earned, on eight hits over 4 1/3 innings. Relievers D.J. Thomas, Dillon Frye, Chris Overman, and Danny Healey pitched the rest of the way, combining to hold the Gators (46-18) to two hits and two earned.

Florida starter Hudson Randall shut the Wolfpack out for seven innings, scattering six hits and striking out four before a two-hour rain delay cut his afternoon short. Relievers Greg Larson and Bobby Poyner pitched 2/3 each after Randall left, and Keenan Kish gave up the Pack’s lone run over 2/3 in the ninth.

Box Score

 

ESPN.com – No. 1 Florida beats NC State

NewsObserver.com – N.C. State falls to Florida 7-1 in Super Regional opener

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — N.C. State coach Elliott Avent saved his ace rather than have him throw in the Wolfpack’s NCAA Super Regional opener against top overall-seed Florida.

Now, Avent will turn to phenom freshman lefty Carlos Rodon to save the season in an elimination game Sunday following the Wolfpack’s 7-1 loss to the Gators at McKethan Stadium.

“It’s a three-game series,” Avent said. “You’re not going to win it opening day.”

Avent insisted he wanted to stick with what he’s done throughout the season in holding Rodon to the second game of the series. He said he thought about moving Rodon up to the first game, but wanted to keep him on proper rest.

“We didn’t hold him back,” Avent said. “He’s pitched second all year.”

 

ESPN.com – N.C. State’s Rodon a tough test for Gators

GatorZone.com – Gators are Halfway There, but Taking Nothing for Granted

NC State coach Elliott Avent didn’t waste many words when asked in the post-game news conference how he felt about Rodon taking the hill with his club facing elimination.

“Pretty good,” he deadpanned.

He should. Not only are they trotting out arguably the nation’s best pitcher, but the Wolfpack know something about must-win games, having staved off elimination three times in the Raleigh, N.C., regional last week to earn the right to reach the super-sized round two wins shy of Omaha, Neb.

Florida is halfway there, but taking nothing for granted.

“[NC State] had their backs against the wall last weekend, on the brink of elimination. Our players realize that,” said O’Sullivan, who will counter Rodon with sophomore Jonathon Crawford (6-2, 2.92 ERA). “They won’t want their season to end. They want to go to Omaha as bad as we do. So we’re not going to be flat. We’re going to approach it like we’re down 0-1.

 

GatorZone.com – No. 1 Florida Downs No. 11 NC State, 7-1, In Super Regional Opener

AlligatorArmy.com – Florida Baseball Beats N.C. State, 7-1, Takes 1-0 Lead In Super Regional Series

 

Out of Town Scoreboard

TUCSON

  • Arizona 7
  • St. John’s 4
  • Arizona wins series 2-0

LOS ANGELES

  • UCLA 4
  • TCU 1
  • UCLA wins series 2-0

BATON ROUGE

  • Stony Brook 3
  • LSU 1
  • Series tied 1-1

TALLAHASSEE

  • Florida State
  • Stanford
  • PPD RAIN – Resched. For Sunday, 7PM, FSU leads series 1-0

WACO

  • Baylor 8
  • Arkansas 1
  • Baylor leads series 1-0

COLUMBIA

  • South Carolina 5
  • Oklahoma 0
  • SCar leads series 1-0

EUGENE

  • Kent State 7
  • Oregon 6
  • Kent State leads series 1-0

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Go Pack!

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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.

Baseball

207 Responses to Rain & Pack Fall in Game One; Do or Die Sunday in Gainesville

  1. Primewolf 06/10/2012 at 6:45 AM #

    I was surprised to see Rodon as a pinch hitter. The more I thought about it, it seems like a poor decision on Avent’s part>

    1. He could get hit by a pitch on the hands or someplace not good.
    2. He could pull a muscle running bases (he did hustle down to first pretty good).
    3. He could embarass himself at the plate.

    None of these are good outcomes for a game in which we were down 5 runs at the time.

    It also seemed like a desparate move. Why not go with another player that has batted more than 5 times this year.

    Baseball is about %, and this was not a smart move. The % are well against that move making a difference and the potential downside if Rodon had gotten injured would always be looked at as one of Aven’t dumbest decisions ever.

    I am not an anti-Avent guy, but I can’t resolve this type of decision. It just doesn’t show much thought regarding possible outcomes.

  2. Dr. BadgerPack 06/10/2012 at 8:12 AM #

    1. You conveniently left off that he could have hit a 3-run homer, making it a 2-run game.

    2. Which hitter would you have used? Left-handed hitters had the best swings on Florida’s starter all day.

    3. He could get hurt taking BP too, let’s ban that. In fact, he shouldn’t be allowed to cross the street, run, shag fly balls, etc. Or, maybe Avent realized the chances of him getting hit, with two men on base, with an absolute control freak pitcher on the mound, were remote. Nuke LaLoosh wasn’t on the hill. A pitcher with 10 walks and 4 hit batters in almost 100 innings was.

    4. Saying Carlos Rodon could “embarass himself” is downright ludicrous. If he’s that fragile, he shouldn’t be playing baseball period.

    5. The “percentages” strictly speaking were a 33% chance of a double, a 50% chance of an out, and a 17% chance of a walk. No other hitter offered “percentages” that good.

    6. The players that had batted more than 5 times all year had proven, with larger sample size, they had less chance of doing something positive.

    It was a good decision, with a bad result.

    He hit for Berquist. Ratledge is right handed. If you hit a lefty- hitters who put good swings on Randle- you have two choices. Rodon, or another position player who would be used for one at-bat. Ratledge would have had to come into second for him. Using the pitcher to hit, who handles the bat well, keeps you from burning a position player.

    I’m trying to play nice this morning 🙂

  3. Wulfpack 06/10/2012 at 8:44 AM #

    I also thought it was a poor decision. Let’s get this one and figure out a win tomorrow.

  4. Dr. BadgerPack 06/10/2012 at 9:09 AM #

    Note there is also a 27 man active roster size. Assuming you take 13 to 15 pitchers, that doesn’t leave a lot position players on the bench.

    With 15 pitchers, you have 3 bench spots. 5 (obviously) with 13 pitchers.

    This active roster I think is set at the beginning of the round, not changed on a game-to-game basis in postseason play.

  5. CaptainCraptacular 06/10/2012 at 9:16 AM #

    going to rain again early afternoon. NCAA should move the start time up to noon.

  6. fvpackman 06/10/2012 at 10:50 AM #

    you will see Carlos DH and play 1st…next year….he loves hitting…can absolutly mash it…takes bp everyday…they have held him back as a freshman…but next year I suspect you see him play most everyday….

  7. Wufpacker 06/10/2012 at 1:11 PM #

    crap

  8. CaptainCraptacular 06/10/2012 at 1:12 PM #

    F’ing awesome – lightning delay. Why wouldn’t they have moved the game up to noon or delay the start till later. They were able to delay the LSU game to 8pm.

    Unreal.

  9. BJD95 06/10/2012 at 1:13 PM #

    Our odds of “die” just shot through the roof. It’s not even raining, LOL.

  10. Dr. BadgerPack 06/10/2012 at 1:18 PM #

    There is a fast incoming storm. It’ll be about an hour before potential play

  11. Wufpacker 06/10/2012 at 1:25 PM #

    Doesn’t McKethan have an indoor pitching/BP facility?

  12. Dr. BadgerPack 06/10/2012 at 1:35 PM #

    As far as I know the indoor facility is removed from the stadium. I could be mistaken though

  13. Wufpacker 06/10/2012 at 1:37 PM #

    Better find a long empty hallway then.

  14. Dr. BadgerPack 06/10/2012 at 1:44 PM #

    The rain has stopped on my side. I’m about 4 miles

  15. BJD95 06/10/2012 at 1:56 PM #

    It’s already too late, IMHO. Maybe Rodon could toss a few innings tomorrow, but I expect Avent to protect the kid’s arm and I will support him 100 percent.

  16. Dr. BadgerPack 06/10/2012 at 2:07 PM #

    With only 3 innings in, he can come back for about 3 more. If they start soon.

    If they have to go to the pen, go for broke- no pitcher for more than two innings and keep trotting them out. If Orwig is on the 27 man, go with him- right after Wilkins.

  17. TheCOWDOG 06/10/2012 at 2:10 PM #

    I suppose the question now is Tz or Williams?

    ‘Course I’m in MacDonald’s camp if Rodon was able to stay loose.

  18. Lunatic Fringe 06/10/2012 at 2:11 PM #

    BJD – I agree with protecting Rodon if that is the choice Avent makes after the delay.

    Question: Why didn’t Florida hold back start like LSU to try avoid the rain delay? I know storms in Florida move in fast, but they did not foresee a delay…really? We were only out there for 30-40 mins.

    Keith Law is REALLY getting annoying. He is covering college baseball and basically making the college coaches sound like evil guys. I know he was an assistant GM for Toronto so his bias comes from that position, but really sounded like a typical bean counting weenie that puts too much emphasis on pitch counts that in many ways has hurt baseball.

  19. Dr. BadgerPack 06/10/2012 at 2:14 PM #

    Keith Law is an idiot. I could continue, but I shan’t

  20. PackAmy 06/10/2012 at 2:15 PM #

    I heard Avent on the radio this week talking about Rodon and how competitive he is. I bet he begs to go back in and if he doesn’t start that Avent has him tied down to the bench.

  21. Dr. BadgerPack 06/10/2012 at 2:16 PM #

    After 5 years COWDOG you finally lost me on one… “MacDonald’s camp”

  22. Wufpacker 06/10/2012 at 2:18 PM #

    I think Ben was in Rodon’s corner to continue since he hasn’t really labored at all so far.

    EDIT: Or maybe COWDOG is just hankering for a quarter pounder and some mcnuggets and is looking for any excuse to hit the drive thru. Never can tell.

  23. Dr. BadgerPack 06/10/2012 at 2:21 PM #

    LF- Here, the storm projections were scattered. The one we had didn’t follow a line, it developed 15 miles west of Gainesville and shot through.

  24. Lunatic Fringe 06/10/2012 at 2:21 PM #

    “McDonald’s Camp”

    Ben McDonald is debating Keith Law on if pitchers like Rodon, Florida pitcher, and Gasman (LSU pitcher) should be used after rain delay.

    Ben McDonald basically said you should ask the pitcher’s how they feel rather than make rash decision. In other words, stop being a weenie Keith Law.

    Based on your comment on Keith Law Dr. B…you are in McDonald’s camp as well. 🙂

  25. tjfoose1 06/10/2012 at 2:26 PM #

    “Question: Why didn’t Florida hold back start like LSU to try avoid the rain delay? I know storms in Florida move in fast, but they did not foresee a delay…really? We were only out there for 30-40 mins.”

    Why would they? It is in their best interest to have rain delays in a game in which Rodon is starting for the Wolfpack.

    If Florida was in a must win situation and trotting out their ace, do you think the decision would have been the same?

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