@font-face { font-family: “Times”;}@font-face { font-family: “Cambria”;} p.MsoNormal , li.MsoNormal , div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt ; font-size: 12pt ; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }p { margin-right: 0in ; margin-left: 0in ; font-size: 10pt ; font-family: “Times New Roman”; } div.Section1 { page: Section1 ; }
Despite two long balls ending N.C. State’s hopes of a return visit to the ACC championship game on Saturday, the baseball team will play in the NCAA Colombia Regional as the third seed.
After Florida State capped off a win over Georgia Tech, 4-2, early Saturday morning, the Wolfpack had a chance to advance to Sunday’s ACC tournament championship game at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park if they defeated Clemson. Because of the Seminoles’ win, the Tigers were eliminated from competing in the title game.
State reached the championship game last year against Florida State only to be defeated by the Noles 8-3, but the opportunity was there again this year.
Junior third-baseman Andrew Ciencin was fired up by the Noles’ win over the Jackets on Saturday.
“We were all sitting in the locker room cheering for Florida State,” Ciencin said. “I never thought I would be doing that.”
State shut out the Seminoles, 7-0, Wednesday for its tournament opener. But a 6-5 loss to the Yellow Jackets in a 15-inning marathon that lasted around five hours ended a six-game win streak for the Pack. The longest game in the history of the ACC tournament also meant that a lot of Wolfpack bench players and relievers were called into action.
“The 15-inning game cost us some pitching, but we still battled and battled and battled,” said Head Coach Elliott Avent.
The seventh-seeded Pack (34-25) started out with a 3-1 lead after five innings against Clemson. Freshman pitcher D.J. Thomas started the game and only allowed one run, a solo homer by Brad Miller, in 4 2/3 innings.
“I wanted to get past the fifth inning and just try to locate my pitches,” Thomas said. “My only start this season was against Clemson, and we knew they had a lot of lefties in their lineup, so I thought I would be a pretty good match-up.”
But Clemson worked over relief pitchers Nick Rice, a senior, and Josh Easley and Danny Healey, both sophomores, for five runs.
In the sixth inning, Richie Shaffer hit a three-run homer off Rice’s fastball out in center field that would put the Tigers up for good. Chris Epps crushed the Pack’s hopes of advancing when he slugged a home run for the Tigers in the seventh, and a run in the eighth finished the game 6-3 over the Pack.
Instead of State playing in the title game it would be Florida State, who was later overpowered by three homers by Virginia on Sunday, when the Cavaliers won the 2011 ACC Baseball Championship 7-2.
Despite missing its shot at a conference championship, the Wolfpack will go on to play in Colombia, S.C. in the NCAA tournament as a No. 3 in regional play. The Pack will be joined with host and defending champs of the College World Series, South Carolina (45-14), Georgia Southern (36-24) and Stetson (41-18). On Friday, State will take on No. 2 Stetson at 1 p.m.
“Our confidence is high right now and we’re playing good ball,” Ciencin said. “It’s the little things this year that are going to help us in the NCAA tournament, like getting runs in when we have to.”
