Tagged: Baseball

Another rivalry game between North Carolina and North Carolina State is on the horizon at the College World Series in Omaha.  This time, the loser will go home.  

No team has been hotter down the stretch than North Carolina State. UCLA’s 2-1 victory over the Wolfpack on Tuesday was only the fifth loss for State since March 31, and no one except for Florida State and the North Carolina Tar Heels had beaten the Pack.  So Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent was in no mood to talk about the Tar Heel rematch Thursday night.

North Carolina and N.C. State have played each other 285 times in baseball, but they met for their first College World Series matchup Sunday with the Wolfpack coming out on top.

This marks the sixth time in eight years the Tar Heels have earned a trip to Omaha. As the top-seeded team in the championship, the only thing missing from their point of view is a national championship.

NC State's Wolfpack has had the entire season to prepare for its World Series shot this weekend, but when they arrived at the hotel in Omaha this week, a couple players managed to get in a last minute pickup game with a Little League team on the lawn of their hotel.  NC State communications caught players Logan Ratledge and Jake Armstrong on film batting with an 11-and-under team from Colorado Thursday afternoon. Nearby hotel and car windows were spared –they used a wiffle ball.

NC State is going to its first College World Series since 1968.  The Wolfpack beat Rice in 17 innings last night, 5-4.  Brett Williams drove in the go-ahead run with a RBI double. 

The game was the longest Super Regional in NCAA history.  Coach Elliot Avent says it's fulfilling for his team to break the streak of 45 years without a World Series appearance.