With 4 starters out of the regular lineup– and a pitcher playing first base– the short-handed Wolfpack lost to Vanderbilt 3-1 on Friday in Omaha, Neb
Vandy got an insurance coverage run in the sixth on an RBI single by Parker Noland.
Avent utilized two of his readily available pitchers (Dalton Feeney threw four innings) and they just offered up six hits.
Rocker struck out 11 in 6 innings to extend the Commodores CWS run. The same teams will fulfill on Saturday at 2 p.m. with the winner carrying on to the best-of-3 championship series.
NC State got a run back in the bottom of the fifth after singles by 2nd baseman Carson Falsken and Highfill. Falsken scored on a sacrifice fly by third baseman DeAngelo Giles.
Vanderbilt scratched out 2 unearned runs off of emergency situation starter Garrett Payne in the 4th inning. Payne, a freshman, made his first start of the season and pitched into the 6th inning– his longest previous outing was 3 innings.
NC State will likely get another appearance at Leiter on Saturday.
The Commodores (48-16) lastly got Highfill out in the 8th, with two runners on, on a called third strike.
Payne entered the video game with a 7.27 made run average and had just pitched 8.1 innings on the season. He held his own with Rocker through 5 innings, with a mistake and wild pitch setting up Vandys very first two runs.
In all, the Wolfpack had only 13 gamers available to handle the 2019 national champions. It was nearly enough. The Wolfpack put two runners on, with two outs, in the bottom of the ninth inning however rightfielder Devonte Brown grounded out to short.
” Nobody really understood what was going on,” NC State coach Elliott Avent said after the game in his press conference.
” I took a look at it as more of a chance than an issue for half of our team,” Highfill stated.
By Joe Giglio, WRALSportsFanThe finest pitchers in the nation could not stop NC State in the College World Series, however COVID-19 protocols did.
It was a wild day in Omaha. The start of Fridays game was postponed by an hour while the NCAA sorted through the protocols and which players would be offered for the Wolfpack.
In all, the Wolfpack had only 13 players offered to take on the 2019 national champs. The Wolfpack put 2 runners on, with 2 outs, in the bottom of the ninth inning but rightfielder Devonte Brown grounded out to short.
Its unclear how many players the Wolfpack will have offered for Saturdays game. Avent said throughout the ESPN broadcast that he discovered out about an hour before Fridays arranged start that he would be missing more than half of his lineup. “We went out and played a heckuva of a video game.
Its unclear the number of gamers the Wolfpack will have available for Saturdays video game. Avent said during the ESPN broadcast that he discovered an hour prior to Fridays arranged start that he would be missing out on majority of his lineup. He was hopeful that any gamers who evaluate unfavorable would have the ability to play on Saturday.
The Wolfpack began 2-0 in Omaha and had a 7-1 record in the NCAA competition before Fridays obstacle. It beat Vanderbilt and star pitcher Jack Leiter on Monday, coming off of a win over Stanford ace Brendan Beck in the CWS opener and a win over top-seeded Arkansas star Kevin Kopps in the Super Regional round.
Pitchers Reid Johnston (who would have been the starter), Matt Willadsen and Chris Villaman were not available for the Wolfpack on Friday.
. NC State (37-19) had second baseman J.T. Jarrett test favorable for COVID on Friday, according to multiple sources, and had 14 total players held out of the game under the NCAAs procedures.
Under NCAA rules, professional athletes who are totally vaccinated and have no symptoms are exempt from routine screening. Professional athletes, and other “Tier I” personnel, who are not immunized should continue to go through regular screening at NCAA championships.
Avent had to shuffle his lineup and put Sam Highfill, the pitching star of Mondays 1-0 win over Vanderbilt, in the beginning base. In his very first three at-bats of the season, Highfill went 3 for 4 and got a pair of hits off of Kumar Rocker, who will be among the top picks in the upcoming MLB draft.
Brown made an incredible diving catch in the 2nd inning to keep Vandy off the scoreboard.
NC State had a chance in the seventh inning, with the bases filled and two outs, but Vandy reliever Luke Murphy got catcher Luca Tresh to pop out to shallow best field.
” It just demonstrates how difficult we are,” Highfill said. “We headed out and played a heckuva of a video game. I think we showed a lot of battle today.”
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Jarrett and relief pitcher Evan Justice were not at Fridays game. Routine starters Jose Torres (shortstop), Tyler McDonough (centerfielder) and Terrell Tatum (designated player) also missed the video game.
