Pack surprised with #2 seed

State was gifted with the No. 2 seed at the Columbia, S.C. regional, hosted by the GameCOCKS.

The Wolfpack faces three seed UNC-Charlotte on Friday.The other teams in the regional are top seed host SC and #4 seed Jacksonville.

Look for the Carolinas and the ACC to make a strong showing in this year’s field (#22 Charlotte, #18 Clemson, #12 South Carowhina, #10 Coastal Carolina, #8 Virginia, #7 Florida State, #3 UNC, and the unranked but dangerous Miami, NCSU, Wofford, Wake Forest, VCU, Western Carolina).

Oops, so VCU isn’t in either the Carolinas or the ACC, but I like Virginia teams. Well, the ones not near D.C. at least.

Edit: “You forgot to mention East Carolina, the #2 seed in the Chapel Hill regional” -Ed

Pack hanging with Jackets

It’s the 9th inning and NC State is hanging in there. Corona and Pond have struck out twice each, not good. It seems Marcus Jones is hitting in the 4 position??? Strange, but seems to be working! He’s 3-4 with 2 RBI and a run scored.

Brackman did not pitch. Did I miss something while I was gone? Why is Andrew Brackman not pitching in the ACC Tournament? Not a single out! I haven’t heard that he’s injured or anything.

12:58: Jones singles to right, now 4-5 on the day.

Wow, some good small ball by State. Jones singles to start the inning. He gets sac bunted to 2B. Ferg advances Jones to 3rd on a fly ball. Then Caleb Mangum come through with a single to score Jones from 3rd.

Now for the bullpen…

1:12  Just as expected, GT has runners at the corners, 2 outs…

State wins! Ok, now we get to go home and watch the rest of the games from there.   …where is Brackman??

“May I have my ASS please?”

That’s what the NC State baseball squad asked Virginia and UNC this week in Florida. The Holes and Wahoos kindly obliged. Granted, the Pack faced two of the top pitchers in the ACC.

I’m no mathematician, but State has ZERO chance of advancing past this Saturday morning’s game against GT. There is some consolation in the fact that all 8 teams in the ACC Tournament have locked up a NCAAT spot. Still, just as in basketball, you want to be as high a seed as possible. Especially in baseball, though, where a mediocre team with a dominant pitcher can end your season.

So, I am assuming Brackman will pitch tomorrow morning in the meaningless 10am game. Hopefully he gets some mojo going into the NCAAs. If he and Surkamp can pitch well, we can win some games. That is, unless our suspect bullpen blows again.

NCSU in ESPN the Mag

I just got my ESPN mag in the mail about 20 minutes ago. Turn to page 42, check the upper right area. You will see the name of former NC State swimmer Cullen Jones.

A few pages before that is a nice blurb on Josh Hamilton dealing with hecklers. I talked to Josh last Friday in Cleveland before his game. He’s having some stomach problems, let’s pray he gets better soon.

I’m Dead

Not really, but I’ve been in nine states in the past eight days! Since TSW is a one man show (I’m that man) the show comes to a stop as I have to travel and go to various meetings. I plan to be back up and running with daily news and commentary next week. Sorry for the break in postings, but every now and then I have to concentrate on those things that pay the bills! See you next week, if anyone is still visiting…

Weekend wrap-up

So, I have been without internet access since last Thursday, but am back “home” in Apex, NC now for a few days before I head back to NY.

I did get to listen to the last 3 innings of the State baseball game today on my way back from Atlantic City. The Pack had a nice 7th inning to take the lead over Virginia, one of the top 3 teams in the nation, this afternoon. Eryk McConnell retired the final six batters of UVa in order to get Save number 10 of the season.

I am just finding out that the women’s softball made a shocking first day exit from the ACC Tournament last Thursday. BC and Maryland combined to hold the Pack offense to a total of 2 runs in 2 games. It’s an understatement to say this is a disappointment. The Ladies did receive a #15 seed in the NCAA Women’s Softball Tournament. Let’s hope that the rest lets them regroup and make a good push.