North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: One Win Away From Omaha
6/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BY TIM PEELER
Following Saturday’s impressive 10-6 victory over eighth-seeded
It’s a goal that has long been discussed, but this is the first time since Sam Esposito’s self-proclaimed “River Rats” won the District III championship four decades ago in
This is exactly the position Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent has been trying to reach for the last 12 years. He’s only been this close on one other occasion, five years ago when his 2003 team lost a pair of heartbreakers against
| NCAA Athens ( | ||
| Friday | | |
| Game 1: | Final | |
| Saturday | | |
| Game 2: NC State 10, | Final | |
| Sunday | | |
| Game 3: NC State vs. | 4 pm. | ESPN |
“That sounds like it covers a lot of years,” Avent said. “We are only playing against this team. How many years did it take to compile that? Besides, the longer a streak goes, the greater chance you have of breaking it.”
And, while the 15-0 is impressive, this number might be more important: This year’s Wolfpack team is 12-1 in Sunday games, a record that speaks volumes about the Pack's pitching depth. It’s only loss came in the final game of the ACC series against Clemson back in March. Georgia, on the other hand, is 6-6-1 on Sundays, with the tie coming against Tennessee.
How did the Wolfpack get to this position? Obviously, there are a number of reasons. Avent has poured all his efforts into building a championship program. He’s come close on a couple of occasions, getting the Wolfpack to the ACC title game on three occasions. And last weekend, he guided his team to its second NCAA regional championship in school history, sweeping aside former NC State player and head coach Ray Tanner and his
He’s gotten assistance, of course, this year from a collection of gritty players who don’t overwhelm with talent but play hard-nosed, station-to-station baseball. Saturday, in the 10-6 win over
“This team doesn’t overpower anybody, but they play hard against everybody,” Avent said.
Two years ago, Avent also hired his best friend, former
He took over recruiting for the program two years ago and helped find the talent the Wolfpack needed to get here. This year, he took over all pitching responsibilities and crafted a group of capable starters and relievers that best established this team’s identity.
Right now, Holliday has the Wolfpack pitching in good shape, with No. 2 starter Eric Surkamp poised to take the mound in Sunday’s decisive contest. And if it’s not the lefthanded Surkamp, Holliday could turn to one of the other fresh arms he has at his disposal.
Holliday has been an integral part of putting the Wolfpack in position to travel 1,256 miles due west of
The CWS is a grueling 10-day event in which the eight teams are divided into two brackets, with the winners of each squaring off in a best-of-three championship series.
But nothing could be more grueling than these scorching days in
And tomorrow’s championship game, slated to begin at 4 p.m., will be during the hottest part of the day. So far, the Wolfpack has taken the heat in stride. After all, this is a team that made the six-hour bus ride from
“To be honest,” said freshman infielder/quarterback Russell Wilson, “it’s not that bad. It’s not like two-a-day football practice in August.”
It’s not like two years ago in
Little has affected this team, even after a hard-to-accept loss to Georgia Tech in the opening game of the ACC Tournament and Friday’s 11-4 loss to
To think it could finally break the 40-year drought of making the College World Series is hardly out of the question.
“But it’s not our goal to just get to
Okay, then. Six, maybe seven, wins away.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
