North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Season Is Underway (3/2/09)
3/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
In the pros, the beginning of spring means baseball is just around the corner.
In college, the beginning of baseball means spring is on its way.
I’ll admit it was a little chilly and windy on opening day last Friday, but our players remember how hot it was on the field down in Athens, Ga., at the end of last season. So we are all looking for something in between over the next few months.
What impressed me for the first game was the crowd that was on hand to kick off the season.
We’ve now had two weekends of baseball, though winter weather has created a little havoc with the schedule. You can assume a few days for rain-outs every year, but we don’t get too many snow-outs.
But warm weather is around the corner, and that’s when baseball will really heat up.
For me, one of the highlights of 2008 was watching the baseball team’s victory in the NCAA Raleigh Regional, the first time NC State has ever hosted such an event at Doak.
That victory and the trip down to Athens, Ga., for the NCAA Athens Super Regional gave Elliott Avent and his team great reason to be optimistic about the 2009 season. He lost a couple of his starting pitchers, but so far this season the his starters seem to be on track for a big year, with a solid offense to support them.
For fans, this is a great time to still purchase season tickets for what will likely be one of the best home schedules in school history. Besides the home contest against East Carolina, we host ACC series against North Carolina, Clemson and Florida State all of which are perennial favorites in the league and in the polls.
We’ve set records in each of the last three seasons with our season-ticket sales, and this year could be another banner year. Ticket prices for the season are the same as last year, and the average price for nearly three dozen home games is less than $4 a ticket. For more information, go to the GoPack.com Ticket Center.
While we will continue to have single-game ticket sales, there probably won’t be many seats available for those without season tickets when the ACC season begins.
And remember, spring is right around the corner.
Lee Fowler
