NC State baseball is selected for NCAA Tournament
NC State baseball is back into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since being evicted from Omaha in the College World Series in 2021. After being surprisingly snubbed from last year’s bracket, the Pack was on the right side of the bubble in 2023.
NC State is the No. 3 seed in a regional hosted by No. 15 overall seed South Carolina. The action will start Friday in Columbia, S.C., and the Pack faces a tough challenge from the outset against a Campbell squad that many observers believed should have been hosting a regional itself. The Camels are the No. 2 seed in Columbia.
The fourth seed is Central Connecticut State, winners of the Northeast Conference (NEC).
NC State baseball went 35-19 overall during the season, including 13-16 in the loaded Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Pack boasted a strong RPI at No. 24 and impressively lost no games against a team below No. 60 in the rankings. A strong strength of schedule that was No. 19 nationally also helped to offset a subpar win-loss record against top-50 teams.
Campbell had a RPI of No. 13 and was the lone team among the top 16 in the rankings to not get to host a regional. The Camels rolled in the Big South Conference, going 22-5 during the regular season in league action and winning the tournament.
Overall, Campbell went 44-13. Among its noteworthy results include beating East Carolina all three times they played, winning at North Carolina, sweeping two games vs. tournament-bound UNC Wilmington, and taking 2 of 3 on the road at Louisiana, who received an at-large berth.
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Campbell also went winless in two games against Duke and 1-2 vs. Coastal Carolina, a regional host.
NC State won its lone games against Duke and Coastal Carolina, both away from home, and like Campbell beat UNCW twice. The Pack split two games with East Carolina and were swept at North Carolina.
Among other common opponents, Campbell split two games with Elon and NC State lost its lone showdown with the Phoenix.
This game will be a rematch to when Campbell upset NC State in the opener of the regional in Greenville, N.C., in 2019.
South Carolina went 39-19 during the regular season, including 16-13 in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gamecocks went 26-7 at home, including sweeping No. 2 overall seed Florida. However, South Carolina lost its final four conference series and went 1-2 in the SEC Tournament.
Central Connecticut State went 36-12 in the season, including 25-5 in dominating the NEC.
