NCAA TOURNAMENT: Wolfpack Headed to Columbia

NC State (35-19, 13-16 ACC) has been selected to the 2023 NCAA College World Series Tournament and will play in the Columbia Regional as the No. 3 seed.

The Wolfpack will be paired against No. 2-seed Campbell (44-13, 22-5 Big South) as tournament play begins Friday at 1 p.m. from Founders Park. Regional host South Carolina (39-19, 16-13 SEC) will open against four-seed Central Connecticut State (36-12, 25-5 NEC). The Columbia Regional is matched against the Gainesville Regional which contains Florida, Connecticut, Texas Tech, and Florida A&M.

One of the more explosive teams in the Southeastern Conference, South Carolina currently sits within the top 10 teams in the country in home runs hit with 110, but the Gamecocks dropped nine of its last 11 regular-season games after starting the season 30-4 overall. South Carolina defeated Georgia in the SEC Tournament before suffering back-to-back losses to LSU and Texas A&M. NC State holds a 35-22 all-time record over South Carolina, but the Gamecocks have the latest victory in Charlotte on April 2, 2019, dowing the Wolfpack, 10-8.

Entering postseason play with many outlets projected they would host, the Camels secured their second straight Big South Championship with back-to-back wins over USC Upstate who took two out of three from Campbell in the final weekend of the regular season. The Wolfpack last faced the Camels on March 2, 2022 when Campbell took the win in Buies Creek, 7-4.

Central Connecticut State heads into the tournament as the automatic qualifier from the Northeastern Conference after winning five games in four days with the final two victories coming against Wagner by a combined margin of 20 runs. Should the teams meet, NC State will face the Blue Devils for the first time in school history.

Stay tuned to Inside Pack Sports for more information as the Wolfpack’s postseason continues.