NC State’s season ended with a 1-2 weekend in Columbia.

Game 1

The Wolfpack looked like the team that has flashed periodically all year and resembled the team Elliott Avent has talked about could make a run to Omaha.

The pitching held an excellent Campbell offense to 0 extra base hits and 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Logan Whitaker worked out of a couple jams early but the Camels’ never really threatened the Pack’s early lead. Justin Lawson locked down the late innings with 4 of his 10 outs recorded via strikeout.

Defensively, the Pack played their best defensive game of the year. Multiple diving catches in the outfield, picked off a runner, timely plays with runners on base.

Offensively, State was aggressive against ace Cade Kuehler but they were able to get to him. Gino Groover was the story at the plate with two homers, Trevor Candelaria added a home run as well.

Game 2

Before the weekend I wrote “South Carolina wins the regional if: they get healthy and return to early season form.” Credit to the Gamecocks, that’s exactly what happened.

The goal all year was to get to a regional and give Matt Willadsen and Sam Highfill a chance to win it, and that’s exactly what happened. Unfortunately, the two veteran workhorses were unable to deliver.

Willadsen kept the Pack in the game, but he uncharacteristically struggled with his control with five walks in 4 and ⅔ innings. Carson Kelly came in and walked a couple more. In a tightly contested game, those were the difference. Credit to the depth guys Andrew Shaffner and Jacob Halford, lightly used all year, but got through 4 scoreless innings to give the offense a chance.

Offensively, the Pack rallied late with three runs in the 6th and got the tying run to the plate in the 7th and 9th but could not get the job done. South Carolina was the best team this weekend, but this game was right there for State. As was the case for most of the year, just unable to get it done.

Game 3

The Pack spent a lot of the year getting up off the mat after various versions of deflating losses, but they never responded after South Carolina knocked them down Saturday night.

Campbell was dead in the water to CCSU Saturday afternoon, but they were able to claw back and their offense carried over against Sam Highfill and the Pack. Two first inning home runs were really all the Camels’ needed, but they didn’t stop. It was one of those days that everything went right for Campbell and everything went wrong for the Wolfpack.

The offense produced 11 hits, 0 extra base hits, and 6 walks with 2 strikeouts. They hit into 4 double plays and were 1-12 with runners in scoring position. Those are numbers you will likely never see again.

Summing It Up

I thought this weekend was a microcosm of the season. You saw the upside at times but ultimately just never able to string those performances together.

This will be remembered as a talented team that did not live up to potential. All of the pieces were there and the numbers on paper were good, it just didn’t translate to wins against good teams.

I’ve got a lot of thoughts on the team and I’ll put those together this week and then preview the offseason. There’s players in the portal already so expect that to get going immediately. The draft is still 5 weeks away, plenty of time to talk about that.