MCLAMB: Focus On Monday

For NC State, the loss to Kentucky was painful — there is no dancing around it. The Wolfpack was three outs away from massive leverage that being in the winner's bracket provides. 

It is going to take character and confidence to bounce back successfully. It also will take a selective memory. 

The Wolfpack will have to win five out of six games, including at least three straight, to win a national championship in Omaha. NCSU did exactly that to get to the College World Series. That is the stat that the Pack can lean on, knowing that nothing is settled.

To get that far, it will also take NC State forgetting the one that got away. 

It was there for the taking, but State came up short against the Wildcats. On a day where the ball seemed to carry only on a whim, Kentucky used solo homers in the ninth and 10^th innings to advance to the winner's bracket. 

Sam Highfill laid it on the line, which has become more than a habit for him. It is now a lifestyle. Highfill has earned NC State legend status. He gave the Pack seven innings of terrific pitching. The Apex, N.C. native has never lost to an SEC school in his career and continues to be there when his team needs him most. 

Once again, that is a marker for this team. If it emulates Highfill's effort and passion, NC State has a lot of baseball left this season.

Both Jacob Dudan and Derrick Smith will be trusted to lead the Pack through the maze and into next week's best-of-three final. They had slip-ups Saturday, but they have long since earned the trust to be counted upon in big moments. NC State can do it but needs them to forget if they will do it.

The hitting for NCSU usually comes through but seems to struggle about once every week or two. It happened against Duke in Charlotte. The Georgia Bulldogs did enough to lock up the Pack in the second game of the Super Regional. Again, NC State has always responded. 

The formula is simple: Forget the where and why, and just remember the how. Champions usually get tested sternly along the way. 

South Carolina and Georgia tested NC State on its path to Omaha, and now Kentucky has done so. The Wolfpack responded to the first two. 

NC State became elite by playing for each other, not getting lost in the moment, and making things happen when the chances were there. Those are the same things that they have to do to reach the final of the College World Series. It is hard, but not nearly impossible. 

But yes, that was a tough loss for the Pack.