The Wolfpack outlasted the Hoosiers Friday evening to notch their first NCAA victory. It took 12 innings for NC State to defeat Indiana 7-6 in the Lexington Regional. NC State’s starting pitcher Johnny Piedmonte only lasted a third of an inning as the Hoosiers began the game with three doubles. It would be up to the bullpen and the defense to tame the Hoosiers bats for the remainder of the evening.
State got strong performances from Cody Beckman (2 1/3 innings), Joe O’Donnell (4 2/3 innings) and winning pitcher Tommy DeJuneas to keep them in the game. Trailing 5-4 after 7 innings a Joe Dunand home run in the eighth tied the game. In the top of the 12th inning a clutch hit by Brad Debo followed a single by Garrett Suggs and an Indiana error and wild pitch. Β State scored the go ahead runs and held Indiana in the bottom of the 12th to get the win.
N.C. State meets top-seeded Kentucky on Saturday at 7 p.m.in the winner’s bracket. The second-seeded Hoosiers will face Ohio. Starting pitchers have not been announced. In other tournament action UNC fell to Davidson.
The NC State Baseball team is now 7-0 through two weeks of play, going 4-0 last week, defeating Coastal Carolina 16-4 on the road in a midweek game, and sweeping Belmont at home this past weekend (11-4, 7-0, 7-1).
The Wolfpack remain ranked 21st in the D1Baseball Top-25.
The Wolfpack moved up 11 spots to #19 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll, up 2 spots to #20 in the Coaches Poll, and up 1 spot to #24 in the Baseball America poll.
NC State will host Longwood today at 3pm in their next matchup.
But while I was over on Twitter, I saw a ton of comments on it, all of them NC State fans, and almost all of them critical of the new look.
Look, I don’t know what’s going on here. Maybe it’ll look a lot better once it’s done, or maybe the grass will match up a lot better when it greens up. But right now, it’s a little jarring. Here is how it used to look…
Again, I’m going to wait until it’s really done before I cast judgement, but I think the official tweet from the school marketing it and drawing attention to it, has people thinking it’s in it’s final form. And maybe it is. But I hope it’s not.
I remember this being shared a while back…
This shows grass in foul territory and dirt in the 1st/3rd baselines. So I’m not sure when this turf thing came along. And while we’re on the subject, aren’t we a turf management school? Shouldn’t we be turning up our noses at artificial turf?
Apparently, this is a thing now, where foul territories are artificial turf and fair territory is grass. Here is Mississippi State’s baseball field doing the same thing.
Can’t say I like it there either, honestly. It just seems like one of those fads. Remember when everyone was going crazy with field/court colors?
School with a grey field and school with a glow in the dark basketball court meet on blue turf. Winning coach gets dumped with French fries. College athletics at its absolute best. https://t.co/crEKoeLKbXpic.twitter.com/Bpeod50Sy4
Did anyone ever really like those? Do people like them now? Have they ever gotten a recruit to come to the school? Have they ever scared a recruit away?
I don’t know. You tell me. I’ll hold final judgment, but things NC State fans don’t seem like they’re going to follow along.