NC State Loses 3-1 to Vanderbilt in Weirdest Game Ever

I’m exhausted.

Feels like this day has gone about 45 hours too long, and yet we have at least one more game of State baseball tomorrow. With THIRTEEN players…that’s right…THIRTEEN PLAYERS, State baseball actually outperformed the #4 team in the country in just about all facets of the game, besides the final score. To those State fans talking about “WeLL ThAt’S aLL ThAT MatTErs!!!”…I don’t want to hear it right now.

With all the odds stacked against them, the Wolfpack hung close the entirety of the game. They left bases loaded in the 7th and two runners on in both the 8th and 9th. They were in it fully and almost pulled it off. Personally, I don’t remember a State game in a long time that by blood was pumping with “this could be magical” feeling. Absolutely fun game to watch, just wish it ended differently.

How It All Started

Rumors were swirling all morning about COVID issues. Up until about 45 minutes before the game, we at PI, most WPN and apparently Avent himself, thought he’d be down a few players. It ended up being so much worse.

McDonough, Torres, Willadsen, Villaman, Justice, Jarrett, Tatum, Johnston and every single reliever outside of three were knocked off the roster.

Will they be available tomorrow? No idea…

Jarrett appears to be the only individual that officially has COVID and has been sent home. All others appear to be part of contact tracing/COVID protocol.

An Unreal Effort

Pick a story line for this game that isn’t unbelievably crazy.

-Highfill pitches his a*s off to win the second game of the CWS. Then has to play first base today. At the plate he was 3-4, AFTER NOT HITTING A SINGLE TIME THIS YEAR. Last year, he had five at bats. The man comes into a game as cold as can be and has multiple hits off a guy many consider the best starter in college baseball. That’s unbelievably crazy.

-Holding Vanderbilt to only two runs was the duo of Garrett Payne and Dalton Feeney. Payne started for the first time this year, after only making six appearances for less than 9 total innings. Dalton has pitched 13.1 this year, but held a 11.48 ERA with equal number of walks and strikeouts (14). Yet the two managed to go a combined nine innings with six hits and three runs (only one earned). That’s unbelievably crazy.

-Brown’s catch…that’s it…that alone was unbelievably crazy.

-Just even the storyline that State didn’t know until they got to the ballpark that there were issues. We don’t have the means for rapid testing or some kind of better protocols to announce at 1pm for a 2pm game that something is off? The national anthem lineup was as humorous as it was sad. I hope and pray that we have more than 13 guys tomorrow. Regardless, unbelievably crazy.

What Now?

We simply wait. First pitch MAYBE at 2pm tomorrow. Highfill will be the State starter, with just Cooper King available in the pen.

We’re all sick of moral victories, but maybe this is the one literal time we can fully accept it to some extent. This game will be one you will remember forever.