AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz
The NCAA’s Division I Baseball
Committee announced Saturday that North Carolina State wouldn’t be
able to compete against Vanderbilt because of COVID-19 protocols,
which eliminates the Wolfpack from the 2021 College World Series.
NCAA Baseball @NCAACWS
NCAA Statement from Division I Baseball Committee:<br><br>The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee has declared the Vanderbilt-NC State Men’s College World Series game scheduled for Saturday, June 26 at 1 p.m. Central time a no-contest because of COVID-19 protocols. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CWS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#CWS</a> <a href=”https://t.co/amxdQwkQ6l”>pic.twitter.com/amxdQwkQ6l</a>
ESPN’s Elizabeth Merrill reported NC
State’s roster had just 13 active players for Friday’s first game
against the Commodores, a 3-1 loss. A rematch was set for Saturday
with a berth in the national championship series on the line before
the committee’s decision.
Wolfpack head coach Elliott Avent said
after Friday’s loss, which saw the team use 12 of its 13 available
players, he was frustrated with the lack of communication throughout
the process.
“I don’t want to discuss anything
that happened today because quite frankly I have no understanding of
what happened today,” Avent told reporters. “I have no idea
what’s going on. Zero. You know as much as I do. OK? It just hasn’t
been communicated.”
Avent, in his 25th year with the program, also
declined to discuss COVID-19 vaccines, including whether players were
encouraged to get vaccinated before the tournament.
“If you want to talk baseball, we
can talk baseball,” Avent said. “If you want to talk
politics or stuff like that, you can go talk to my head of sports
medicine, Rob Murphy.”
NC State was making its third College
World Series appearance and its first since 2013.
The Wolfpack advanced to the semifinals
with victories over Stanford and Vanderbilt to open the
double-elimination tournament. In turn, they were in line to have two
chances to register another victory over the Commodores, who beat the
Cardinal in the losers’ bracket to keep their own title hopes alive.
They actually outhit Vandy in Friday’s
game, 8-6, but were only able to push one run across the plate. The decision to
declare Saturday’s rematch a no-contest didn’t come until hours after that loss.
Meanwhile, Texas beat Mississippi State on Friday
night to force another meeting in the other semifinal matchup.
The Longhorns and Bulldogs will play a
win-or-go-home game Saturday night with the winner advancing to take
on Vanderbilt in the best-of-three championship series starting
Monday.
