While I’m sure we will never hear precisely what his exact thoughts were/are on the matter, NC State Head Baseball Coach Elliott Avent hasn’t completely resorted to coachspeak regarding the Pack’s being left out of the national seed picture for the upcoming NCAA Baseball Tournament.
Avent ‘shocked’ N.C. State denied NCAA baseball seed (NewsObserver.com)
RALEIGH — The N.C. State baseball team gathered Monday in its Doak Field locker room to watch the NCAA selection show on ESPNU.
Minutes into the show, Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent abruptly left the room.
The top eight national seeds for the NCAA Championship were announced first and the Wolfpack was not one of the eight. North Carolina was the No. 1 overall seed, Virginia was No. 6 and Florida State No. 7, giving the ACC three of the national seeds.
To say Avent was disappointed and irked that the Wolfpack was left out is an understatement. Spotting a reporter Monday, he said, “What do you want me to do first, rant or rave?â€
Asked his reaction to the seedings, Avent said, “Shocked. Totally, absolutely shocked.â€
[snip]
“You put in months putting the schedule together and the thought process is RPI, strength of schedule, who you can play, academics – all factor into scheduling,†Avent said. “So you do everything the right way and you play a tough schedule and then you have to go out and perform. In our case we had injuries early on and (the committee) factors that in, and winning 27 of the last 31 and you played the No. 1 team an 18-inning ballgame.
“I don’t know what else this team could do. All I can say is (I am) shocked. It’s a decision made by people we have no control over and you deal with those decisions.â€
Avent said he was out of the room before the regional fields were announced. The Wolfpack, hosting a NCAA regional for the second straight year, faces Binghamton (30-23) on Friday in its opener while second-seeded Mississippi (37-22) will play No. 3 seed William & Mary (37-22).
“We know who we’re playing, we know we’re not a national seed, so we know what we have to do,†Avent said.
[snip]
“It’s definitely motivation. We think we deserve a top-eight seed. Now we’re out to prove … we are a top eight team in the nation.â€
Avent said he was not sure of the pitching rotation for the regional or the starter against Binghamton, the America East champion. Avent said sophomore lefty Carlos Rodon, who had 14 strikeouts in 10 innings against the Tar Heels, likely would start Saturday.
(Grant) Clyde said “1968†is posted on every Wolfpack player’s locker. Only one N.C. State team has played in the College World Series – the ’68 team. That’s the goal.
Who knows? Maybe this will ultimately work out in our favor. This team could use a bit more of a “Chip on the Shoulder” mentality IMHO.
Incidentally, lest anyone think that this is sour grapes from Wolfpack faithful, some folks who know college baseball pretty darned well agree with the sentiment (tip o’ the cap to compsciwolf for bringing this to attention in the other thread since I have admittedly been less than comprehensive since the “snubbing”).
Field of 64: Reaction And Analysis (BaseballAmerica.com)
• Oregon as a national seed, however, just doesn’t make sense. The Ducks played five series against NCAA tournament teams, and they lost all five. They played a very strong nonconference schedule, but still they are just 6-10 against the top 50. North Carolina State, on the other hand, is 18-10 against the top 50, and Indiana is 10-9 against the top 50. Those three teams, along with Florida State, were the finalists for the last two national seeds, Farrell said.
UNC gets No. 1 overall seed, N.C. State gets the shaft in NCAA baseball selections (StarNewsOnline.com)
LOL. Love that headline. Special thanks to Brett Friedlander and the folks in “down east” for that one.
–
Just because it’s funny….
–
Pack9 gets it’s NCAA Tourney run started this Friday at the Doak at 7pm vs Binghamton. We’ll have a preview up of the Raleigh Regional and the teams in the field later this week.
–
