Rodon Rolling
Wolfpack Baseball (46-14) kept things rolling Saturday night on the power of Carlos Rodon’s left arm. Rodon went the distance against William & Mary (38-23) as the Pack edged the pesky Tribe by a final score of 1-0.
And it was a good thing that Rodon was once again spectacular because the Tribe’s John Farrell kept the Pack’s bats mostly in check, going 7.1 innings, scattering 6 hits and yielding only a single run. He struck out six, and walked three.
The Pack would have their chances early to break a scoreless tie, advancing a runner as far as third base in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings, but Farrell was able to work out of trouble each time and preserve the goose eggs thru five innings.
In the top of the 6th however, Trea Turner would leadoff the inning with a double and then move to third on a Jake Fincher infield single. Two batters later, Tarran Senay would receive a little respect with a 2 out intentional walk. But Grant Clyde would follow him with a 2 out RBI single up the middle, scoring Turner from third for the game’s only run.
The rest of the way, it was the Carlos Rodon show.
On his way to the complete game shutout, Rodon would yield only 2 hits while striking out 10 and walking none. BillnMary actually had more guys reach base by way of hit batsmen (3) than any other way (I seem to remember someone mentioning something about plunking batters in the preview).
Despite that however, Rodon was never in any serious trouble it seemed, and on the occasions when the Tribe did have a runner reach, or even advance to second, Rodon only became stronger and more determined.
Rodon Spins Gem in NCAA Regional Win over Tribe (GoPack.com)
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Earlier on Saturday, Ole Miss seemed to wake up a bit as they pulled away in the late innings to eliminate Binghamton by an 8-4 final score.
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Sunday in Raleigh
Ole Miss and BillnMary face off in Sunday’s early game (1pm). The loser of that one goes home while the winner is rewarded for their efforts with having to turn around and try to beat the Pack in Sunday’s nightcap (6pm), and then again Monday (7pm).
Bottom line: If the Pack wins tonight, then they move on to super regionals and will await the results in Eugene to find out their opponent and/or destination (More on that later). If the Pack loses tonight’s game, then the same two teams will tee it up again Monday evening at 7pm to determine who will emerge from Raleigh.
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Today’s games will once again be only ESPN3 affairs. Frankly, that’s starting to bug me but I suppose I should thankful for even that. Will still have the Bases Loaded whip around on the big screen though.
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Other Scores/Results of note
VT bounced back, defeating Coastal in the loser’s bracket in Blacksburg, 9-1. They’ll face UConn in today’s early game with the winner of that one then faced with the task of beating Oklahoma twice.
GT also avoided elimination by beating ETSU 5-1 in Nashville. They take on Illinois early, then if they win they must beat Vandy two straight. Good luck with that.
After rebounding to beat the Bilikens (which still looks like the Grinch IMHO) of St Louis yesterday 10-2, Clemson’s road out of the loser’s bracket isn’t much easier than GT’s. They’ll have to beat Liberty early today, then handle the ‘Cocks twice in Columbia.
Miami lost a thin 1-0 lead late and fell to the ‘Ville by a final of 6-4. Today they’ll face Okie State early, then will have to top the Cards later today and tomorrow to survive their trip to Louisville.
UVa stayed perfect in Charlottesville, topping Elon 2-0, and now awaits the winner of today’s early game between UNC-W and Elon.
Carolina likewise moved to 2-0 in Chapel Hill by hanging on to beat Towson 8-5. Towson and Fla. Atlantic play the early game there today for the rights to try to beat the Heels two straight.
FSU has things rolling. In two games they’ve yet to give up a run in Tallahassee and have scored 21. Yesterday they pounded Troy 11-0 and now await the winner of today’s early game between Troy and ‘Bama.
And don’t go using your super saver miles to book airfare to Eugene, Oregon just yet Pack fans…
In the battle of the birds, the Oregon Ducks fell to the second seeded Rice Owls last night 1-0. Oregon must now beat San Francisco in today’s early game, then turn around and beat Rice tonight, THEN beat Rice again tomorrow. With their history against top 50 RPI teams this year (Rice is #28, San Fran is #50), that may not be a good bet to happen. Stay tuned……
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So then, what happens if Oregon fails to win their regional? Will the Pack host supers?
No guarantees there. The NCAA will not announce sites for the super regionals until Monday night (I think…it might be Tuesday morning). Since the Pack did not receive a national seed they are of course not guaranteed any consideration.
Rice has an excellent baseball tradition and they have outstanding facilities with a significantly larger capacity than Doak. So it’s not beyond comprehension why the NCAA might opt to give them the supers (On the other hand, San Fran plays in a hole so THAT ain’t gonna happen at least).
Having said that however, given the fan support in Raleigh this weekend and the controversy of giving the Ducks the national seed nod in the first place, I would think it likely that the Pack would stay home for supers if the Ducks fall.
And even if not, at least Houston is closer than Eugene.
[UPDATE] – My information (or lack thereof) was in error on this. Despite not having received a national seed, presuming the Pack has submitted the proper proposal for super regional hosting, the higher seeded Pack WILL host super regionals over Rice should the Oregon Ducks fail to advance from Eugene.
Tip of the cap to Dr.BadgerPack for correcting my stupidity on this issue.
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We’ll be doing the same thing around here today as yesterday (good Lord willing and the crick don’t rise). So if you’re stuck without ESPN3, feel free to use us as your update central. And again, please do talk it up in the comments section. It’s way more fun that way.
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Go Pack!!! (And…GO Dons and/or Owls!!!!!)
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