NC State baseball tops James Madison to win the NCAA Raleigh Regional

Raleigh

For N.C. State’s baseball team, it’s on to the Super Regional.

Whether in Athens, Georgia, or in Raleigh, the Wolfpack doesn’t care. All that matters is that the Pack is still playing in the NCAA tournament, moving on.

The Wolfpack, hosting an NCAA regional for the first time since 2018, won it in three straight games, beating James Madson 5-3 Sunday in a winners’ bracket final at Doak Field.

Pack third baseman Alec Makarewicz, named the regional’s most outstanding player, had a solo homer and RBI-double, and right fielder Noah Soles added a solo home run in the ninth for the 5-3 lead.

Starting pitcher Logan Whitaker gave the Wolfpack six strong innings – his only slip-ups a pair of solo home runs by JMU’s Mike Mancini – before relievers Jacob Dudan and Derrick Smith came on to finish it up. Smith fanned all three batters in the ninth to start the celebration.

The Pack (36-20) will face Georgia, the No. 7 national seed, on the road in the Super Regional if the Bulldogs win the Athens Regional. If Georgia stumbles, the Pack will be hosting a Super Regional – its first at Doak Field since 2013, when N.C. State, led by Trea Turner and Carlos Rodon, made it to the College World Series.

The Wolfpack, seeded 10th nationally, topped Bryant and then South Carolina in its first two games of the regional, getting strong starting pitching and solid relief pitching while manufacturing enough runs.

James Madison made it to Sunday night by shutting out South Carolina 2-0 in Sunday’s first game at Doak. Another win against the Pack would have gotten the Dukes to Monday and a chance for a spot in the Super Regional.

But the Wolfpack got the job done as Whitaker allowed four hits and struck out six in his six innings of work. Only one JMU batter did any damage against Whitaker – Manicini.

With first base open and one out, the Pack elected to pitch to Mancini in the bottom of the eighth and Mancini drove in another run with a double to left off Dudan.

The Dukes’ sophomore second baseman, with some pop in his bat, also had two home runs for JMU’s only runs against South Carolina on Sunday.

Makarewicz slugged his homer to deep right field in the sixth for a 3-2 lead, then doubled in Garrett Pennington in the eighth for a 4-2 lead. The Pack had the bases loaded with no outs but could not add to the lead, but Soles homered in the ninth for a two-run lead.

The Dukes stranded two in the bottom of the eighth as Dudan struck out Wyatt Peifer and Brenden O’Donnell, punching the air after punching out O’Donnell.

The Pack had Makarewicz, Pennington and shortstop Brandon Butterworth named to the all-regional team along with Dudan.

The Wolfpack in 2021 won the NCAA regional in Ruston, Louisiana, then went to Arkansas for the Super Regional. The Pack beat the Razorbacks, the No. 1 national seed, to earn the program’s third trip to the College World Series.

The Pack was left out of the NCAA tournament in 2022, then lost out in the Columbia (SC) Regional last season. But Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent, in his 28th season, again has his team in Super with a chance to go to Omaha again.

This story was originally published June 2, 2024, 9:16 PM.