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Tag: College World Series

  • Pioneering NC State baseball team honored after 57 years. Why it took so long

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    Members of NC State’s 1968 College World Series baseball team gather at Doak Field at Dail Park to receive commemorative rings on Oct. 3, 2025.

    Members of NC State’s 1968 College World Series baseball team gather at Doak Field at Dail Park to receive commemorative rings on Oct. 3, 2025.


    Chip Alexander

    Raleigh

    Sometimes, it takes a while.

    Or in the case of N.C. State’s 1968 baseball team, 57 years.

    In the spring of ‘68, the Wolfpack gave the school its first College World Series team. Coached by the late Sam Esposito, the Pack won the school’s first ACC championship and then advanced to Omaha, Nebraska, where the dream of a national title ended with a tough loss to Southern California, the 1968 champion.

    While the players have aged, and some have been lost, many of the memories of the ‘68 team remain fresh. They were the first. They deserved rings. Now, they finally have them through the efforts of some former team members, Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent, former Wolfpack Club executive director Bobby Purcell and private donors.

    A ceremony was held Friday at Doak Field at Dail Park, and Avent helped hand out the rings along with Alex Cheek. It was Cheek, the big lefthander from Greensboro, who teamed with starters Mike Caldwell and Joe Frye to pitch the Pack to Omaha and who helped set up Friday’s ceremony.

    “It was a long time coming,” Cheek said.

    The ‘godfather of NC State baseball’ led the way

    Among those who have passed away are Esposito, who Avent has long called the “Godfather of Wolfpack baseball,” and players Chris Cammack, Steve Martin and Tommy Smith. Family members were presented with their rings, including Sam Esposito, Jr.

    NC State baseball team shows support and appreciation for Wolfpack’s 1968 ACC champs and College World Series team on Oct. 3, 2025.
    NC State baseball team shows support and appreciation for Wolfpack’s 1968 ACC champs and College World Series team on Oct. 3, 2025. Chip Alexander

    The ceremony had a backdrop of baseball players. Current members of the Wolfpack team stood behind the seated stars of ‘68 to offer their support and appreciation.

    “Hopefully you won’t have to wait 57 years for a ring,” Cheek said to the players. “You can beat anybody like we did. We had so much pride in what we did.”

    It took 45 years, until 2013, for the Pack to return to Omaha with a team that had Trea Turner and Carlos Rodon, both MLB stars playing key roles for the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees in the playoffs this month. Other CWS appearances under Avent have come in 2021 and 2024.

    A future World Series star on the mound

    Caldwell, a freshman on the 1968 team, later pitched in the big league for 14 years. The lefty from Tarboro was a 22-game winner in 1978 and won two games for the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1982 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

    “I still say the 1968 season was the most fun and most memorable season of baseball that I ever experienced,” Caldwell said.

    Caldwell credited Avent for remembering and honoring the ‘68 team and “keeping all of this crowd together.”

    In the 1960s and ‘70s, it was not common to present championship rings in college sports. That changed through the years, at every level of sports, and past achievements were celebrated – the Pack’s 1970 ACC basketball champs waited until 2016 before getting their rings.

    NC State championship ring presented to former Pack second baseman Clem Huffman during ceremony for 1968 ACC champs, CWS team.
    NC State championship ring presented to former Pack second baseman Clem Huffman during ceremony for 1968 ACC champs, CWS team. Courtesy of Clem Huffman

    The 1968 baseball team was 25-9 and 13-4 in claiming the ACC championship. It went to Gastonia and won the NCAA District 3 title, beating out Florida State to get to Omaha.

    “As far as I’m concerned, the ‘68 team set the standard for what N.C. State baseball can be and should be,” Avent said Friday at the ceremony. “I love this team. It represented everything about this school.”

    Chip Alexander

    The News & Observer

    In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.

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    Chip Alexander

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  • NC State vs. Georgia scores, updates, schedule from Athens Super Regional :: WRALSportsFan.com

    NC State vs. Georgia scores, updates, schedule from Athens Super Regional :: WRALSportsFan.com

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    By WRAL Sports, Associated Press

    Georgia hit four home runs, including two in the first three innings, en route to an 11-2 Game 2 victory against NC State in its best-of-three super regional in Athens.

    The Georgia win sets up a decisive Game 3 on Monday with the winner earning a spot in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The game will start at noon or 7 p.m., ESPN announced.

    NC State clobbered Georgia 18-1 on Saturday in the series opener.

    But it was the Bulldogs who struck early in Game 2, grabbing a 2-0 lead in the first inning and extending it to 5-0 in the third. Georgia extended its lead to 10-0.

    Georgia 11, NC State 2 (bottom of 8th inning): NC State catcher Jacob Cozart hit his third home run of the super regional.

    Georgia 11, NC State 1 (top of 8th inning): Corey Collins hit a solo home run to lead off the inning.

    Georgia 10, NC State 1 (bottom of 7th inning): Luke Nixon singled, advanced to third on a single by Matt Heavner and scored on a groundout by Noah Soles, getting the Wolfpack on the board.

    NC State has been shut out once this season and held to one run on three other occasions.

    Georgia starting pitcher Leighton Finley tossed 6.2 innings, allowing eight hits and one run. He struck out five and walked two.

    Georgia 10, NC State 0 (top of 7th inning): Fernando Gonzalez singled to center, driving home Clayton Chadwick with Georgia’s 10th run of the game. Gonzalez was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

    NC State relief pitcher Ryan Marohn has pitched four innings, helping preserve the rest of the bullpen for a likely Game 3 on Monday.

    Georgia 9, NC State 0 (top of 6th inning): Paul Toetz hit a solo home run to extend the Bulldogs’ lead.

    Georgia 8, NC State 0 (top of 4th inning): Georgia added to its lead with a RBI double from Kolby Branch and a run-scoring groundout by Corey Collins.

    Tre Phelps drove in another run on a hit by pitch.

    NC State starting pitcher Dominic Fritton was taken out after three-plus innings pitched. He allowed seven hits and seven runs (all earned).

    Georgia 5, NC State 0 (top of 3rd inning): Tre Phelps smacked a three-run home run to center field, extending the Bulldogs’ lead. It was the 11th home run of the season for Phelps, a freshman.

    It was Georgia’s third hit of the inning and sixth of the game. NC State held the Bulldogs to four hits in Saturday’s Game 1.

    Georgia 2, NC State 0 (top of 1st inning): Georgia grabbed an early lead in its must-win Game 2 against NC State on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs are the visiting team even through the game is in Athens.

    Second baseman Slate Alford hit a two-run home run off NC State starter Dominic Fritton.

    NC State never trailed in Saturday’s 18-1 victory in Game 1, erupting for 11 runs in the second inning. The Wolfpack need just one more win to advance to the College World Series for the third time.

    NC State is the No. 10 national seed and Georgia is the No. 7 national seed.

    Wolfpack clobber Georgia in Game 1

    Noah Soles had two doubles and five RBIs in N.C. State’s 11-run second inning, and the Wolfpack routed Georgia 18-1 on Saturday in Game 1 of the best-of-three Athens Super Regional.

    Luke Nixon and Matt Heavner had back-to-back bunt singles in the top of the second inning, the former to drive in Brandon Butterworth and open the scoring and the latter to load the bases with nobody out.

    Soles followed with a three-RBI double down the line in right and Eli Serrano III hit the next pitch over the wall in right center. Butterworth added an RBI single before Nixon and Soles each hit two-RBI doubles to give No. 10 seed N.C. State (37-20) an 11-0 lead.

    “Hitting is contagious,” catcher Jacob Cozart sad. “You start out the game having a quick inning, then the second inning came around and we got two really, really good bunts down. They found the hole, chaos unloaded and we just started to roll. We got to the top of our lineup, and then that’s what we do. Once they turn that lineup around, they start to roll.”

    Sam Highfill (7-2) gave up a run on four hits and three walks over six innings to earn the win for the Wolfpack. Andrew Shaffner pitched three scoreless innings of no-hit relief for his first save of the season.

    “He was unbelievable today,”Soles said of Highfill. “He’s very tough. I personally look up to him and I think he’s a great leader, on and off the field. He’s just someone everyone looks up to and I think he’s a really, really good leader for the clubhouse.”

    N.C. State can clinch a berth in the College World Series with a win Sunday in Game 2. The Wolfpack have made three appearances at the CWS, the most recent in 2021.

    “It’s good to get that first one, but obviously we have to get one more,” NC State coach Elliott Avent said. “They’re tough to get but obviously we played really well today. We obviously also had that one inning that got things out of kilter for them.”

    Corey Collins singled to right in the bottom of the fifth for seventh-seeded Georgia (42-16) to make it 13-1.

    “Here’s the great thing about our game: nothing carries over to tomorrow,” Georgia coach Wes Johnson said. “The scoreboard goes back to 0-0, and we’re going to come out, and we’re going to be ready to respond.”

    FINAL: NC State 18, Georgia 1: Shaffner gets another 1-2-3 inning and the Wolfpack complete a convincing win in Game 1 of the Athens Super Regional.

    Game 2 is set for Sunday at 12 p.m. A potential Game 3 would be played on Monday. Another win would send the Wolfpack to their fourth College World Series and first since 2021.

    NC State 18, Georgia 1 (top of 9th inning): Andrew Shaffner gets a 1-2-3 eighth inning and we head to the ninth with State holding a commanding lead.

    Jacob Cozart and Alec Makarewicz hit back-to-back home runs to make it an 18-1 lead in the top of the ninth. The Wolfpack now have five home runs on the day and Cozart has two.

    NC State 16, Georgia 1 (top of 7th inning): Garrett Pennington hit a solo home run to left field to extend the Wolfpack’s lead.

    Every NC State batter in the starting lineup has at least one hit and at least one run scored. Seven players, including Pennington, have at least two hits. Five players, including Pennington, have at least two runs scored.

    Alec Makarewicz doubled and scored on a wild pitch to make it 16-1.

    NC State 14, Georgia 1 (top of 6th inning): Luke Nixon scored on a throwing error by Georgia, adding to the Wolfpack’s lead. Nixon singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a fly out.

    NC State 13, Georgia 1 (bottom of 5th inning): Georgia finally scratched a run off NC State starting pitcher Sam Highfill on an RBI single by Corey Collins. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with two outs after a walk to star Charlie Condon walked, but Highfill pitched out of the jam.

    Through five innings, Highfill allowed three hits and one run. He walked three and struck out two.

    NC State 13, Georgia 0 (top of 5th inning): Jacob Cozart’s two-out single to right field drove home Eli Serrano III, who doubled to start the inning.

    NC State 12, Georgia 0 (top of 3rd inning): Jacob Cozart homered to right field, extending the Wolfpack edge. It was his 17th home run of the season.

    NC State 11, Georgia 0 (top of 2nd inning): NC State jumped out to a big early lead against Georgia with a barrage of hits in the second inning.

    Brandon Butterworth and Alex Sosa started the inning with singles. Luke Nixon scored Butterworth with a bunt single. Another bunt single from Matt Heavner loaded the bases.

    Then Noah Soles delivered a bases-clearing double to extend the lead to 4-0.

    Eli Serrarno III homered to bring in Soles and extend the lead to 6-0 with no outs.

    With the bases loaded again, Butterworth delivered a long single to make it 7-0, chasing Georgia starter Kolten Smith, who failed to record an out in the second inning.

    Nixon followed with a one-out, two-run double to extend the lead to 9-0. Soles then blooped a two-run double to left field, giving him five RBIs in the inning and pushing the lead to 11-0 before Georgia finally got out of the inning.

    The record for runs in a single inning in a super regional is 13.

    Athens Super Regional Schedule

    Saturday, June 8
    Game 1 – No. 10 NC State 18, No. 7 Georgia 1 (NC State leads 1-0)

    Sunday, June 9
    Game 2 – No. 7 Georgia 11, No. 10 NC State 2 (Series tied 1-1)

    Monday, June 10 (If Necessary)
    Game 3 – No. 10 NC State vs. No. 7 Georgia| Time TBD | TV TBD

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  • North Carolina vs. West Virginia scores, schedules, game recaps from Chapel Hill Super Regional :: WRALSportsFan.com

    North Carolina vs. West Virginia scores, schedules, game recaps from Chapel Hill Super Regional :: WRALSportsFan.com

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    By Brian Murphy, WRAL

    Chapel Hill, N.C. — The North Carolina baseball team added another gem Friday night to its quickly expanding list of postseason classics.

    Bosh Magic, they have taken to calling it around here and the sold-out, standing room-only crowd at Boshamer Stadium can certainly attest to having witnessed some wonder.

    Freshman catcher Luke Stevenson blasted a lead-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and junior center fielder Vance Honeycutt won it with a 2-run shot three batters later as the Tar Heels defeated West Virginia 8-6 in Game 1 of their best-of-three super regional.

    “You know, it happens like this every game now,” Honeycutt said he and left fielder Casey Cook told each other before the ninth inning heroics.

    it was the third time this postseason — in a week — that the Tar Heels have won a game that they trailed entering the ninth inning. Now UNC is one victory away from its first trip to the College World Series since 2018.

    “We don’t really skip a best,” Honeycutt said. “It’s weird. You think you might get tight or you should maybe get tight.”

    Not this bunch.

    Not Honeycutt, whose home run was his first walk-off, 25th of the season and 62nd of his career.

    Not Matt Poston, who gave up three runs in a single inning in the regional but pitched out of an inherited jam in the seventh and added two more scoreless innings.

    “I went in there thinking, like, i can’t do any worse,” Poston said. “Might as well just throw what I have and if it works, it works; if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”

    Not shortstop Colby Wilkerson, whose sixth-inning error began an inning that saw West Virginia plate four runs, but later hit his first home run at Boshamer Stadium in his 323rd career at-bat at home.

    Not Stevenson, whose missed tag at the plate in the fourth inning cost the Tar Heels a run but made up for it with a drive to deep center that just cleared the wall and the glove of West Virginia’s center fielder.

    “Smoke something up the middle,” Stevenson said he was thinking before the at-bat.

    His home run came in his fourth at-bat off West Virginia starting pitcher Derek Clark. Clark, the Mountaineers’ ace, threw 8.1 innings and 144 pitches (100 strikes).

    “That’s one of the best pitching performances I’ve ever coached in 35 years of coaching,” said West Virginia coach Randy Mazey, who is retiring after the season.

    Clark was finally lifted after giving up a hard single to Alex Madera in the ninth. Madera scored the winning run on Honeycutt’s homer off reliever Aidan Major.

    Mazey said he considered walking Honeycutt after the count went to 3-0, but said moving the winning runner to second base and facing Cook was not appealing. Honeycutt hit the home run on a 3-1 pitch.

    “They’ve found different ways to win,” UNC head coach Scott Forbes said. “And that’s the mark of a good team, top to bottom.”

    West Virginia led 1-0 on a solo home run from designated hitter Kyle West in the third inning. UNC scored four in the bottom of the inning to grab the lead, but West Virginia got one in the fourth and four in the eighth, the last two coming on another West home run.

    Wilkerson’s homer in the seventh cut the deficit to one to set up the Bosh Magic.

    Honeycutt’s shot, a no-doubter, sent most of the crowd of 4,139 — West Virginia did have a loud contingent — into a wild celebration.

    A scene that’s becoming routine this postseason.

    UNC defeated LSU 4-3 to advance to the super regional with a game-tying home run in the 9th and a game-winner in the 10th.

    The Tar Heels defeated Long Island in their postseason opener 11-8 on a walk-off grand slam by Gavin Gallaher in the ninth inning.

    “I don’t know how much tickets were going for on StubHub,” said Mazey, “but whatever you spent coming to this game, you dang sure got your money’s worth.”

    Pregame

    North Carolina, the national No. 4 seed, will host West Virginia this weekend in a best-of-three college baseball Super Regional at Boshamer Stadium.

    The Tar Heels (45-14) ousted defending College World Series champion LSU in the regional round with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory on Monday.

    UNC has made 11 trips to the College World Series, but none since 2008.

    West Virginia (36-22) is making its first-ever appearance in the super regional round. The Mountaineers, out of the Big 12, were the No. 3 seed in the Tuscon Regional. West Virginia is one of five No. 3 seeds to advance.

    West Virginia coach Randy Mazey is retiring after the season.

    Chapel Hill Super Regional Schedule

    Friday, June 7 – 6 p.m. (ESPN)
    Game 1: No. 4 North Carolina vs. West Virginia

    Saturday, June 8 – 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
    Game 2: No. 4 North Carolina vs. West Virginia

    Sunday, June 9 – 3 p.m. (ESPN2) *if necessary
    Game 3: No. 4 North Carolina vs. West Virginia

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  • Oral Roberts claims surprise College World Series bid; Wake Forest, LSU, Virginia also win supers

    Oral Roberts claims surprise College World Series bid; Wake Forest, LSU, Virginia also win supers

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    No. 1 national seed Wake Forest was expected to make it to the College World Series.

    Oral Roberts? Not so much.

    Yet it’s on to Omaha for the Golden Eagles, who certainly look the part of a team deserving to be among the final eight in the NCAA Tournament after going on the road and sweeping through regionals and then winning a three-game super regional against Oregon.

    ORU is the lowest seed to reach the CWS since Stony Brook in 2012. The feat is reminiscent of ORU’s run to the Sweet 16 in the 2021 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

    Now the team from the small evangelical school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will head to Omaha, Nebraska, to play TCU on Saturday at Charles Schwab Field. Oral Roberts’ only other CWS appearance was in 1978, when the team was known as the Titans and played as an independent.

    “We’re going to let it fly here in a week,” coach Ryan Folmar said after his team’s 11-6 win Sunday night. “We knew we had a good club coming into the year. We continued to get better and better and better, and we’re playing well at the right time of year. We get an opportunity to keep playing, and that’s pretty fun.”

    ORU has never been an easy out in the NCAA Tournament, but this team, out of the low-major Summit League, has overachieved against big-money baseball schools.

    The Golden Eagles were a No. 4 regional seed and beat Oklahoma State, Washington and Dallas Baptist to advance to play the Pac-12 Tournament champion Ducks.

    After blowing an eight-run lead and losing the super regional opener — ending their 21-game win streak — they rallied in the ninth inning for a walk-off victory Saturday and came back Sunday to knock out the Ducks.

    ORU and TCU are joined in the CWS field by Wake Forest, No. 2 Florida, No. 5 LSU and No. 7 Virginia.

    The eight-team field will be complete after a pair of Game 3s on Monday. Tennessee will play at Southern Mississippi and Texas visits Stanford looking to secure a third straight CWS.

    Wake Forest is headed to the CWS for the first time since it won the national championship in 1955, and the Demon Deacons will bring the hottest offense in the country.

    The Demon Deacons tied the NCAA Tournament record with nine home runs in their super regional-clinching 22-5 win over Alabama, and they are the first team since LSU in 1997 to have won four tournament games by double digits.

    “We’ve had high expectations all year — No. 2 ranked, No. 1 ranked,” coach Tom Walter said. “The higher the expectations got, the more these guys showed up.”

    Nick Kurtz and Brock Wilken hit back-to-back homers in the first inning, and Wilken connected again for the first of three third-inning homers that put Wake Forest up 10-3. Wilken’s homer in the ninth gave him 30 for the season and an ACC-record 70 in his career.

    Virginia beat Duke 12-2 to earn its sixth trip to the CWS, all since 2009 under coach Brian O’Connor. The Cavaliers outscored their ACC rival 26-6 in the second and third games. It was the fourth time Virginia has come back to win a super regional after losing the opening game.

    The Cavaliers took control of Game 3 with a five-run second inning. Griff O’Ferrall went 4 for 5, Kyle Teel drove in four runs and Brian Edgington struck out a season-high 11 in the second complete game of his career.

    Cade Beloso’s three-run homer in a four-run third inning broke open LSU’s 8-3 win over Kentucky. Riley Cooper and Gavin Guidry pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout relief for the Tigers, who will play in the CWS for the 19th time, and first since 2017.

    Chase Dollander pitched eight strong innings as Tennessee won 8-4 at Southern Miss to force a Game 3. Blake Burke’s 479-foot homer to right highlighted a six-run fourth inning that gave the Volunteers the lead.

    Stanford senior Quinn Mathews struck out a career-high 16 and threw 156 pitches in his first career complete game, and the Cardinal scored three runs in the ninth to break open an 8-3 win over Texas.

    TAKING A HEADER

    Oregon reliever Matt Dallas somehow managed to stay in the game after getting hit in the head by a line drive in the seventh inning.

    The ball came off Jake McMurray’s bat at just under 97 mph, according to ESPN, and glanced off the right side Dallas’ head and landed in the outfield for a hit. An athletic trainer rushed to check Dallas, who was knocked down. Dallas threw a couple warmup pitches and then got a flyout to end the inning.

    AROUND THE HORN

    Wake Forest’s 68-year wait to return to the CWS is the longest for any team with more than one appearance in Omaha. … Virginia has won 15 of 16 since losing an ACC series to Duke in late April. … Oral Roberts, 2012 Stony Brook and 2008 Fresno State are the only No. 4 regional seeds to play in the CWS since the tournament went to its current format in 1999. Fresno State won the national championship. … Stanford’s Mathews has thrown 336 pitches in 20 innings over 10 days.

    ___

    AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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