NC State baseball NCAA Tournament bound

After missing the NCAA tournament last season, NC State baseball will return to the postseason this year as the third seed in the Columbia regional, which also includes South Carolina, Campbell and Central Connecticut State. The Wolfpack (35-19) will open the regional against Campbell (44-13) at 1 p.m. on Friday, June 2 at Founders Park. 

The last time the Wolfpack made the NCAA Tournament, in 2021, the team made a run to the College World Series. This year, the red-and-white’s road to Omaha is daunting — the winner of the Columbia regional will face the winner of the Gainesville region, which features the No. 2 overall seed, the Florida Gators. 

South Carolina (39-19), the highest seeded team and host of the Columbia regional, once appeared set to contend for a national title after winning four of its first six SEC series, including a sweep over Florida. However, the Gamecocks lost their last four series of the year and went 1-2 in the SEC tournament. The ice-cold hosts are suffering from the injury bug, which has been an issue for South Carolina for several weeks now. 

The Gamecocks remain a force to be reckoned with, especially at the plate, where South Carolina ranks fourth in the SEC in home runs. Led by sensational freshman Ethan Petry, the Gamecocks will be a tough out.

Despite a strong resume, which includes being ranked the No. 13 team in the country by RPI, Campbell was not awarded the opportunity to host a regional. Instead, the Big South conference champions join a competitive regional with a chance to advance to the Super Regionals. After leading their conference in batting average, home runs and runs scored, the Camels have proven to be one of the more explosive offensive teams in the country, averaging about 9.8 runs per game. Teams will have their hands full trying to slow down the Campbell bats in this regional.

Central Connecticut State (36-12) won the Northeastern conference tournament to qualify for the NCAA tournament. The Blue Devils led their conference with a 5.11 ERA, while committing a league minimum of 51 errors. However, the Blue Devils face an uphill battle, taking on a much higher level of competition than their conference. 

The path for any team to win the regional will be a challenging one. For NC State, that begins with facing Campbell, and if the team makes it through, it will likely take on South Carolina. The winner of that game would need one more win in order to advance to the Super Regionals. For NC State to successfully navigate the Columbia regional, it will need to bring its best at the plate, on the mound and in the field.