During an improbable run to Omaha, Nebraska, and the College World Series, the N.C. State baseball team inspired belief among Wolfpack supporters who’ve long waited for something, anything, to celebrate during a decades-long national championship drought. For a while it felt like N.C. State baseball might rekindle the men’s basketball magic of 1983.
And yet this year, like so many before it, ended in heartbreak. This one hurt worse than others, perhaps, because State did not lose on the field but off of it. It lost to COVID-19, which at first left the Wolfpack short-handed in a loss on Friday and then, based on NCAA protocol, forced it out of the College World Series, just three victories away from a long-coveted national championship.
Just days ago, after a 2-0 start in Omaha, N.C. State almost appeared destined to reach the College World Series championship. Then its season unraveled without even seeing a pitch.
The NCAA’s COVID-19 protocols forced N.C. State to play without several starters during a 3-1 defeat against Vanderbilt on Friday afternoon. The teams were set to meet on Saturday for a third time in the College World Series, but that won’t happen.
The same virus-related problems ended the Wolfpack’s season.
Defeat did not come on the field, but instead in an announcement at 2:10 a.m on Saturday. In a tweet, the NCAA announced then that the Wolfpack’s game against Vanderbilt had been declared “a no-contest because of COVID-19 protocols.”
“This decision was made based on the recommendations of the championship medical team and the Douglas County Health Department,” the NCAA announced. “As a result, Vanderbilt will advance to the CWS Finals.”