6/15/2021 baseball Edit

Wolfpack baseball prepares for trip to the College World Series

Matt Carter • TheWolfpackCentral

Editor

NC State legendary baseball coach Elliott Avent is about to embark on his second trip to Omaha for the College World Series.

Unlike the 2013 squad, this team won’t get to enjoy all the festivities as some events are still curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Avent still expects the moment of being at the CWS to be felt by his team.

“It’s hard not to get caught up the first time you go out there with all the aura and all the magical festivities,” Avent noted.

It’s somewhat amazing that NC State is in this position, especially after its well-documented 1-8 start in ACC play. Part of the turnaround was fueled simply by getting the lineup healthy. Freshman shortstop Jose Torres, the hero of the Super Regional win at No. 1 Arkansas after his game-winning homer in the ninth in game three, dealt with an oblique strain the first month of the year.

NC State Wolfpack baseball — NC State punched its ticket to Omaha by upsetting No. 1 Arkansas in the Super Regional. (NC State)

ACC batting champ Jonny Butler, a redshirt junior leftfielder, and second-team All-ACC first baseman Austin Murr both missed games, too.

“I think it was basically getting our lineup into the lineup every day and sticking to it,” Avent said. “When you start out 1-8, you've got to have a lot of character and a lot of will to win and a lot of commitment in that locker room.”

Avent was so impressed with the character of his squad that he told his players after their dramatic win over Arkansas to go thank their many family members in attendance for helping raise them.

Now they’ll need that drive and determination to carry with them in Omaha, where the ballpark at TD Ameritrade Park is not necessarily conducive for home runs.

In 2013, Avent remembered seeing current Washington Nationals slugger Kyle Schwarber, famous for his tape-measure home runs, crush a ball while playing in the College World Series in Omaha only to have it fall short.

More painfully, Avent can remember Schwarber’s teammate and former NC State star Trea Turner thinking he had put the Pack in front late in a 2-1 loss to UCLA only to watch his long fly ball be a loud out.

“I jumped out of the dugout, which I never do,” Avent confessed.

Torres’ three homers in Arkansas gave him 10 for the season, giving the Wolfpack six players with double-digit home runs this year. Avent though is confident that his team is not too reliant on the long ball to its detriment going to Omaha.

“You can’t change who you are this time of the year,” Avent said. “You have to be a team that is versatile, that can score different ways, and I think that’s what we have.

“We have team speed, we can bunt, we can drive out of the ballpark. It’s about singles and hitting gaps as much as anything. I don’t think you can change your offense, but you do hope your offense has some versatility to it.”

What should help NC State is a stellar defense that is among the best at fielding in the country.

“All coaches will tell you in any sport you win with defense,” Avent noted. “For baseball, it’s pitching and defense that you win with because on a given day, if you have good pitching and defense, they are going to be there more often than offense is. Hitting a baseball is such a hard act to do. It kind of goes in, not streaks, but there are ups and downs of hitting.

“Our defense has been consistent all year, and our five pitchers that have logged the bulk of our innings this year have been amazing.”

One of those five pitchers is junior Reid Johnston, a mainstay in NC State’s pitching staff since he was a freshman. Johnston has been the Wolfpack’s top starter most of the season, but he was not his typical self in game one of the Super Regional at Arkansas.

Johnston was tagged for six hits and seven earned runs and was pulled after the third inning.

Avent reported that Johnston, who has thrown 90.2 innings this year, met with the team trainer on Tuesday morning and checked out okay.

“Reid didn’t seem himself in the first game against Arkansas, and I got him out earlier than usual,” Avent added. “He says he’s okay, but Reid has logged a lot of innings. He’s done a lot of things for this program in his career. … We’ll just make a decision on when to start him. Maybe he just needs some rest.”