Pond helps Pack take first game of Regionals 6-2

Ryan Pond's two-out, two-run double in the seventh leads Pack on to victory.

GoPack.com story
PackPride.com story

The win marks the first time in four years that State has won the first game of the Regionals, and puts them into a matchup with hot-hitting South Carolina tonight at 7:00.

The Gamecocks destroyed the Charlotte 49ers 15-8 in the first game of the Regionals. State will be sending their top ace--and freshly-minted Second-Team All America--Clayton Shunick to the hill to try to throw some water on the Gamecock bats.

Should be a great game tonight, and with tickets sold out well in advance, if you don't have one already you'll most likely be listening to it on the radio with folks like myself.

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Baseball-a-palooza

Today is the opening day of NCAA Regional action at Doak Field, and the Interwebs are all over it.

GoPack.com has a full bevy of baseball articles up and running as you might imagine on account of this weekend's action:

• NC State's NCAA Regional Notes
• Recalling Esposito's 'River Rats'
• Stanley: Different Feel at Ballpark
• Get Inside Link to NC State's Grounds Crew
• Clayton Shunick Named 2nd-Team All-America
• General Admission Tickets Go On Sale 8:30 a.m. Friday

850 The Buzz has an interview with Head Coach Elliot Avent posted from yesterday's afternoon program with Dave Glenn:

• Busy Day For Baseball

PackPride.com has a preview of this weekend's action here:

• Avent: Buchanan to Start Opener

Steven's on top of things, as usual, over at Section Six:

• Too Small To Be Its Own Country...
• NC State Baseball -- Bring Your Own Pants General Admission Tickets Still Available
• Everyone Say Hi To Spanky

The StateFansNation folks have a nice breakdown of the teams at this year's regional:

• “Raleigh Regional” Preview- What to Watch For

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According to Alexa.com...

...this is the 5,575,507th most-visited site in the world. So yeah, I've got that going for me.

Look out bettysfuncatanddogcrosstitchemporium.blogspot.com, I've got your number!

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NC State Sports, Illustrated

Just stumbling along the web today, I found this great collection of programs from the N.C. State football and basketball teams of the past. It's a collection put together by the N.C. State library, and showcases some really neat pieces dating all the way back to the early 1930's.

There's a great cover of a basketball program from 1972 featuring DT, Stormin' Norm and Tommy Burleson, as well as a vintage football program from 1931 featuring a running wolf on the cover in State's original color scheme--light blue and pink (Good call on switching to Red and White, guys...the old scheme makes me think of blueberry pie vomit).

Kudos to our library staff for putting the collection together.

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A Tiger Ass-Whippin' At The Tourney

Wolfpack Wins 10-0

You know you've had a bad night at the park when you've been mercy-ruled. That's just what State dropped on Clemson last night, a 10-0 drubbing that was called in the 7th on account of the mercy rule.

Seriously? The mercy rule? I thought they did away with that once you graduated out of the Babe Ruth leagues.

Sucks to be Clemson. Clayton Shunick of the Pack was on his game, pitching a two-hit shutout in the win.

As for the Pack, after handing the Jackets a gift-wrapped game in the tournament opener, they need some help to advance to the championship game. First, State has to pray that Clemson shakes the cobwebs loose and knocks off Georgia Tech in the 10:00 tomorrow. Failing that, even if State were to knock off Miami in the 1:00 game, Miami would hold the tiebreaker in a three-way tie between State and Georgia Tech.

Losing that Georgia Tech game was costly, but the way the team responded against Clemson is a good sign. State now has to hope that impressive win will sway the NCAA regional selection committee in the Pack's favor. A win against Miami, regardless of whether it gets them in the championship game this weekend, would go a long way toward that goal.

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The Dead Zone

You didn't think I'd go a whole month without posting did you?

*Sigh*

This is a tough time of the year for folks like me. I'm a huge State revenue sports fan, and I keep an eye and ear peeled on our non-rev sports (or semi-rev, like baseball) during the time that falls between the end of basketball and the beginning of football season.

But frankly, it's tough for me to get as into following off-season sports as I should. I envy folks like those at SectionSix, SFN and TheRedandWhite who keep the Pack sport blog fires burning during the down times. They're all doing a great job of staying on top of things as the Pack winds down a solid baseball season, heading into the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

Me? I've got two kids in daycare, a wife taking evening classes to get daycare certification and softball with the church crew on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Oh, and a 40-hours-a-week job, all of which keeps me quite busy and tired in the evenings.

I do plan to keep tabs on the Pack during their run through the baseball postseason, so hopefully I'll wander back here from time to time to share my thoughts on Pack baseball, or why I think Tony Haynes is a great one-man baseball radio crew, or why the Carolina broadcast reminds me of the brief stint I had calling games on WKNC.

But for now, welcome to the Dead Zone....

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