Welp, that’s that.
The NCAA has officially canceled NC State’s run to the championship in the College World Series.
This afternoon would’ve been Game 2 of their series with reigning champion Vanderbilt, the winner punching their ticket to the championship series in Omaha.
In their loss on Friday, NC State had just 13 players available due to COVID-19 protocols, however after two player tested positive this week, the entire team, including vaccinated players, were tested again. Four others tested positive as well.
And the NCAA shut it down.
In a statement released at 2 in the damn morning, the NCAA ended NC State’s playoff chances, deeming the game a “no contest.”
“The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee has declared the Vanderbilt-NC State Men’s College World Series Game scheduled for Saturday, June 26 at 1:00 p.m. CT a no-contest because of COVID-19 protocols.
This decision was made based on the recommendation of the championship medical team and the Douglas County Health Department. As a result, Vanderbilt will advance to the CWS Finals.
The NCAA and the committee regret that NC State’s student-athletes and coaching staff will not be able to continue in the championship in which they earned the right to participate.
Because of privacy issues, we cannot provide further details.”
When North Carolina State coach Elliott Avent was asked if he encouraged his players to be vaccinated, he declined to comment:
“If you want to talk baseball, we can talk baseball. If you want to talk politics or stuff like that, you can go talk to my head of sports medicine, Rob Murphy.”
What an absolutely garbage way to end a monster season for this team. I mean, you gotta keep people safe, but at the same time, there’s 20,000 people in the stadium watching the game? Can we postpone it? Anything? You gotta feel for these kids…
Vanderbilt will take on the winner of Mississippi State and Texas in the final.
Here’s the highlights from that scrappy Game 1.
