NC State baseball tops James Madison to win the NCAA Raleigh Regional

N.C. State took time to properly celebrate Sunday after winning the NCAA Raleigh Regional.

After the Pack’s Derrick Smith struck out Kyle Langley for the final out of a 5-3 win over James Madison, there was the usual mass hug around the pitcher’s mound. The players then darted across Doak Field to the left-field corner of the stands, happily working their way around the park and high-fiving fans along the way.

There was a final salute – the players standing in front of the N.C. State dugout and tipping their caps to the Doak Field faithful who had made the atmosphere loud and special for three straight nights.

For the first time since 2013, the Wolfpack (36-20) had won a NCAA baseball regional at home. It’s moving on to play Georgia in a Super Regional in Athens, Georgia, hoping to make its second College World Series trip in four years.

Georgia, the No. 7 national seed, rallied late, then topped Georgia Tech 8-6 in 10 innings Sunday to win the Athens Regional. That set up the best-of-three Super Regional at Foley Field.

Wolfpack coach Elliott Avent, in his 28th year at N.C. State, had had successful seasons and twice taken teams to the College World Series. But few likely can match this season, given the major injuries overcome and the team’s grit and resilience down the stretch when the Pack won ACC series after ACC series against ranked teams.

“Every year is different and the most rewarding part for a coach is seeing players come together,” Avent said. “This season started out really tough in a lot of ways. … To see what those guys did after the injuries, it amazes me.

“Players always teach you more than you teach them. And to see them fight and stay with things, become more disciplined and try to learn the game more and play the game and not against it, to see that happen and then get rewarded, hopefully will teach them lessons for life.

‘They realize what they did. When they wake up in the morning, they’re probably going to sit there and dwell on how we did a lot of good things.”

Pack third baseman Alec Makarewicz, named the regional’s most outstanding player, had a solo homer and RBI-double, and right fielder Noah Soles added a solo home run in the ninth for the 5-3 lead against the Dukes.

Starting pitcher Logan Whitaker gave the Wolfpack six strong innings – his only slip-ups a pair of solo home runs by JMU’s Mike Mancini – before relievers Jacob Dudan and Smith came on to finish it up.

The Wolfpack, seeded 10th nationally, topped Bryant and then South Carolina in its first two games of the regional, getting strong starting pitching and solid relief pitching while manufacturing enough runs.

James Madison made it to Sunday night by shutting out South Carolina 2-0 in Sunday’s first game at Doak. Another win against the Pack would have gotten the Dukes to Monday.

But the Wolfpack got the job done as Whitaker allowed four hits and struck out six in his six innings of work. Only one JMU batter did any damage against Whitaker – Manicini.

With first base open and one out, the Pack elected to pitch to Mancini in the bottom of the eighth and Mancini drove in another run with a double to left off Dudan.

The Dukes’ sophomore second baseman, with some pop in his bat, also had two home runs for JMU’s only runs against South Carolina on Sunday.

Makarewicz slugged his homer to deep right field in the sixth for a 3-2 lead, then doubled in Garrett Pennington in the eighth for a 4-2 lead. The Pack had the bases loaded with no outs but could not add to the lead -- N.C. State left 16 runners on base Sunday -- but Soles homered in the ninth for a two-run lead.

Sole slipped his bat high in the air, drawing a rebuke from the umpires, after a homer against Bryant in the Pack’s first regional game. This time, he gently laid down the bat before circling the bases.

The Dukes stranded two in the bottom of the eighth as Dudan struck out Wyatt Peifer and Brenden O’Donnell, punching the air after punching out O’Donnell.

The Pack had Makarewicz, Pennington, outfielder Eli Serrano III and shortstop Brandon Butterworth named to the all-regional team along with Dudan.

The Wolfpack in 2021 won the NCAA regional in Ruston, Louisiana, then went to Arkansas for the Super Regional. The Pack beat the Razorbacks, the No. 1 national seed, to earn the program’s third trip to the College World Series.

The Pack was left out of the NCAA tournament in 2022, then lost out in the Columbia (SC) Regional last season..