The Men’s College World Series just took a pretty wild turn.
On Friday, NC State played a game against Vanderbilt with a completely depleted roster. They fielded just 13 players total — nine position players and four pitchers— in a 3-1 loss.
That sounds pretty rough, right? But a few hours later, things got worse. The Wolfpack found out their season was over.
On Saturday morning the NCAA Division I baseball committee declared the next game no contest. NC State was disqualified due to COVID-19 protocols and Vanderbilt moved on to the College World Series Finals.
Just like that, their season was done. It was over. And it all happened so fast. Here’s why it happened.
Wait, hold up. I was actually sleeping. When did this happen?
It was quite literally in the middle of the night — or, morning, I guess.
At 2 a.m. on Saturday, the NCAA announced that the game was ruled a no-contest by the NCAA’s DI Baseball Committee because of COVID-19 protocols.
NCAA Statement from Division I Baseball Committee:
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 p.m. Central time a no-contest because of COVID-19 protocols. #CWS pic.twitter.com/amxdQwkQ6l
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 26, 2021
“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.”
That’s rough.
Wow. So this was because of COVID-19?
Yes. That’s why they played a game with such a depleted roster. There was reportedly a positive COVID Test involved, ESPN’s Elizabeth Merrill reports.
“The magic ended Friday. Earlier in the day, ESPN’s Ryan McGee reported that Wolfpack starting second baseman JT Jarrett and bullpen ace Evan Justice were out due to COVID-19-related issues. A source described Jarrett as “no longer with the team,” while Justice was still in Omaha but placed in quarantine. ESPN first learned of a positive test concerning Jarrett on Friday morning.”
That's awful. How did they even play?
They almost didn’t. The game was initially delayed from its original start time because of health and safety protocols.
⚾️#CWS GAME UPDATE ⚾️
We are in delay due to health and safety protocols.
Start time TBD— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 25, 2021
They eventually landed on a start time of 3:07 but NC State was only able to field 13 players.
Just 13 players? What?!?!
Yup. Here’s their entire roster for the game.
Here is NC State’s entire available roster pic.twitter.com/p8yIpag5BP
— Steve Robertson (@ScoutSteveR) June 25, 2021
Brutal.
So what happens next?
Well, for Vanderbilt they move on to the WCS Finals. For NC State? Nothing. Their season is just completely over.
They were one win away from the Finals in Omaha. Now they’re going home. This tweet pretty much explains it.
Struggling to process this news. Elliott Avent has been at NC State for 25 years. This is just the third time ever the Wolfpack has been to Omaha. This team was one win away from its first-ever trip to the Finals. To have it end with a “no contest” is just excruciating. https://t.co/7wTCQF5oco
— Aaron Fitt (@aaronfitt) June 26, 2021
It’s unfortunate.
