Baseball makes Super Regional, loses to GeorgiaAfter going 18-11 in the ACC, the NCAA tournament committee selected the baseball team to host a regional for the 2008 NCAA tournament. James Madison, UNC Charlotte and South Carolina joined N.C. State in the Raleigh Regional May 30 through June 1. The Wolfpack beat James Madison once and South Carolina twice to win the group and advance to the Super Regional round of the tournament.
State was paired with the No. 8 seed Georgia Bulldogs in the Athens, Ga. Super Regional for its chance to advance to the College World Series for just the second time in school history and the first time in 40 years. In the best-of-three series, the Pack dropped the first game 11-4 and won the second 10-6. But in the first inning of the decisive game three on June 8, State gave up nine runs on its way to a 17-8 loss.
Doughtie DominatesSenior Lauren Doughtie had a summer to remember. After becoming the first N.C. State women’s golfer to qualify for the NCAA Championships in May, the rising senior kept herself busy, playing in the Women’s Amateur Public Links Championships, U.S. Open qualifiers, and even making an appearance at the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open Championship.
At the U.S. Open, Doughtie played alongside Annika Sorenstam, the winner of 72 LPGA events including 10 major tournaments, in warm-ups.
On July 11, she won her first Virginia State Golf Association title, capturing the Women’s Amateur Championship at Bayville Golf Club in Virginia Beach, Va. She also advanced to the round of 32 in the 2008 U.S. Amateur Championship golf tournament losing to Kristina Wong on August 7.
Club Baseball finishes season ranked No. 4 in nationThe club baseball team, in its first trip to the National Club Baseball Association’s World Series, used some hot hitting to reach the final round of four, before being knocked out of the competition by Penn State. The team’s batting average of .323 was the best of the tournament, which was held in Fort Myers, Fla.
Three of the Wolfpack’s games in the double elimination tournament came against the Nittany Lions. In their second meeting, State broke Penn State’s 25-game winning streak when junior Garrett Sewell allowed only one earned run in 8 2/3 innings.
Caldwell decides not to transferAfter finishing fifth at the NCAA Wrestling Tournament and becoming the wrestling team’s first All-American in more than a decade, Sophomore Darrion Caldwell made his intentions to transfer from N.C. State public and spoke out against his coach and the wrestling program in May.
Caldwell was frustrated at not being able to play football at State but believed opportunities would be available at other Division I schools. Coach Carter Jordan made it clear through the entire process that he would not be granting Caldwell the necessary transfer exception required to avoid sitting out one year after transferring.
In July, Caldwell mended his relationship with Jordan and decided to return to Raleigh and finish his career in red and white. Just entering his junior year, Caldwell is threatening to rewrite the N.C. State record books. He is a two-time ACC champion and his 33 career pins already place him third in Wolfpack history.
Wolfpackers go to BeijingCullen JonesFormer standout, Cullen Jones, represented the United States on the 4×100 meter relay team at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Jones was the third leg of a team that included Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale and Jason Lezak. The foursome barely beat the French team for the gold medal, setting a new world record time of 3:08.24 for the event.
Dan VelezFormer swimmer Dan Velez posted a new Puerto Rican record in the third heat of the 100m-breaststroke, posting a time of 1:01.80 seconds. Although Velez won the heat, he did not advance to the next stage of competition.
Nate McMillanNate McMillan, a Raleigh native and a former State guard, went to Beijing as an assistant coach for the U.S. men’s basketball team. McMillan coached the Seattle Supersonics from 2000-05 and the Portland Trailblazers from 2005-08. The U.S. Team went undefeated in group play and will face Australia in the quarterfinals at 8 a.m. today.
