Four Minute Mile, a No-No, and Nearly No Chance for the Pack Nine

Andrew Colley recorded the first official sub-four-minute mile in N.C. State's storied track history over the weekend, clocking a time of 3:59.34 in the Blue Shoes Collegiate Track and Field Meet in Greenville, SC. Colley, who has recorded the second fastest time in the 1,500 (3:41.61) of anyone in the nation this season, was tabbed as the ACC's men's track performer of the week for the second time after his school-record performance.

According to gopack.com, seven-time ACC champion and 10-time all-American Ryan Hill logged the fastest mile in N.C. State history, a 3:56.78 effort at the 2012 Morton Games in Dublin, Ireland. However, Hill's time is not recognized in the record books because the international event was not under the purview of the NCAA.

***

Courtney Mirabella logged the 14^th no hitter in Wolfpack women's softball history, coming just one hit batter away from a perfect game in N.C. State's 8-0 win over Florida A&M on Saturday. Mirabella, who is a Florida native, became just the third Pack freshwoman to register a no-no and got to do so in front of family and friends, as the game was played in Gainesville.

Lana Van Dyken had three hits and four RBI to pace the offense against FAMU; the win pushed the Pack's win streak to eight straight, though it ended later in the day with a lopsided loss to top 10 Florida.

The ladies return to action today with a doubleheader against UNC-Wilmington. They'll have Boston College in town for three this weekend before ending the regular season with seven straight road games (stops for two in South Bend, three in Chapel Hill, and two in Charlotte).

Here's what the top of the ACC standings look like at the moment:

The ladies sit 26^th in RPI and appear to be a safe bet to make a return trip to the NCAA tournament. Notre Dame, which has only managed 10 conference games (6-4) due to that lovely spring weather in the Midwest, is 25^th in RPI. FSU is in the top 10 and should host a regional; the Hokies, at 38^th in RPI, probably have a little work to do to secure a bid. No one else in the ACC has any hopes for the postseason without winning the conference tournament (not even the flagship, which sits 92^nd in RPI).

***

The much-hyped Duel at the DBAP, a non-conference midweek baseball game featuring N.C. State and North Carolina, lost much of its luster anyway due to the Wolfpack's total discombobulating on the diamond and the Tar Heels' nearly equal slide into mediocrity this season, so I'm sure how many of you noticed that the game was rained out last night. The teams are trying to reschedule, but nothing official has been announced.

Omega is a firm believer that time is the cure; the stuff that they pour just helps with the pain. I was busy pouring and fishing this weekend and thus could not bring you news of the Pack's latest postseason hopes crushing defeat. The weekend series at the DBAP against Duke started with yet another wasted solid start by Carlos Rodon, who gave up just one earned in 7.2 innings of a 2-0 loss. Rodon fanned a dozen and reportedly was back up in the mid 90s on the gun. He took over the program's all-time lead in strikeouts in the contest. Unfortunately, Duke's Drew Van Orden was better, going eight shutout frames. Fellow senior Robert Huber finished off the shutout. State batters managed just three hits and fanned 12 times in getting blanked for the fifth time this season.

Saturday was better, with the Pack winning 6-2 behind Ryan Williamson, Eric Peterson, and D.J. Thomas. The trio combined to allow just four hits while fanning 14. Andrew Knizner, Logan Ratledge, and Preston Palmeiro all had a pair of hits and drove in at least one run. Rodon delivered a pinch hit RBI single.

It appeared the series would unfold like the weekend before at Clemson, with State taking two of three even without a win from Rodon, but then the pain issued forth in #ncstateshit proportions. The Pack led 10-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth only to see the Blue Devils hang a five spot to get within a run, the first three coming after a lovely walk-walk-three-run bomb sequence off Joe O'Donnell to start the frame. The inning mercifully came to an end after a tater of the two-run variety off Cody Beckman. Perhaps the bottom of the eighth of a pressure-packed game was not the best time for the freshman to make his second ever appearance. Certainly having freshpersons O'Donnell and Beckman trying to get high-leverage outs underscores N.C. State's struggles this season in the absence of last year's veteran bullpen.

Brett Austin made a rare fielding miscue to reopen the floodgates in the ninth, culminating in an 11-10 walk-off win for Duke. After Austin's error allowed the tying run to score and the lead run to move to third, Elliott Avent intentionally walked the sacks full and brought in Jake Armstrong as a fifth infielder. Aaron Cohn singled over the drawn-in infield to end it.

Trea Turner stole his 100^th career base in the game and apparently noted the reduced walk rate pointed out in this article, as he took a total of five free passes on the weekend. The collapse spoiled solid days at the plate from Knizner (3-for-5, two runs, three RBI) and Ratledge (3-for-4, run, four RBI).

In 18 ACC games, the Pack have made 28 errors compared to 22 by their opponents. State is also -19 in walks drawn and -13 in HBPs received. It's tough to overcome those extra outs and free base runners, as the current race for the 10^th (and final) spot for the ACC tournament illustrates:

If the Pack had held on Sunday, they would just be a half game out of the magic zone. If they managed just one freaking win in College Park, they are knocking on the door. Yuck. The good news is that State has three coming up against Boston College. A sweep could make things interesting. The bad news is that Pitt, who would otherwise seem most likely to fall from the group above, hasn't played bottom dwellers BC or Notre Dame yet. Maryland hasn't played the Catholic combo either. Yeah. This probably isn't happening.