Pack Nine Waste Another Opportunity

With Boston College sweeping a double header from Maryland, N.C. State lost a golden opportunity to breathe life into its postseason hopes when it wasted yet another stellar start from Carlos Rodon. The Pack lost the opener of their three-game set with Georgia Tech 1-0 despite a 15-strikeout performance from the team's lefty ace. State extended a team record (of futility) by getting shutout for the seventh time this season. It was the fifth time Rodon was on the wrong end of a shutout loss; he fell to 3-7 despite a 2.03 ERA.

The Pack managed just three hits, one each from Trea Turner, Logan Ratledge, and Jake Fincher, in dropping their third straight ACC contest. Matt Gonzalez had three of Tech's six hits, including an RBI single that accounted for the game's only run in the top of the sixth. Josh Heddinger and Sam Clay combined for the shutout on the bump for Tech.

State, despite its monumentally disappointing season, could have moved to within a game of making the ACC tournament with a win. Instead, the Pack have eight games left to make up two games in the ACC standings. Ten teams make the ACC tournament (rather than eight in recent years) due to the addition of Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. Syracuse does not field a team.

Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in the race for 10^th: