NC State Baseball Without 14 Players Against Vanderbilt Due To Covid-19 Protocols

Image credit: Jose Torres (Courtesy NC State)

Just prior to North Carolina State’s game at the College World Series against Vanderbilt Friday, word came down that two Wolfpack players, starting second baseman J.T. Jarrett and closer Evan Justice, were not available due to health and safety protocols and that the game would be delayed, presumably so NC State could sort out who else would be affected. 

As it turns out, the effects were wide-reaching. Fourteen different NC State players were ruled out, including starting position players in shortstop Jose Torres, center fielder Tyler McDonough and DH Terrell Tatum, in addition to Jarrett and Justice. 

Per health and safety protocols at the College World Series, vaccinated players are not subject to regular Covid-19 testing, while those unvaccinated are required to do so. Unlike Major League Baseball, college sports has a decentralized approach to vaccination, with no preset vaccination thresholds at which Covid-19 restrictions are eased or lifted. 

According to ESPN’s Kris Budden, prior to the game, NC State coach Elliott Avent gave his team the choice of playing the game with the 13 available players or forfeiting the game and coming back Saturday. The Wolfpack expect to get several players back Saturday, so the situation could conceivably be in better shape then, but the players chose to press on. 

“I did not find out until maybe, like, an hour, 45 minutes before game time,” Avent said in a mid-game interview on ESPN. “It was bizarre. They kept delaying things, then they took some players out of the dugout, then delaying things … The other guys are getting tested right now and hopefully with negative tests they’re back tomorrow.”

The resulting lineup Friday was as strange as you might expect. The four inserted position players, second baseman Carson Falsken, first baseman (and Monday’s starting pitcher) Sam Highfill, DH Eddie Eisert and third baseman DeAngelo Giles, have a combined 27 at-bats this season and starting pitcher Garrett Payne came into the game with all of 8.2 innings on the season. It also forced some shuffling, such as usual first baseman Austin Murr moving to left field and third baseman Vojtech Mensik sliding over to shortstop. 

This is the second time this season that NC State has been affected by Covid-19, as it also went on pause early in ACC play, which led to the cancellation of a series against Duke.

Even after the game against Vanderbilt, a 3-1 win for the Commodores, there were still more questions than answers. 

“I don’t want to discuss anything that happened today because quite frankly I have no understanding of what happened today. I’d rather not discuss any of that,” Avent said. 

It’s also not clear what any of this means for the players who were affected on Friday, especially given that the number of positive tests versus the number of players in contact tracing isn’t known. Avent expressed optimism that negative tests for those who were in contact tracing would bring them back into the fold on Saturday, but there is no blanket policy on what it would take in this case to make that happen. 

“I have no idea what’s going on, Zero,” Avent said. “You know as much as I know. It just hasn’t been communicated. I know this is an odd situation, and I know people have to deal with things, but we spent all day yesterday — Rob Murphy, Scott Ensell and myself — spent all day yesterday dealing with a lot of things. And then today we got up and dealt with some other things. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll get the information at some point. And when I get the information that the NCAA deems appropriate, then we’ll go from there.”