And for the Pack, it took a little of everything.

The top-seeded Wolfpack fought past the Gamecocks 5-4 in the NCAA Raleigh Regional at Doak Field in what both coaches -- State's Elliott Avent and South Carolina's Ray Tanner -- called, simply put, a great college baseball game.

What did it take to win and move one victory away from reaching a Super Regional? State (40-20) got another strong, quality start from crafty Clayton Shunick and then solid relief pitching. The Pack had clutch hits. It made huge fielding plays. It seemingly made all the right moves.

In the ninth, with State protecting a one-run lead, right fielder Domonique Rodgers made a diving catch of a liner by South Carolina's Scott Wingo. Second baseman Dallas Poulk then ended the game -- and had State fans in the overflow crowd of 2,577 roaring -- by lunging to his right to snare Reese Havens' line drive.

Poulk opened the game for the Pack with a two-strike homer and then ended it with his tumbling catch. For State, it was that kind of night.

"I thought it was a crazy game, an emotional game," NCSU coach Elliott Avent said after letting out a big sigh of relief. "The crowd was unbelievable. It created such an emotional game, then some things happened in the game.

"Some crazy things. Some twists and turns that can spin your emotions in a lot of different ways. But I thought the great thing our players did was they kept their emotions in check to be able to make plays when plays needed to be made."

Marcus Jones' RBI single in the bottom of the seventh drove in Matt Payne with what proved to be the winning run. Relievers Kyle Rutter (3-1) and senior Eryk McConnell then combined for the last six outs, McConnell getting the save.

State, which last won a regional in 2003, plays at 6 tonight needing one more victory to advance to the Super Regional round. The second-seeded Gamecocks (39-22) face fourth seed James Madison (39-18) at 1 p.m., with the winner advancing to take on the Pack.

JMU's Dukes trailed 10-2 against Charlotte in Saturday's first game but rallied to win 13-12, eliminating the third-seeded 49ers (43-16).

The second game matched South Carolina coach Tanner against his old team. Tanner, a Benson native, played for the Pack and was State's coach for nine seasons before leaving for USC in 1996.

"It's not about me," Tanner said after the game. "It was about two teams trying to extend their season. It was one of those games where it seemed every single pitch made a difference."

Shunick pitched into the seventh, allowing eight hits and two earned runs while striking out eight. The junior right-hander baffled the Gamecocks -- an aggressive team that unloaded 18 hits in beating Charlotte 15-8 in the regional opener -- at times with his devilish split-finger pitch, also efficiently using his fastball and off-speed pitches to keep South Carolina guessing.

"I was extremely impressed with Clayton Shunick," Tanner said. "He had some great stuff. We had some pretty good swings against him but he was a big key."

The Gamecocks took a 4-3 lead in the sixth, taking advantage of a throwing error by State shortstop Tommy Foschi. But Jones, leading off the Pack's sixth, was plunked on an 0-2 pitch by USC starter Nick Godwin.

"Probably the biggest pitch of the game," Godwin said.

With runners at second and third and two outs, Tanner replaced Godwin with righty Brandon Todd (3-2). The senior fanned Foschi but then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Jones to score.

"This team knows how to battle back," said Poulk, who had three of State's 11 hits. "Taking the lead and holding it at the end was pretty special."