To host an NCAA regional at Doak Field. To have a chance to host an NCAA Super Regional.

No longer. The top-seeded Pack edged South Carolina 2-1 Sunday night, sweeping the NCAA Raleigh Regional in three games.

Matt Payne's single off the glove of shortstop Reese Havens drove in Chris Schaeffer in the seventh with the winning run. And when reliever Alex Sogard, a sophomore left-hander, retired the second-seeded Gamecocks in order in the ninth, the celebration could begin.

Second baseman Dallas Poulk jumped into the arms of designated hitter Devon Cartwright. The hugs were many after the Pack won its first regional since 2003 and the first played on the NCSU campus.

"We may not score a lot of runs but we did what championship teams do -- get clutch hits, make clutch plays and get clutch pitching from a lot of players," NCSU coach Elliott Avent said.

"This team does have chemistry. It does have grit. That will help up next weekend."

The Pack (41-20) will face the winner of today's Georgia-Georgia Tech championship game in the Athens Regional.

If Georgia, No. 8 national seed, wins today, the Super Regional will be in Athens, Ga. If Georgia Tech wins, the Pack would host a Super Regional for the first time.

The Super Regional opener will be played either Friday or Saturday.

The Pack served as the regional host in 2003 but played the games in Wilson's Fleming Stadium while Doak Field was being renovated. State then lost two games at Miami in the Super Regional.

"This means a lot to all of us," said Payne, a senior outfielder. "When we found out we were hosting, we were all excited. You can't describe what it feels like to win this."

The Pack swept the three games in the regional with timely hits and some big defensive plays. But it was State's pitching -- from nearly everyone who took the mound -- that has the Pack in a Super Regional.

Avent calls associate head coach Tom Holliday the "best pitching coach in the country" and Holliday's pitching decisions were masterful in the regional.

In 11 innings of relief, the Pack allowed one hit and no runs. Against the Gamecocks (40-23), starter Eric Surkamp and relievers Sam Brown, Drew Taylor, Kyle Rutter and then Sogard gave up just three hits.

Havens homered to open the game, following up a dramatic two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth that beat James Madison 7-5 Sunday afternoon in an elimination game. But catcher Kyle Enders had USC's other two hits as the Gamecocks' big bats -- Havens, junior first baseman Justin Smoak and third baseman James Darnell -- were silent after Havens' shot.

"They were the No. 1 seed in this regional and they played like it," said South Carolina coach Ray Tanner, who played at State and was the Pack's head coach from 1988 to 1996. "We tried to make it interesting. We battled hard ... but they stifled our offense a little bit and we weren't able to make it any more interesting.

"They mix and match in the bullpen very well. And those guys had to make pitches when they came in and they did."

Gamecocks starter Will Atwood stifled the Pack, pitching four hitless innings, before being touched for a solo homer by State's Jeremy Synan in the fifth that tied it 1-1.

Atwood left with two outs in the seventh, with Tanner turning to freshman righty Parker Bangs.

Bangs walked Ryan Pond to load the bases, then got two quick strikes on Payne. But after fouling off a pitch, Payne reached out and slapped the ball into the hole that Havens couldn't corral.

Taylor relieved Brown in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and two runners on, Taylor retired Smoak -- named the most outstanding player in the regional -- on a flyout to center.

Soon, the celebration could begin. The Pack was a regional champion -- at Doak Field.