NCAA announces 2026 tournament field. Did NC State baseball make the cut?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- N.C. State will play in the Auburn Regional and face UCF in Game 1.
- The Wolfpack secured a fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance at 32-22.
- Avent announced he will retire at season's end; Chris Hart was promoted.
N.C. State’s baseball season, and veteran coach Elliott Avent’s tenure, will extend through this weekend after the Pack sat on the NCAA Tournament bubble for the latter half of the season.
Selected as an at-large team Monday, the Wolfpack (32-22) will play in the Auburn Regional, featuring Milwaukee and Central Florida. N.C. State faces UCF in Game 1 at 6 p.m. Friday on ESPNU.
This is the Pack’s fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 10th in the last 11 seasons.
Last week, head coach Elliott Avent announced he would retire at the end of the season after 30 years with the program.
The 70-year-old Avent has now led the Wolfpack to 23 NCAA Tournament appearances.
Avent’s contract was up for renewal at the end of this season. Until the announcement, it was unclear what his future at N.C. State looked like.
Avent has guided the team to six Super Regional appearances and the Men’s College World Series in 2013, 2021 and 2024.
N.C. State promoted associate head coach Chris Hart to be Avent’s replacement.
“Coach Avent has treated me extremely well,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said of the selection. “We’re both just country boys from this state. … I’m also excited that he got in the postseason. I had a feeling, for some reason, I don’t know what it was, I told my wife that night when got I home, ‘I think that might have been Coach Avent’s last game.’ I have a lot of respect for him and what he’s done at N.C. State.”
N.C. State was on the bubble this season after struggling through the ACC schedule, losing six of its 10 series. Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech swept the Pack.
While nonconference losses to Lafayette, Elon, Campbell and Liberty also hurt the Pack’s tournament resume, the committee placed N.C. State in the 64-team field.
The Wolfpack went 14-3 to start the season and 4-8 in its next 12 games, including a seven-game losing streak.
N.C. State finished 13-11 in the final two months of the season, but six wins were against Quad 3 opponents. The team was 5-11 in Quad 1 games, and has six losses to teams in Quadrants 3 and 4. It had the toughest strenght
The Wolfpack enters the NCAA Tournament coming off a 21-12 loss to No. 16-seeded Duke, one of its Quad 3 opponents, in the first round of the ACC Tournament. N.C. State was the No. 9 seed.
It entered Selection Monday with an RPI of 51, ranking No. 11 out of 16 ACC teams.
The pitching staff lost right-handed starter Jacob Dudan in early April after he was officially ruled out on April 9 and underwent Tommy John surgery. It then lost lefty pitcher Ryan Marohn about a week later, significantly hindering the Wolfpack’s ability to right the ship. Marohn was cleared to begin activities, but in the case of a return, he will not be in a starting role and limited to 30 or 40 pitches.
Prior to their injuries, Marohn led the team with a 3.18 ERA, and Dudan posted a 3.60 ERA. Sophomore Anderson Nance, who has pitched 47.2 innings, has a 3.78 ERA and the only other pitcher with a sub-4.50 ERA.
This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 12:26 PM.
