COVID protocols eliminate NC State

Vanderbilt will advance to the College World Series finals after North Carolina State was forced to drop out because of COVID-19 protocols, the NCAA announced early Saturday.

NC State had only 13 players available during its 3-1 loss to the Commodores on Friday. The teams were scheduled to meet again Saturday afternoon in a winner-take-all Bracket 1 final.

The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee declared that game a nocontest.

“This decision was made based on the recommendation of the Championship Medical Team and the Douglas County Health Department,” the NCAA said in a statement. “As a result, Vanderbilt will advance to the CWS Finals.

“The NCAA and the committee regret that NC State’s student-athletes and coaching staff will not be able to continue in the championship in which they earned the right to participate. Because of privacy issues, we cannot provide further details.”

Vanderbilt returns to the finals for a second straight time. The Commodores won the 2019 CWS. There was no tournament last year because of the pandemic.

NC State was missing four starting position players and had only 13 of its 27 players available. The game was delayed an hour to complete “health and safety protocols.

Mississippi State 4, Texas 3:

Tanner Leggett’s single in the bottom of the ninth inning scored the tiebreaking run, and Mississippi State advanced to the College World Series finals with a victory over Texas.