OMAHA, Neb. — The College World Series game between Vanderbilt and North Carolina State was delayed an hour after the NCAA pushed back the start time so it could complete “health and safety protocols.”
Details were not released, but ESPN reported that NC State had at least one player test positive for COVID-19 and that relief pitcher Evan Justice and second baseman J.T. Jarrett were not at TD Ameritrade Park.
NC State coach Elliott Avent said at his postgame news conference Monday that an illness was running through the team but made no mention of it possibly being COVID-19. He said associate head coach Chris Hart had been sick for five or six days and that Jarrett and pitcher Cameron Cotter weren't feeling well.
“This bug seems to be floating around,” Avent said Monday.
The pandemic heavily disrupted college sports over the past year and three teams dropped out of an NCAA championship event because of COVID-19: The VCU men's basketball team, the Michigan men's ice hockey team and the Rice women's volleyball team.
