On one side of the diamond were the Tennessee Volunteers, a team that had been a juggernaut in college softball, one that had played in the College World Series two of the last three
seasons.
On the other side was N.C. State, a school making only its third-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, a team coming off a losing season that resulted in the dismissal of its head coach.
But for 11 innings, it was hard to tell the difference between the two schools.
N.C. State softball underwent a remarkable metamorphosis during the 2013 campaign, shrugging off an eight-game losing streak to surge all the way to the program’s second ACC Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007.
When Wolfpack coach Shawn Rychcik was hired from Boston University after the 2012 season, the plan was to ultimately build the N.C. State softball program into a conference and national leader.
It may have happened quicker than anyone could have imagined.
Coming back from Fullerton, Calif., after being swept in the Judi Garman Classic, it may have looked like the Wolfpack was poised for a second straight losing season. Rychcik, however, detected something completely different.
“There was part of that we could not believe. We were 0-8 [from an eight-game losing streak]” Rychcik recalled. “But part of us were thinking we were so close.”
“I kept preaching to them,” Rychick said. “I knew it was a very pivotal time. It will get better.”
For the first-year coach, the perseverance paid off in an unlikely place for the Pack.
No one on the squad had ever defeated Georgia Tech, as the last wins over the Yellow Jackets occurred during a sweep in the 2008 campaign. The Pack ended the losing skid emphatically with a 12-4 rout in the final contest of a three-game set in Atlanta.
“I walked out in the outfield after that win, it was almost like I knew we were too giddy to get one win,” Rychcik said. “Later I find out [about the losing streak to Georgia Tech’], and now we had done something that has not been done.”
“I think Georgia Tech may have been that moment where we realized we are something that we have not been.”
State used the momentum from its win over Georgia Tech to go on one of the best runs in school history.
The recipient of two cornerstones to build around in 2012 ACC Freshman of the Year Renada Davis and 2013 Pitcher of the Year in Emily Weiman, Rychcik knew when he took the reins that it would still take a collective growth and effort from the entire team to exceed preseason expectations.
“It was a heck of a challenge to go from seventh [place] to number one,” Rychcik said. “Those kids knew losing. Winning is sometimes hard to figure out. And they figured it out. They believed in me, and I believe in them.”
Like all coaches, Rychcik also has an eye on the future of N.C. State softball and building a program that can not only reach success, but also sustain.
“The softball world is pretty tough,” Rychcik said. “I think there are a lot of resources here. I think this school has a lot to offer …
We have a lot of work to do, but it can happen. N.C. State can get to the College World Series.”
