College World Series game between Vanderbilt and NC State postponed due to 'health and safety protocols'

The NCAA announced that Friday's Vanderbilt vs. North Carolina State Wolfpack baseball game is delayed due to "health and safety protocols." 

The NCAA tweeted at 1:55 p.m. EST that a "start time TBD." It was then announced the game is scheduled to start at 3:07 p.m.

The Vanderbilt vs. NC State baseball game was scheduled to start at 2 p.m. 

At 2:20 p.m., the NCAA tweeted, "Game 11 will begin play at 2:07 PM (3:07 p.m. EST) local time on ESPN2."

Here is the full initial tweet from the NCAA: "#CWS GAME UPDATE We are in delay due to health and safety protocols. Start time TBD."

ESPN broadcaster Ben McDonald had tweeted earlier, "We have @VandyBoys vs @NCStateBaseball hopefully at some point from #Omaha join me @tom_hart and @ChrisBurke02 on @espn2 for all the action!"

NC State released a statement saying, "An undisclosed number of players from the team have been put into COVID-19 protocol and will be unavailable for today's game. NC State, the NCAA and appropriate parties are working together to monitor the situation." 

Vanderbilt comes into the contest 47-16 overall. Most recently, Vanderbilt beat Stanford 6-5 on Wednesday. 

The NC State Wolfpack enter the matchup 37-18 overall. On Monday, NC State beat Vanderbilt 1-0.

Entering Friday, NC State leads the all-time series 3-2 vs. Vanderbilt.  

Erik Hall is the lead digital producer for sports with the USA Today Network. You can find him on Twitter @HallErik.