By R.L. Bynum
After North Carolina’s weekend sweep of Notre Dame for its school-record 27th consecutive home victory, the Tar Heels moved up two spots to No. 11 in the latest D1 Baseball Top 25 poll.
The Tar Heels (29–7, 14–4 ACC) lead the ACC Coastal Division by three games over No. 7 Duke (26–10; rank unchanged) No. 10 Virginia (28–8; rank unchanged) and No. 23 Virginia Tech (23–10; down seven spot), who are tied for second place at 11–7.
“We’ve played well in the league,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said after Sunday’s 10–3 win over the Irish. “I’m happy where we are, but we obviously have to keep getting better in all areas. I felt like this weekend we played well. If they made a mistake, we capitalized on it. I feel like we played good defense for the most part, overall.”
UNC is No. 5 in the RPI, second only in the ACC to Clemson at No. 1.
After taking care of Notre Dame (15–18, 2–16), UNC faces much-tougher games this week. The Tar Heels host Coastal Carolina (24–11), which moved up one spot to No. 19, at 6 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN3).
UNC then heads to Raleigh for a three-game series on Thursday at 7 p.m. (ACC Network), Friday at 6 p.m. (ESPN3), and Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN3) against N.C. State (20–13, 10–8), which took two of three at Clemson last weekend. The Tigers (29–6, 11–4) fell four spots to No. 6 in the D1 Baseball Top 25.
Other ACC teams in the poll are No. 8 Florida State (30–5, 10–5; up two spots) and No. 12 Wake Forest (24–11, 8–8; up two spots).
Carolina has played two non-conference teams in the poll, losing two of three to No. 9 East Carolina (27–8; rank unchanged) and losing 2–1 last Tuesday in Charlotte to No. 20 South Carolina (25–11; rank unchanged).
D1 Baseball Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas A&M | 32–4 | 3 |
| 2 | Arkansas | 30–5 | 1 |
| 3 | Kentucky | 30–5 | 8 |
| 4 | Tennessee | 30–6 | 4 |
| 5 | Oregon State | 29-–5 | 5 |
| 6 | Clemson | 29-–6 | 2 |
| 7 | Duke | 26–10 | 7 |
| 8 | Florida State | 30-–5 | 10 |
| 9 | East Carolina | 27–8 | 9 |
| 10 | Virginia | 28-–8 | 11 |
| 11 | North Carolina | 29-–7 | 13 |
| 12 | Wake Forest | 24–11 | 14 |
| 13 | Vanderbilt | 26–10 | 6 |
| 14 | Louisiana | 28–9 | 19 |
| 15 | Oklahoma State | 25–11 | 21 |
| 16 | Oregon | 25–10 | 18 |
| 17 | UC Irvine | 25–7 | 12 |
| 18 | Alabama | 24–12 | 25 |
| 19 | Coastal Carolina | 24–11 | 20 |
| 20 | South Carolina | 25–11 | NR |
| 21 | Arizona | 21–13 | NR |
| 22 | West Virginia | 22-–13 | NR |
| 23 | Virginia Tech | 23–10 | 16 |
| 24 | Georgia | 27–9 | NR |
| 25 | Dallas Baptist | 26–8 | 15 |
ACC standings
| League | GB | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 16 Georgia Tech | 19–11 | — | 39–16 |
| No. 6 Florida State | 17–10 | ½ | 37–13 |
| No. 3 North Carolina | 18–11 | ½ | 39–12 |
| No. 22 N.C. State | 17–11 | 1 | 33–18 |
| No. 14 Clemson | 18–12 | 1 | 41–15 |
| Virginia | 16–11 | 1½ | 32–17 |
| Duke | 17–13 | 2 | 36–18 |
| Wake Forest | 16–14 | 3 | 36–19 |
| Miami | 15–14 | 3½ | 31–23 |
| No. 21 Louisville | 15–15 | 4 | 35–20 |
| Notre Dame | 14–16 | 5 | 32–20 |
| Virginia Tech | 12–18 | 7 | 30–24 |
| Boston College | 11–19 | 8 | 26–28 |
| Stanford | 11–19 | 8 | 27–24 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–20 | 9 | 27–26 |
| California | 9–21 | 10½ | 22–30 |
Thursday-Saturday series
No. 16 Georgia Tech at Duke: Thursday: GT 7–6; Friday: Duke 14–4 (7 innings); Saturday: GT 8–2
No. 14 Clemson at Pittsburgh: Clemson swept 6–1, 11–2 and 13–6
Virginia at Virginia Tech: Thursday: Va. 12–2; Friday: VT 5–4; Saturday: Va. 3–1
Stanford at No. 22 N.C. State: Thursday: State 7–2: Friday: Stanford 4–3, 10 innings; Saturday: Stanford 6–3
Wake Forest at Louisville: Thursday: WF 14–4; Friday: WF 5–4; Saturday: UL 14–9
No. 3 North Carolina at No. 6 Florida State: Thursday: UNC 8–3: Friday: UNC 11–1, 7 innings; Saturday: FSU 5–4
Notre Dame at Miami: Thursday: ND 3–2; Friday: Miami 15–1, 7 innings: Saturday: ND 12–2
Boston College at California: Thursday: Cal 8–6; Friday: BC 10–9; Saturday: Cal 4–3, 10 innings
UNC scores
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times | Opponent (current rank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | |||
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sat. | 4, noon, 1 | vs. Indiana |
| 17 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Richmond |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Longwood |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 4 (Greenville), 2 (DBAP), 2 (CH) | vs. East Carolina |
| 24 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. N.C. A&T |
| 25 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. VCU |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | 4 p.m., 2 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| March | |||
| 1 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| 3 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Elon |
| 6–8 | Fri.-Sun. | 4, 2, 1 | vs. Virginia |
| 10 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Bucknell |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | 9, 5, 4 | at California |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. UNCG |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 8, 2, 1 | vs. No. 8 Louisville |
| 24 | Tuesday | 6:30 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte |
| 27–29 | Fri.-Sun. | 6:30, 3, 1 | at Notre Dame |
| 31 | Tuesday | 8 p.m. | vs. Campbell |
| April | |||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | vs. Boston College |
| 7 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Charlotte |
| 10–12 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, 2, 12:30 | at No. 19 Clemson |
| 14 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW |
| 17–19 | Fri-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. High Point |
| 23–25 | Fri.-Sun. | 7, 6, 3 | at Duke |
| 28 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 6 Coastal Carolina |
| 29 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens |
| May | |||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. (non-conference game) | vs. Duke |
| 6 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Winthrop |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. Pittsburgh |
| 12 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | at UNCW |
| 14–16 | Thurs.-Sat. | 7, 6, 1 | at No. 17 N.C. State |
| 19–24 | Tues.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Charlotte |
| 29–31 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Regionals | Campus sites |
| June | |||
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Super Regionals | Campus sites |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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