By R.L. Bynum
After taking two of three games in a weekend series against Virginia Tech during a 3–1 week, North Carolina moved up three spots to No. 12 in the D1 Baseball Top 25.
The Tar Heels (33–11, 17–7 ACC) lead the ACC Coastal Division by three games over No. 11 Virginia (33–12, 14–10), which moved up three spots after a 3–1 week, and No. 10 Duke (30–14, 14–10), which fell six spots after a 1–3 week.
UNC, which is No. 7 in the Baseball America poll and No. 13 in the College Baseball Central Top 25, has the best league record in the ACC, topping Atlantic Division leader Clemson (34–9, 15–6), which moved up a slot to No. 4 going 2–2 last week.
UNC is No. 7 in the RPI, with Clemson No. 4 and Florida State No. 6. The Tar Heels are 6–8 against top 25 RPI teams, 6–1 against teams with RPIs between 26 and 50 and 20–2 against teams 51 or lower.
Other ranked ACC teams are:
—No. 7 Florida State (34–9, 13–8), which moved up three spots after taking two of three at Duke in a 3–1 week.
—No. 13 Wake Forest (27–16, 12–12), which sank five spots after losing two of three at Notre Dame.
—No. 20 N.C. State (25–16, 12–9), which moved up one spot after losing to East Carolina but sweeping three games from Ball State.
With a solid Hokies team not even ranked, the ACC looks like one of the stronger leagues in the country.
“I said at the beginning of the year, I thought it will come down to the last weekend as far as hosting national seeds, winning your division and winning the overall,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “It’s just how tough it is. I literally think that that’ll happen. Even the teams that may be quote at the bottom, if you don’t play [them well] you’re gonna lose.”
No. 5 East Carolina (35–8), which moved up two spots after a 4–0 week and leads the American Athletic Conference at 14–4, is one of two ranked nonconference teams the Tar Heels have faced. No. 15 South Carolina (29–14) jumped nine spots after a 2–1 week.
Coastal Carolina (27–17) went from No. 13 to unranked after a 0–5 week.
Carolina plays a pair of nonconference games before the six-day break for final exams, which start Thursday.
The Tar Heels face Charlotte at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ACC Network). After sweeping Memphis two weekends ago, the 49ers (20–24) have lost three of their last four games and dropped two of three to UAB over the weekend.
Charlotte, which is tied for third in the American standings at 9–9, lost 5–3 at UNC last season when it earned an NCAA tournament berth and finished 36–28.
On Wednesday, UNC hosts William & Mary (26–18) at 6 p.m. (ESPN3). The Tribe has lost seven of their last eight games after dropping two of three over the weekend at home against UNCW. W&M, which went 32–25 last season, is sixth in the CAA at 9–9.
D1 Baseball Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas A&M | 38–6 | 1 |
| 2 | Arkansas | 37–7 | 2 |
| 3 | Tennessee | 37–7 | 3 |
| 4 | Clemson | 34–9 | 5 |
| 5 | East Carolina | 35–8 | 7 |
| 6 | Oregon State | 33–10 | 9 |
| 7 | Florida State | 34–9 | 10 |
| 8 | Kentucky | 33–9 | 4 |
| 9 | UC Irvine | 32–8 | 12 |
| 10 | Duke | 30–14 | 6 |
| 11 | Virginia | 33–12 | 14 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 33–11 | 15 |
| 13 | Wake Forest | 27–16 | 8 |
| 14 | Oklahoma State | 30–14 | 19 |
| 15 | South Carolina | 29–14 | 24 |
| 16 | Mississippi State | 29–15 | NR |
| 17 | Vanderbilt | 31–13 | 11 |
| 18 | Louisiana | 33–13 | 17 |
| 19 | Georgia | 31–12 | 20 |
| 20 | N.C. State | 25–16 | 21 |
| 21 | Arizona | 26–16 | 16 |
| 22 | Oklahoma | 26–15 | 18 |
| 23 | Alabama | 28–16 | 23 |
| 24 | Indiana State | 31–9 | 25 |
| 25 | Utah | 29–13 | NR |
Dropped out: Coastal Carolina (which was No. 13) and Oregon (which was No. 22).
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 by Ainsley Fauth; graphic via @ACCBaseball
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