By R.L. Bynum
After a pair of blowout nonconference victories last week, North Carolina moved up one spot to No. 11 in the D1 Baseball Top 25.
The Tar Heels (35–11, 17–7 ACC), who didn’t play a league game last week because of the final exams break, enter the home stretch of the regular season leading the ACC Coastal Division by three games and sharing the best league record with No. 2 Clemson (36–10, 17–7), which moved up two spots in the poll.
The team with the best league record will earn the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament, which is set for May 21–26 at Charlotte’s Truist Field. Carolina owns the tiebreaker entering this week’s games because it swept Georgia Tech on March 22–24, while the Tigers only won two of three against the Yellow Jackets last weekend.
UNC is No. 8 (down one spot) in the Baseball America Top 25 and No. 12 in the Perfect Game Top 25.
Last week, UNC earned a pair of 6½-inning, 10-run-rule wins, beating Charlotte 13–1 on Tuesday and William & Mary 19–2 on Wednesday.
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The Tar Heels, No. 6 in the RPI, return from a six-day break at 6 p.m. Tuesday night at Boshamer Stadium against slumping Campbell (27–19), which has lost six consecutive games after getting swept last weekend at UNCW. UNC plays host to Louisville (29–18, 13–11) this weekend beginning at 6 p.m. Friday. The Cardinals have won four straight games after a weekend sweep at Boston College.
Other ACC teams in the D1 Baseball poll are No. 8 Florida State (35–10, 14–9; down one spot), No. 9 Duke (32–14, 14–10; up one spot), No. 10 Virginia (35–12, 14–10; up one spot), No. 12 Wake Forest (32–16, 12–12; up one spot) and No. 13 N.C. State (26–18, 13–10; dropped three spots after a 1–2 week).
UNC has played 10 games against teams in the top 13, losing two of three to No. 6 East Carolina (37–9; down one spot) and Virginia, sweeping a three-game series at Wake Forest and losing a game in Charlotte to No. 13 South Carolina (31–15; up two spots).
D1 Baseball Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tennessee | 39–9 | 3 |
| 2 | Clemson | 36–10 | 4 |
| 3 | Texas A&M | 40–8 | 1 |
| 4 | Kentucky | 35–10 | 8 |
| 5 | Arkansas | 40–9 | 2 |
| 6 | East Carolina | 37–9 | 5 |
| 7 | Oregon State | 35–12 | 6 |
| 8 | Florida State | 35–10 | 7 |
| 9 | Duke | 32–14 | 10 |
| 10 | Virginia | 35–12 | 11 |
| 11 | North Carolina | 35–11 | 12 |
| 12 | Wake Forest | 32–16 | 13 |
| 13 | South Carolina | 32–15 | 15 |
| 14 | Mississippi State | 32–16 | 16 |
| 15 | Georgia | 35–12 | 19 |
| 16 | UC Irvine | 34–10 | 9 |
| 17 | Arizona | 29–17 | 21 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | 29–17 | 22 |
| 19 | Oklahoma State | 32–16 | 14 |
| 20 | Indiana State | 34–10 | 24 |
| 21 | Troy | 34–15 | NR |
| 22 | Louisiana | 34–15 | 18 |
| 23 | N.C. State | 26–18 | 20 |
| 24 | Oregon | 32–15 | NR |
| 25 | UC Santa Barbara | 31–12 | NR |
Dropped out: Vanderbilt, Alabama and Utah
ACC standings
| League | GB | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Georgia Tech | 25–5 | — | 45–9 |
| No. 2 North Carolina | 22–8 | 3 | 43–10–1 |
| No. 11 Florida State | 19–11 | 6 | 38–15 |
| No. 23 Boston College | 17–13 | 8 | 36–20 |
| Wake Forest | 16–14 | 9 | 38–18 |
| Miami | 16–14 | 9 | 36–17 |
| Virginia Tech | 15–15 | 10 | 29–23 |
| Virginia | 14–16 | 11 | 35–20 |
| N.C. State | 14–16 | 11 | 32–21 |
| Stanford | 13–17 | 12 | 27–25 |
| Notre Dame | 13–17 | 12 | 30–21 |
| Louisville | 13–17 | 12 | 30–26 |
| California | 12–18 | 13 | 29–25 |
| Pittsburgh | 11–19 | 14 | 30–23 |
| Clemson | 10–20 | 15 | 31–25 |
| Duke | 10–20 | 15 | 24–29 |
Thursday-Saturday series
Notre Dame at Pittsburgh — Pitt, 6–3; ND, 6–4; ND, 21–10 (7)
Virginia at Louisville — Va., 8–3; UL, 12–2; UL, 10–5
Miami at No. 11 Florida State — FSU, 7–6 (11); FSU, 11–1; Miami, 7–4
Wake Forest at Duke — WF, 7–2; WF, 7–2; Duke, 7–3
Clemson at Virginia Tech — VT, 5–1; VT, 2–1; Clemson, 10–7
No. 3 Georgia Tech at No. 23 Boston College — GT swept 9–0, 14–1, 15–2 (7)
No. 2 North Carolina at N.C. State — UNC, 9–4; UNC, 17–7 (8); State, 7–2
Stanford at California — Stanford, 7–6; Cal, 4–3; Cal, 2–1
End of regular season
ACC tournament
Tuesday through May 24
Truist Field in Charlotte
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times/ scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record/ TV * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 13–14 | Fri., Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 12–2 (7); W, 4–3 (11) | vs. Indiana | 3–0 |
| 17 | Tuesday | W, 10–0 (7) | vs. Richmond | 4–0 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 5–3 | vs. Longwood | 5–0 |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun | W, 10–0 (8); L, 10–3; T, 3–3 | vs. East Carolina | 6–1–1 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. N.C. A&T | 7–1–1 |
| 25 | Wednesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. VCU | 8–1–1 |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | W, 16–3 (7); W, 12–2 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 10–1–1 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 21–1 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 11–1–1 |
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 5–1 | vs. Elon | 12–1–1 |
| 6–7 | Fri., Sat | L, 13–3 (7); L, 9–2; W, 8–7 (12) | vs. Virginia | 13–3–1, 1–2 ACC |
| 10 | Tuesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. Bucknell | 14–3–1 |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 8–1; W, 6–2; W, 10–2 | at California | 17–3–1, 4–2 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 8–2 | vs. UNCG | 18–3–1 |
| 20–22 | Fri.–Sun. | W, 11–1 (8); L, 2–0; W, 7–6 | vs. Louisville | 20–4–1, 6–3 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 21–4–1 |
| 28, 29 | Sat., Sun | W, 6–5; W, 13–7; W, 15–10 | at Notre Dame | 24–4–1, 9–3 |
| 31 | Tuesday | W, 5–4 (14) | vs. Campbell | 25–4–1 |
| April | ||||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | L, 6–1; W, 5–2; W, 8–7 | vs. Boston College | 27–5–1, 11–4 |
| 7 | Tuesday | W, 8–4 | vs. Charlotte | 28–5–1 |
| 10–12 | Fri.–Sun. | L, 9–5; W, 6–4 (14); W, 12–5 | at Clemson | 30–6–1, 13–5 |
| 14 | Tuesday | W, 14–5 | vs. UNCW | 31–6–1 |
| 17–19 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–2; W, 14–4 (8); L, 5–2 | vs. No. 2 Georgia Tech | 33–7–1, 15–6 |
| 21 | Tuesday | W, 9–2 | vs. High Point | 34–7–1 |
| 23–25 | Thur.–Sat. | W, 3–1; L, 3–1; W, 22–5 (7) | at Duke | 36–8–1, 17–7 |
| 28 | Tuesday | L, 12–2 | vs. Coastal Carolina | 36–9–1 |
| May | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | W, 13–0 (7) (non-conference game) | vs. Duke | 37–9–1 |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 4–1; W, 12–2 (8); W, 7–3 | vs. Pittsburgh | 40–9–1, 20–7 |
| 12 | Tuesday | W, 13–7 | at UNCW | 41–9–1 |
| 14–16 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 17–7 (8); L, 7–2 | at N.C. State | 43–10–1, 22–8 |
| ACC tournament | Charlotte | |||
| 22 | Friday | W, 10–4 | Quarterfinal vs. Virginia Tech | 44–10–1 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 13–5 | Semifinal vs. Pittsburgh | 45–10–1 |
| 24 | Sunday | L, 13–6 | Championship vs. No. 2 Ga. Tech | 45–11–1 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 8–0 | VCU | 46–11–1 |
| 30–31 | Sat.–Sun. | W, 7–5, W, 9–3 | East Carolina | 48–11–1 |
| June | ||||
| Chapel Hill Super Regionals | ||||
| 5–7 | Fri.–Sun. | L, 9–5, W, 4–0, W, 4–3 | Southern Cal | 50–12–1 |
| College World Series | Omaha, Neb. | |||
| 12 | Friday | W, 6–2 | No. 18 Ole Miss | 51–12–1 |
| 14 | Sunday | 7:09 p.m. | No. 9 West Virginia | ESPN |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics by Ainsley Fauth; graphic via @ACCBaseball
