By R.L. Bynum
A Friday matchup between the last two ACC regular-season champions for a spot in the semifinals? That’s a possible scenario in the ACC tournament at Charlotte’s Truist Field after the league announced the round-robin schedule Sunday morning for the event.
As expected, No. 7-ranked North Carolina (41–12) will play its round-robin games on Thursday and Friday. That was Coach Scott Forbes’ preference, and his choice since the Tar Heels are the tournament’s No. 1 seed.
UNC is in Pool A with No. 22-ranked and No. 8-seed Wake Forest (36–19) and No. 12-seed Pittsburgh (26–27) after sweeping three regular-season games against both. The Deacons face Pitt at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, and the Tar Heels face the Panthers at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
If UNC and Wake Forest both beat Pittsburgh, their meeting at 7 p.m. on Friday would essentially be a quarterfinal game for the right to play in Saturday’s semifinals.
If Pitt beats Wake Forest on Wednesday, UNC could clinch a semifinal berth by beating the Panthers in the Tar Heels’ tournament opener on Thursday. That would make the UNC-Wake Forest game on Friday irrelevant for ACC tournament purposes.
As the top seed, UNC would advance to the semifinals if the Tar Heels, Wake Forest and Pitt each split their two pool-play games.
Wake Forest was the No. 1 seed in last season’s ACC tournament in Durham and advanced to the College World Series.
In Saturday’s semifinals, the Pool A winner faces the Pool D winner at 1 p.m., and the Pool B winner meets the Pool C winner at 5 p.m. The championship game is at noon Sunday on ESPN2, with all other games airing on ACC Network.
In Pool C are No. 12-ranked and No. 3-seed N.C. State (32–19), No. 17-ranked and No. 6-seed Duke (35–18) and No. 10-seed Virginia Tech (32–19). In Pool B are No. 3-ranked and No. 2-seed Clemson (40–13), Louisville (32–22) and Miami (25–29). Pool D includes No. 16-ranked and No. 4-seed Virginia (39–14), No. 10-ranked and No. 5-seed Florida State (39–13) and No. 9-seed Georgia Tech (30–21).
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Forbes opted to play Thursday and Friday so that his starting pitchers would stay on their normal routine. Just like in the regular-season-ending series at Duke, he expects to start freshman Jason DeCaro on Thursday against Pittsburgh, junior Shea Sprague on Friday against Wake Forest and, if the Tar Heels advance, junior Aiden Haugh in the semifinals on Saturday.
“I want our pitchers ready,” Forbes said. “We want to try to win the ACC tournament. We’re competitors. We can have them ready for their routine for the next weekend.”
The tournament starts Tuesday with Miami facing Louisville at 11 a.m., Georgia Tech meeting Florida State at 3 p.m. and Duke taking on Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. On Wednesday, Virginia and Georgia Tech play at 11 a.m., Pittsburgh and Wake Forest meet at 3 p.m. and N.C. State and Virginia Tech play at 7 p.m. In other games Thursday, Clemson meets Miami at 11 a.m. and Duke faces N.C. State at 7 p.m. In the day games on Friday, Florida State plays Virginia at 11 a.m. and Louisvlle meets Clemson at 3 p.m.
ACC tournament
At Truist Field in Charlotte
Buy tickets here.
Tuesday’s first round
No. 16 Duke 21, No. 9 N.C. State 12
No. 12 Stanford 11, No. 13 California 4
No. 10 Notre Dame 5, No. 15 Clemson 4
No. 14 Pittsburgh 16, No. 11 Louisville 8
Wednesday’s second round
No. 8 Virginia 6, Duke 4
No. 5 Miami 11, Stanford 2
No. 7 Virginia Tech 17, Notre Dame 10
Pittsburgh 7, No. 6 Wake Forest 4
Quarterfinals
Thursday’s results
No. 1 (No. 3 ranked) Georgia Tech 16, Virginia 10
Miami 8, No. 4 Boston College 2
Friday’s results
No. 2 (No. 2 ranked) North Carolina 10, Virginia Tech 4
Pittsburgh 8, No. 3 (No. 11 ranked) Florida State 6
Saturday’s semifinals (ACC Network)
Georgia Tech 9, Miami 3
North Carolina 13, Pittsburgh 5
Sunday’s championship
Georgia Tech 13, North Carolina 6
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 | Scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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, 17 | Sun., Wed. | W, 5–2; W, 12–7 | No. 9 West Virginia | 53–12–1 |
| 20–22 | Sat.-Mon. | L, 9–3; W, 6–2; L, 13–2 | CWS Finals vs. Oklahoma | 54–14–1 |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics; graphic courtesy of the ACC
