By R.L. Bynum
Two teams in Pool A of the ACC tournament have very different momentum heading into this week’s ACC tournament at Charlotte’s Truist Field.
Top-seeded North Carolina (41–12) stayed at No. 7 after winning two of three over the weekend at Duke while No. 8-seed Wake Forest (36–19) plummeted 14 spots to No. 22 after getting swept at N.C. State.
The No. 3-seed Wolfpack (32–19) jumped five spots to No. 12 while the No. 6-seed Blue Devils (35–18) fell six spots to No. 17.
No. 2-seed Clemson (40–13), which scored 33 runs during its three-game home sweep of Boston College last weekend, moved up one spot to No. 3.
This is the first time UNC has been in the top 10 on consecutive weeks since they were in the top six for the first three polls in 2019.
UNC, which plays Pittsburgh (26–27) at 3 p.m. Thursday and Wake Forest at 7 p.m. Friday in pool play, is the top ACC team in the Baseball America poll at No. 3 (up one spot) and the RPI at No. 4,
Other ACC teams in the D1 Baseball poll are No. 5-seed Florida State (39–14), which remained at No. 10 after a 2–2 week, and No. 4-seed Virginia (40–14), which moved up two spots to No. 16 after a home weekend sweep of Virginia Tech.
The only UNC nonconference opponent still in the poll is No. 9 East Carolina (40–13), after South Carolina (33–21), which No. 1 Tennessee (46–10) swept over the weekend, fell out of the poll.
D1 Baseball Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Last week | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tennessee | 46–10 | 4–0 | 1 |
| 2 | Kentucky | 39–12 | 2–1 | 2 |
| 3 | Clemson | 40–13 | 3–0 | 4 |
| 4 | Texas A&M | 44–11 | 2–1 | 5 |
| 5 | Arkansas | 43–12 | 1–2 | 3 |
| 6 | Oregon State | 41–13 | 2–1 | 6 |
| 7 | North Carolina | 41–12 | 2–1 | 7 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 34–18 | 2–1 | 12 |
| 9 | East Carolina | 40–13 | 3–0 | 13 |
| 10 | Florida State | 39–14 | 2–2 | 10 |
| 11 | Georgia | 39–14 | 1–2 | 9 |
| 12 | N.C. State | 32–19 | 3–0 | 17 |
| 13 | UC Santa Barbara | 39–12 | 4–0 | 22 |
| 14 | UC Irvine | 41–11 | 3–1 | 15 |
| 15 | Mississippi State | 36–19 | 3–1 | 16 |
| 16 | Virginia | 40–14 | 3–0 | 18 |
| 17 | Duke | 35–18 | 1–2 | 11 |
| 18 | Arizona | 33–20 | 1–2 | 14 |
| 19 | Oklahoma State | 36–16 | 2–0 | 19 |
| 20 | Indiana State | 39–11 | 3–0 | 20 |
| 21 | Louisiana | 40–16 | 2–1 | 21 |
| 22 | Wake Forest | 36–19 | 0–3 | 8 |
| 23 | Oregon | 37–16 | 3–0 | 23 |
| 24 | Texas | 35–20 | 3–0 | 25 |
| 25 | Southern Miss | 37–18 | 3–1 | NR |
Dropped out: South Carolina
ACC tournament
At Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Buy tickets at durhambulls.com or theacc.com/tickets
Tuesday’s first round
No. 16 California 12, No. 9 Miami 2, 8 innings
No. 12 Virginia Tech 7, No. 13 Stanford 4
No. 15 Pittsburgh 13, No. 10 Louisville 11
No. 14 Boston College 5, No. 11 Notre Dame 4, 10 innings
Wednesday’s second round
California 14, No. 8 seed Wake Forest 12
No. 5 Clemson 6, Virginia Tech 1
No. 7 Duke 4, Pittsburgh 3
Boston College 12, No. 6 Virginia 8
Quarterfinals
Thursday’s results
No. 1 seed Georgia Tech 10, California 3
Clemson 7, No. 4 seed N.C. State 6
Friday’s results
No. 2 seed Florida State 14, Duke 7
No. 3 seed North Carolina 7, Boston College 2
Saturday’s semifinals
Clemson 9, Georgia Tech 4
North Carolina 7, Florida State 5
Sunday’s championship
North Carolina 14, Clemson 4
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; graphic courtesy of the ACC
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