By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — It takes plenty of pitching depth to win the ACC tournament, and No. 7-ranked North Carolina has a quality mix of three solid starters, several good bullpen arms and a potent offense to pull it off.
Being the top seed in the event, which started Tuesday at Charlotte’s Truist Field, could also give the Tar Heels (41–12) options for Friday’s 7 p.m. game against No. 22-ranked and No. 8-seed Wake Forest (36–19).
“Because of the format and the higher you’re seeded, it gives you the ability to potentially make some different decisions,” said UNC coach Scott Forbes, whose team leads the ACC and is 14th in the country in ERA at 4.19.
Forbes will start freshman right-hander Jason DeCaro (4–1, 3.93 ERA; top photo) in UNC’s 3 p.m. Thursday opener against No. 12 seed Pittsburgh (26–27).
Junior left-hander Shea Sprague (3–1, 4.03 ERA) is penciled in to face the Demon Deacons. If a semifinal berth is already secured, Forbes said he might put a usual mid-week starter on the mound so that Sprague could start in Saturday’s 1 p.m. semifinal.
“We would consider that,” said Forbes, who has talked with pitching coach Bryant Gaines about the options. “We’ll think about it after the game on Thursday and make a decision in the morning.”
Plan A, though, is to start junior right-hander Aidan Haugh (4–1, 3.13) in the semifinals if UNC advances that far, but Forbes is open to adjustments.
Pitching depth becomes particularly valuable when a team advances to Sunday’s championship game after already using all three of its usual weekend starters. If Forbes can’t bump Sprague to pitching on Saturday, he still has plenty of good options.
Assuming three quality starts ahead of a potential championship game have allowed UNC not to overwork its bullpen, the Tar Heels probably won’t deal with the challenges they faced in 2013.
With only two pitchers available for the ACC tournament championship game at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Coach Mike Fox gave little-used 6–8 right-handed freshman Taylore Cherry his first career start. After pitching only five innings all season, Cherry was outstanding for five innings in a 4–2 Tar Heels victory as they won the title.
“I feel like we have more depth, and I feel like that fourth starter will be good, whoever we end up rolling out there,” Forbes said. “The goal for us is we hope that we can get our three starters out there for sure. And then, depending on what happens with the other games, we might push a guy [later]. For all I know, it could be Aidan Haugh throwing in the championship game.”
The Sunday candidates would likely be sophomore right-hander Cameron Padgett (1–0, 5.40 ERA), senior right-hander Ben Peterson (2–1, 3.86 ERA) and freshman right-hander Olin Johnson (1–0, 4.96 ERA).
Those might also be the candidates to start Friday against Wake Forest if UNC has already earned a semifinal berth. That would happen if Pittsburgh beats Wake Forest at 3 p.m. Wednesday and Carolina knocks off the Panthers on Thursday.
All three had their best starts in mid-week non-conference games that ended after seven innings under the 10-run rule.
Padgett started twice, giving up four hits and one run and struck out three in a 13–1 win against Charlotte on April 30 after a rough outing on April 23 against Gardner-Webb (2⅔ innings, five hits, two runs, two strikeouts). Peterson, 1–1 in three starts, threw five three-hit shutout innings with five strikeouts in his last start, a 19–2 win on May 1 over William & Mary. Johnson started seven times, with his best outing being four two-hit shutout innings in an 11–0 win on March 19 against UNCW.
The stalwarts of UNC’s bullpen are redshirt sophomore left-hander Dalton Pence (3–1, 1.77 ERA, 6 saves), senior right-hander Matt Poston (3–2, 5.34 ERA, 4 saves) and sophomore right-hander Matthew Matthijs (12–4, 3.83 ERA), with senior right-hander Connor Bovair (1–0, 3.52 ERA) and sophomore left-hander Kyle Percival (4–0, 1.69 ERA) also able to throw big innings.
NOTES — UNC practiced at Boshamer Stadium on Tuesday morning and arrived in Charlotte on Tuesday afternoon. The team will practice on Wednesday at UNC Charlotte, with players having the option of attending tournament games on Tuesday and Wednesday. … Carolina won the ACC tournament the last time it was played in Charlotte in 2022, beating N.C. State 9–5 in the championship game before a record crowd of 11,392, with then-freshman Vance Honeycutt earning MVP honors. … Carolina led the ACC in run differential in league games (+95, well ahead of second-place Clemson’s +54) and in ACC home games (+74, bettering second-place Clemson’s +46), but were third for road league games at +21 (Virginia was at +44 and Duke was at +23) … In a small sample size, Forbes’ 77.8% winning percentage in ACC tournament games (7–2) is the highest of the four UNC coaches, with Mike Roberts second at 60.2% (50–33). Forbes doesn’t have the minimum of four seasons to qualify for the best percentage in the league, currently held by Clemson’s Bill Willheim (69.6%; 64–28). … UNC is second in the ACC in runs (480) and stolen bases (81) and third in slugging percentage (.544). … UNC swept a three-game series March 8–10 against Pittsburgh 2–1, 7–4 and 6–5 (10 innings) and swept a three-game series March 29–31 at Wake Forest 6–5, 10–6 and 14–10.
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 schedule
| 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; ESPN+), 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 Friday on ACCN | 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., ACCN | vs. Campbell |
| April | |||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | vs. Boston College |
| 7 | Tuesday | 7 p.m., ACCN | vs. Charlotte |
| 10–12 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, 2, 12:30 (Sunday on ACCN) | at No. 19 Clemson |
| 14 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW |
| 17–19 | Fri-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 (Saturday, Sunday on ACCN) | vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. High Point |
| 23–25 | Thu.-Sat. | 7, 6, 3 (Thursday on ACCN) | at Duke |
| 28 | Tuesday | 7 p.m., ACCN | vs. No. 6 Coastal Carolina |
| 29 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens |
| May | |||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m., ACCN (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 (Thursday on ACCN) | at No. 17 N.C. State |
| 19–24 | Tues.-Sun. | ACC tournament (ACCN, ESPN2 for final) | 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
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