By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — Wake Forest saved the best pitcher in the ACC for top-seeded North Carolina, and he can’t wait to face the Tar Heels.
The No. 7-ranked Tar Heels’ ACC tournament opener at 3 p.m. Thursday against No. 12 seed Pittsburgh (26–28) will be a meaningless tune-up. Win or lose on Thursday, UNC will make the tournament semifinals with a win against No. 22-ranked and No. 8-seed Wake Forest (37–13) at 7 p.m. Friday.
Wake Forest moved a win away from a semifinal berth Wednesday with an 8–1 victory over Pittsburgh at Truist Field, and now gets a day of rest.
Waiting for the Tar Heels (41–12), and hoping to avenge his only loss of the season, is right-hander Chase Burns, the ACC Pitcher of the Year. The Wake Forest ace has been dominant since giving up a season-high six runs in a 6–5 loss to the Tar Heels in Winston-Salem on March 29 and five runs in the game after that against Virginia Tech.
“Chase Burns has had this one circled on his calendar because that’s his only loss of the year,” Wake Forest coach Tom Walter said. “Chase is a competitor, so I know he’s looking forward to this.”
According to a UNC spokesman, Coach Scott Forbes plans to stick with his original plan of starting freshman right-hander Jason DeCaro (4–1, 3.93 ERA) on Thursday against Pittsburgh and junior left-hander Shea Sprague (3–1, 4.03 ERA) on Friday against Wake Forest.
Burns (10–1, 2.64 ERA, with 24 walks and 169 strikeouts), a junior transfer from Tennessee, didn’t walk a batter and struck out 14 in that loss to the Tar Heels.
“They hit a couple of balls out of the ballpark that day,” Walter said of that game, which the Deacs trailed 5–0 in the middle of the second inning. “Chase settled down in that game and pitched really well.”
Although N.C. State swept the Deacons in Raleigh to finish the regular season, Walter said that UNC will see a different team, particularly the bullpen, than the one it swept during that late-March series in Winston-Salem.
“Back then, we didn’t really know who we were. Our bullpen didn’t really have an identity,” Walter said. “You look back at that series, we had all three games kind of right where we wanted them, and our bullpen just couldn’t get us off the field.”
Pittsburgh went with one of its mid-week starters against the Deacons, Aidan Coleman, who gave up three hits and five runs in 1⅓ innings. Against the Tar Heels, Pitt will start junior right-hander Ryan Andrade (2–4, 6.93 ERA).
The Panthers also endured Carolina sweeping them in March. For them, it was in a series in Chapel Hill.
Pitt coach Mike Bell is confident his team can play with anybody in the country, even though Wednesday’s game didn’t go its way.
“You can go toe-to-toe with anybody in the country when you play your style, you play your brand, and you do the little things right,” he said.
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The winner of Friday’s UNC-Wake Forest game will play in the semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Friday’s 11 a.m. game between No. 10-ranked and No. 5-seed Florida State (40–13) and No. 16-ranked and No. 4-seed Virginia (41–13).
No. 3-ranked and No. 2-seed Clemson (40–13) will play No. 11-seed Miami (26–29) in the 11 a.m. Thursday game for a spot in Saturday’s 5 p.m. semifinal against the winner Thursday’s 7 p.m. game between No. 17-ranked and No.-6 seed Duke (36–18) and No. 12-seed and No. 3 N.C. State (33–19). The Wolfpack beat Virginia Tech 19–9 in an 8-inning run-rule game Wednesday night.
ACC tournament
At Truist Field in Charlotte
Buy tickets here.
Final on ESPN2; all other games on ACC Network
Tuesday’s first round
No. 16 vs. No. 9, 9 a.m.
No. 12 vs. No. 13, 1 p.m.
No. 15 vs. No. 10, 5 p.m.
No. 14 vs. No. 11, 9 p.m.
Wednesday’s second round
Tuesday morning winner vs. No. 8, 9 a.m.
1 p.m. Tuesday winner vs. No. 5, 1 p.m.
5 p.m. Tuesday winner vs. No. 7, 5 p.m.
9 p.m. Tuesday winner vs. No. 6, 9 p.m.
Quarterfinals
Thursday’s games
Wednesday morning winner vs. No. 1 Georgia Tech, 3 p.m.
1 p.m. Wednesday winner vs. No. 4, 7 p.m.
Friday’s games
5 p.m. Wednesday winner vs. No. 2 North Carolina, 3 p.m.
9 p.m. Wednesday winner vs. No. 3 Florida State, 7 p.m.
Saturday’s semifinals
Thursday winners, 1 p.m.
Friday winners, 5 p.m.
Sunday’s championship
Noon
| 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. No. 23 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. 3 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. No. 20 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 | Thurs.-Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 17–7 (8); 1 p.m. | at N.C. State | 43–9–1, 22–7 |
| ACC tournament | Charlotte | |||
| 22 | Friday | 3 p.m. | Quarterfinal | ACCN |
| 23 | Saturday | 1 p.m. or 5 p.m. | Semifinal | ACCN |
| 24 | Sunday | Noon | Championship | ESPN2 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 29–31 | Fri.-Sun. | Regionals | Campus sites | |
| June | ||||
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | Super Regionals | Campus sites | |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
- Games not on TV stream on ACC Network Extra unless otherwise note.
Photo courtesy of the ACC by Nell Redmond
