By R.L. Bynum
The ACC drastically changed the league’s baseball tournament format on Wednesday, with all 16 teams making a single-elimination tournament.
The league scrapped the four-day round-robin format with four pods, which began in 2006, to determine the semifinalists. This rendered some games meaningless for the purposes of that tournament.
“I think it’s a great change for the conference and the sport,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “It will make for an incredibly exciting week for both our players and the fans. We look forward to being a part of it.”
It will be the largest tournament in the ACC’s history. The field last expanded from 10 to 12 teams in 2017. This is the first school year with Stanford, California, and SMU in the league, but SMU, like Syracuse, doesn’t have a baseball program.
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said the new format will improve the championship experience for players, coaches and fans.
The league’s 16 coaches proposed the chance, which the ACC says players supported. It’s the first time the league has gone to a single-elimination tournament. For years before the previous format, it was a double-elimination tournament.
This season’s tournament, to be played at Durham Bulls Athletic Park for the 14th time, begins on Tuesday, May 20, with the eight lowest-seeded teams playing first-round games. Seeds 5 through 8 get byes into Wednesday’s second round.
Under the previous format, there were three games Tuesday through Friday (11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.) This season, there are four games on Tuesday and Wednesday, at 9 a.m., 1 p.m., 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.
The top four seeds get byes into the quarterfinals, with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds playing on Thursday and the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds playing on Friday. On both days, games are at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The weekend schedule remains unchanged, with the semifinals at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday and the championship game at noon on Sunday.
ACC tournament bracket
Key roster changes
Departures: Center fielder Vance Honeycutt, left fielder Casey Cook, right fielder Anthony Donofrio, first baseman Parks Harber, closer Dalton Pence and starting pitcher Shea Sprague
Incoming transfers: Center fielder Kane Kepley (from Liberty), right fielder Tyler Bass (N.C. Wesleyan), infielder/outfielder Rom Kellis (Florence-Darlington Technical College) and DH Sam Angelo (Monclair State)
Expected starters
At media day, Forbes named his lineup, top starters and closer if UNC played today; 2024 statistics listed:
| Position | Player | Hgt | Wgt | Year | B/T | BA/HR/RBI/SB |
| C | Luke Stevenson | 6–1 | 210 | Soph. | L/R | .284/14/58/2 |
| 1B | Hunter Stokely | 6–3 | 241 | RS senior | L/R | .333/0/0/0 |
| 2B | Jackson Van De Brake | 6–1 | 202 | 5th year | R/R | .213/1/11/5 |
| SS | Alex Madera | 5–10 | 179 | 5th year | L/R | .303/2/34/10 |
| 3B | Gavin Gallaher | 6–1 | 191 | Soph. | R/R | .314/8/38/5 |
| LF | B — Rom Kellis | 6–1 | 203 | Junior | R/R | .404/16/73/20 |
| CF | A — Kane Kepley | 5–8 | 180 | Junior | L/L | .332/9/31/25 |
| RF | C — Tyson Bass | 6–3 | 211 | 5th year | R/R | .358/22/57/31 |
| DH | D — Sam Angelo | 6–1 | 245 | Senior | L/L | .436/18/60/7 |
| Top pitchers | Player | Hgt | Wgt | Year | Record | IP/ERA/K/BB |
| Starter | RH Jason DeCaro | 6–5 | 230 | Soph. | 6–1 | 90⅓/3.81/78/44 |
| Starter | RH Jake Knapp | 6–5 | 270 | RS Sr. | Missed season | |
| Starter | LH Folger Boaz | 6–2 | 212 | Soph. | 3–1 | 39/5.77/38/19 |
| Starter | RH Aidan Haugh | 6–6 | 229 | Senior | 4–3 | 54/4.83/61/27 |
| Starter | RH Olin Johnson | 6–6 | 230 | Soph. | 4–3 | 16⅓/4.96/10/8 |
| Closer | RH Matthew Matthijs | 6–3 | 230 | Junior | 12–4 | 58/3.72/56/18 |
UNC scores
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 14–15 | Fri.-Sat. | W, 5–1; W, 8–3; W, 4–2 | vs. Texas Tech | 3–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 12–9 | vs. Kansas State | 4–0 |
| 22–24 | Sat.-Mon. | W, 2–0; W, 11–6; W, 6–4 | vs. East Carolina (DBAP, CH, G’ville) | 7–0 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 7–4 | vs. VCU | 8–0 |
| 26 | Wednesday | W, 13–4 | vs. N.C. A&T | 9–0 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 16–2 | vs. Stony Brook | 10–0 |
| March | ||||
| 1–2 | Sat.-Sun. | W, 6–1; W, 9–5 | vs. Stony Brook | 12–0 |
| 4 | Tuesday | W, 6–4 (11) | vs. No. 11 Coastal Carolina | 13–0 |
| 7–9 | Fri.-Sun. | L, 13–9; W, 11–1 (7); L, 7–0 | vs. Stanford | 14–2, 1–2 ACC |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 7–3 (10) | at UNCW | 15–2 |
| 14, 16 | Fri., Sun. | L, 8–7; W, 6–4; L, 5–0 | at Louisville | 16–4, 2–4 |
| 19 | Wednesday | L, 5–1 | vs. UConn | 16–5 |
| 21–23 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–1; L, 3–2; W, 10–0 (7) | at Boston College | 18–6, 4–5 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 13–8 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 19–7 |
| 28–30 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 2–0; W, 4–2; L, 4–2 | vs. Miami | 21–7, 6–6 |
| April | ||||
| 1 | Tuesday | W, 11–1 (7) | vs. Gardner-Webb | 22–7 |
| 3–5 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 4–3; L, 9–5; W, 8–7 (14) | vs. Duke | 24–8, 8–7 |
| 8 | Tuesday | W, 12–10 | at Elon | 25–8 |
| 11–13 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 11–1 (7); W, 17–1 (7); W, 3–2 | vs. Wake Forest | 28–8, 11–7 |
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 14–4 (8) | vs. Charlotte | 29–8 |
| 18–20 | Fri-Sun. | W, 9–6; L, 10–6: W, 7–5 | at Virginia Tech | 31–9, 13–8 |
| 25–27 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 15–5; L, 4–2; W, 6–0 | at Pittsburgh | 33–10, 15–9 |
| 29 | Tuesday | W, 13–4 | vs. George Mason | 34–10 |
| 30 | Wednesday | W, 14–3 | vs. Queens | 35–10 |
| May | ||||
| 6 | Tuesday | W, 10–1 | vs. Campbell | 36–10 |
| 8–9 | Thurs.-Fri. | W, 8–1; L, 8–5 | vs. N.C. State | 37–11, 16–10 |
| 15–17 | Thurs.-Sat. | W, 8–3; W, 11–1 (7); L, 5–4 | at No. 7 Florida State | 39–12, 18–11 |
| ACC tournament | Durham | |||
| 23 | Friday | Quarterfinal: W, 7–3 | Boston College | 40–12 |
| 24 | Saturday | Semifinal: W, 7–5 | No. 7 Florida State | 41–12 |
| 25 | Sunday | Final: W, 14–4 | No. 14 Clemson | 42–12 |
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 30 | Friday | W, 4–0 | Holy Cross | 43–12 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 11–5 | Oklahoma | 44–12 |
| June | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | L, 9–5 | Oklahoma | 44–13 |
| 2 | Monday | W, 14–4 | Oklahoma | 45–13 |
| Chapel Hill Super Regional | Best-of-3 series | |||
| 6 | Friday | W, 18–2 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–13 |
| 7 | Saturday | L, 10–8 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–14 |
| 8 | Sunday | L, 4–3 | No. 21 Arizona | 46–15 |
Photo by Jaylynn Nash courtesy of the ACC
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