By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina jumped four spots to No. 8 in the D1 Baseball Top 25 after winning two of three games last weekend in an emotional series at Virginia Tech.
The Tar Heels (31–9, 13–8 ACC) have won four consecutive league series and 15 of their last 17 games entering Tuesday night’s 3 p.m. home game (ACC Network Extra) against Presbyterian (16–22).
It’s UNC’s highest rank since it was No. 3 on March 3 before losing two of three to Stanford in the first ACC series of the season. It’s Carolina’s first time in the top 10 since it was No. 8 on March 10 before losing two of three at Louisville (28–11, 10–8), No. 19 in this week’s poll (down two), the last league series it lost.
There was bad news on Monday, though, with Coach Scott Forbes confirming on the Inside Carolina podcast “This Week in UNC Baseball,” that right-handed reliever Matthew Matthijs is out for the season.
Carolina comes off a wild series win in Blacksburg. After winning Friday’s opener over the Hokies 9–6, Virginia Tech won 10–6 Saturday in an emotional game.
The Hokies were warned after Sam Tackett hit a home run and flipped his bat toward UNC catcher Luke Stevenson in the first inning. In the eighth inning, Virginia Tech’s Jared Davis flipped his bat after hitting a two-run home run and got ejected. At the end of the eighth inning, UNC pitcher Folger Boaz threw a pitch behind Anderson French. That led to a lot of yelling back and forth and the ejections of Forbes and Virginia Tech coach John Szefc.
Davis and French were both suspended for Sunday’s finale, in which the Tar Heels rallied from a 2–0 deficit to win 7–4 behind Jackson Van De Brake’s big game. He went 3 for 6 with a homer and three RBI.
Clemson (35–7, 13–5), which won two of three last weekend against Louisville, moved up one spot to No. 2. Florida State (29–7, 11–4), which had its weekend series with Virginia canceled because of the shooting on its campus, moved up three spots to No 3. Other ACC teams in the poll are Georgia Tech (29–11, 14–7) at No. 24 (down 10 spots) and N.C. State (27–12, 12–6) at No. 25 (wasn’t previously ranked).
UNC trails N.C. State for the coveted fourth and final double-bye in the ACC tournament, but while the Tar Heels visit last-place Pittsburgh (18–19, 5–13) this weekend, the Wolfpack is at home against Clemson.
D1 Baseball Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 33-5 | 1 |
| 2 | Clemson | 35-7 | 3 |
| 3 | Oregon State | 30-7 | 6 |
| 4 | Florida State | 29-7 | 7 |
| 5 | Arkansas | 34-7 | 2 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 33-7 | 4 |
| 7 | LSU | 34-7 | 9 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 31-9 | 12 |
| 9 | Vanderbilt | 30-10 | 19 |
| 10 | Georgia | 33-9 | 5 |
| 11 | Auburn | 27-13 | 8 |
| 12 | UC Irvine | 28-9 | 13 |
| 13 | Oregon | 27-11 | 16 |
| 14 | Oklahoma | 29-10 | 18 |
| 15 | UCLA | 29-10 | 10 |
| 16 | Arizona | 28-11 | 22 |
| 17 | West Virginia | 34-4 | 24 |
| 18 | Alabama | 31-10 | 15 |
| 19 | Louisville | 28-11 | 17 |
| 20 | Troy | 28-12 | 20 |
| 21 | Coastal Carolina | 30-10 | 21 |
| 22 | Southern Miss | 27-13 | 23 |
| 23 | Ole Miss | 28-12 | 11 |
| 24 | Georgia Tech | 29-11 | 14 |
| 25 | N.C. State | 27-12 | NR |
Dropped out: TCU
ACC standings
| League | GB | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 16 Georgia Tech | 19–11 | — | 39–16 |
| No. 6 Florida State | 17–10 | ½ | 37–13 |
| No. 3 North Carolina | 18–11 | ½ | 39–12 |
| No. 22 N.C. State | 17–11 | 1 | 33–18 |
| No. 14 Clemson | 18–12 | 1 | 41–15 |
| Virginia | 16–11 | 1½ | 32–17 |
| Duke | 17–13 | 2 | 36–18 |
| Wake Forest | 16–14 | 3 | 36–19 |
| Miami | 15–14 | 3½ | 31–23 |
| No. 21 Louisville | 15–15 | 4 | 35–20 |
| Notre Dame | 14–16 | 5 | 32–20 |
| Virginia Tech | 12–18 | 7 | 30–24 |
| Boston College | 11–19 | 8 | 26–28 |
| Stanford | 11–19 | 8 | 27–24 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–20 | 9 | 27–26 |
| California | 9–21 | 10½ | 22–30 |
Thursday-Saturday series
No. 16 Georgia Tech at Duke: Thursday: GT 7–6; Friday: Duke 14–4 (7 innings); Saturday: GT 8–2
No. 14 Clemson at Pittsburgh: Clemson swept 6–1, 11–2 and 13–6
Virginia at Virginia Tech: Thursday: Va. 12–2; Friday: VT 5–4; Saturday: Va. 3–1
Stanford at No. 22 N.C. State: Thursday: State 7–2: Friday: Stanford 4–3, 10 innings; Saturday: Stanford 6–3
Wake Forest at Louisville: Thursday: WF 14–4; Friday: WF 5–4; Saturday: UL 14–9
No. 3 North Carolina at No. 6 Florida State: Thursday: UNC 8–3: Friday: UNC 11–1, 7 innings; Saturday: FSU 5–4
Notre Dame at Miami: Thursday: ND 3–2; Friday: Miami 15–1, 7 innings: Saturday: ND 12–2
Boston College at California: Thursday: Cal 8–6; Friday: BC 10–9; Saturday: Cal 4–3, 10 innings
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 courtesy of UNC Athletics
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