By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina tied for its highest ranking of the season at No. 4 in the D1 Baseball Top 25 released Monday morning.
UNC (33–10, 15–9 ACC) was also No. 4 on March 3 after never being ranked higher than No. 5 last season when the Tar Heels made the College World Series.
Carolina remained No. 3 in the Baseball America Top 25.
Carolina won at Pittsburgh 6–0 Sunday behind seven shutout innings from sophomore Jason DeCaro to take two of three games in the weekend series and earn a league series victory for the sixth consecutive weekend.
The Tar Heels go on their exam break and don’t have an ACC series this weekend. They will host George Mason (29–15), one of three teams tied for the Atlantic 10 lead at 14–7, at 4 p.m. Tuesday and Queens College (16–24) at 6 p.m. Wednesday (both streaming on ACC Network Extra).
Carolina, which is No. 7 in the RPI, is tied for third in the ACC, 1½ games behind first-place N.C. State (30–12, 15–6), which swept a home series against Clemson last weekend and leaped 12 spots to No. 13.
The Tigers (36–10, 13–8), who only fell one spot to No. 3, were one of five teams ahead of UNC in last week’s poll to lose a weekend series. That includes second-place Florida State (31–9, 12–6), which fell one spot to No. 5 after dropping two of three at Louisville, which moved up two spots to No. 17.
Georgia Tech (30–14, 15–9) was No. 24 last week but fell out of the poll after losing two of three games in a home series against Virginia (24–16, 11–10).
Carolina has only played two teams currently ranked: beating No. 19 Coastal Carolina 6–4 in 11 innings on March 4 and losing two of three at Louisville in mid-March. The Tar Heels finish ACC play against two ranked teams, though: hosting N.C. State in a four-day, three-game series May 8–11 and visiting Florida State May 15–17.
D1 Baseball Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 37–5 | 1 |
| 2 | LSU | 36–9 | 7 |
| 3 | Clemson | 36–10 | 2 |
| 4 | North Carolina | 33–10 | 8 |
| 5 | Florida State | 31–9 | 4 |
| 6 | Oregon | 30–12 | 13 |
| 7 | Oregon State | 32–10 | 3 |
| 8 | UC Irvine | 32–9 | 12 |
| 9 | Georgia | 35–11 | 10 |
| 10 | Auburn | 30–14 | 11 |
| 11 | Arkansas | 37–9 | 5 |
| 12 | Tennessee | 35–9 | 6 |
| 13 | N.C. State | 30–12 | 25 |
| 14 | UCLA | 32–11 | 15 |
| 15 | Vanderbilt | 31–13 | 9 |
| 16 | West Virginia | 37–5 | 17 |
| 17 | Louisville | 30–13 | 19 |
| 18 | Alabama | 35–10 | 18 |
| 19 | Coastal Carolina | 33–11 | 21 |
| 20 | Troy | 31–13 | 20 |
| 21 | Oklahoma | 30–13 | 14 |
| 22 | Southern Miss | 31–13 | 22 |
| 23 | Ole Miss | 31–13 | 23 |
| 24 | Arizona | 30–13 | 16 |
| 25 | Kansas | 35–10 | NR |
Dropped out: Georgia Tech
ACC standings
| League | Overall | |
|---|---|---|
| No. 13 N.C. State | 15–6 | 30–12 |
| No. 5 Florida State | 12–6 | 31–9 |
| No. 4 North Carolina | 15–9 | 33–10 |
| Georgia Tech | 15–9 | 30–14 |
| No. 3 Clemson | 13–8 | 36–10 |
| Duke | 14–10 | 30–15 |
| No. 17 Louisville | 12–9 | 30–13 |
| Miami | 12–9 | 27–18 |
| Virginia | 11–10 | 24–16 |
| Wake Forest | 12–12 | 29–16 |
| Virginia Tech | 11–13 | 27–17 |
| Notre Dame | 10–14 | 24–17 |
| Boston College | 9–15 | 20–23 |
| Stanford | 7–17 | 21–19 |
| Pittsburgh | 6–15 | 20–21 |
| California | 6–18 | 18–25 |
Thursday through Saturday series results
No. 3 Clemson at No. 13 N.C. State: State swept 14–4 (8), 8–3; 4–1
Friday through Sunday series results
No. 4 North Carolina at Pittsburgh: Friday: UNC 15–5; Saturday: Pitt 4–2; Sunday: UNC 6–0
Miami at Boston College: Friday: Miami swept 2–1, 13–4 and 3–2
Virginia at Georgia Tech; Friday: Virginia 12–9; Saturday: Virginia 6–5; Sunday: GT 7–6, 10 innings
No. 5 Florida State at No. 17 Louisville: Friday: FSU 10–2; Saturday: UL 9–4; Sunday: UL 14–2
Virginia Tech at Duke; Friday: Duke 6–3, 11 innings: Saturday: VT 9–8, 11 innings 3; Sunday: Duke 14–0
California at Notre Dame; Friday: ND swept 8–1, 10–0, 6–5
Wake Forest at Stanford: Friday: Stanford 7–6: Saturday: WF 12–9; Sunday: WF 10–0
Monday’s game
Sacramento State at Stanford, 9:05
Tuesday’s games
Georgia Mason at No. 4 North Carolina, 4 p.m.
Liberty at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Akron, 6 p.m.
Eastern Kentucky at No. 17 Louisville, 6 p.m.
Appalachian State at Wake Forest, 6 p.m.
VCU at Virginia, 6 p.m., ACCN
Notre Dame at Purdue, 6 p.m.
UNCW at No. 13 N.C. State, 6 p.m.
San Francisco at California, 9 p.m.
Wednesday’s games
Navy at Virginia, 1 p.m.
Maine at Boston College, 5 p.m.
Queen’s at No. 4 North Carolina, 6 p.m.
California at San Jose State, 9:05 p.m., Mountain West Network
Thursday through Saturday series
No. 19 Louisville at Notre Dame, 7 (ACCN), 6:30, 2
Friday through Sunday series
Stanford at Boston College, 6, 2, 1
Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh, 6, 3, 1
Western Carolina at Georgia Tech, 6, 4, 1
No. 13 N.C. State at Miami, 7, 6, 1
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Time/ score | Opponent (current rank) | TV */ 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. 19 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 No. 17 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 | 4 p.m. | vs. George Mason | |
| 30 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens | |
| May | ||||
| 6 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Campbell | |
| 8–9, 11 | Thurs.-Friday, Sunday | 6, 6, 1 | vs. No. 13 N.C. State | ACCN (Sunday) |
| 13 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW | |
| 15–17 | Thu.–Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | at No. 5 Florida State | ACCN (Thurs., Fri.) |
| ACC tournament | ||||
| 20–25 | Tue.–Sun. | Single-elimination event | Durham Bulls Athletic Park | |
| 30–31 | Fri.–Sat. | NCAA regionals | Campus sites | |
| June | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | NCAA regionals | Campus sites | |
| 6–8 | Fri.–Sun. | Super Regionals | Campus sites | |
| 18–30 | Wed.–Mon. | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
* Unless otherwise indicated, games only stream on ACC Network Extra.
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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