By R.L. Bynum
No. 4 North Carolina positioned itself to win the ACC regular-season title and the top seed in the ACC tournament with another dominant victory over No. 2 Florida State at Tallahassee, Fla.
The Tar Heels poured on the offense to back dominant pitching from sophomore right-hander Jason DeCaro to earn an 11–1 seven-inning run-rule victory Friday to earn the series win and take over first place in the ACC by a half-game entering the final day of the regular season.
Right fielder Tyson Bass set UNC up for the run-rule win with a mammoth two-out, three-run homer to left field in the seventh inning. The Tar Heels piled up 13 hits, with five players collecting multiple hits.
Sophomore catcher Luke Stevenson, who drove in two, got a front-row seat to a pair of pitching gems after Jake Knapp pitched a complete game in Thursday’s series opener.
“I just think it’s two really good team wins,” Stevenson said in a postgame interview on ACC Network. “Jake and Jason had two great starts for us, and went in and had good command of their fastball and all their off-speed pitches. And then I think we just went to the play with our plan and executed it.”
UNC (39–11, 18–10 ACC), because of Friday losses by N.C. State (33–17, 17–10) and Georgia Tech (38–16, 18–11), can clinch the regular-season title and the top seed with a victory in the 2 p.m. Saturday series finale (ACC Network Extra), with senior right-hander Aidan Haugh (4–4, 3.66 ERA) starting for UNC.
Carolina clinched a double-bye in the tournament with the win after Virginia Tech beat Virginia (31–17, 15–11). Should UNC lose, its seed depends on what Georgia Tech and N.C. State does on Saturday. If both lose, the Tar Heels are the No. 2 seed. If one wins and the other loses, they’re the No. 3 seed. If both win, UNC is the No. 4 seed.
UNC, which has won five of its last six meetings with the Seminoles, got that chance at the title because the Wolfpack lost 4–3 in 10 innings at home to Stanford and Georgia Tech got run-ruled in a 14–4 road loss to Duke.
State and Georgia Tech are a half-game behind UNC, with Florida State (38–13, 16–10) one game back.
Pitching for the first time in 10 days, DeCaro (winner, 8–3) scattered seven hits and gave up only one run and one walk while striking out a season-high seven batters in six innings. Freshman right-hander Walker McDuffie pitched a perfect seventh inning.
For the second straight night, Carolina piled up the pitches on an outstanding Florida State starter and had their way with him. This time it was Joey Volini (loser, 8–4), who gave up six hits, five runs and four walks against six strikeouts in 3⅔ innings. That came one night after beating up on Seminoles ace Jamie Arnold.
“Both of them are great pitchers, great arms, and we were just trying to hunt our zones,” Stevenson said. “We practiced this week off the machines of what we were looking for and where we wanted to go off. And I think we did a really good job that. They’re great arms, and we just went in there and competed our tails off. Those guys were great, and we just executed our plan.”
Carolina took the lead with two runs in the third inning after Kane Kepley and Jackson Van De Brake led off the inning with singles. Stevenson’s deep sacrifice fly to center field scored Kepley, and Gavin Gallaher’s single up the middle brought home Van De Brake.
FSU scored on DeCaro in a two-out third-inning rally, with Myles Bailey hitting an RBI double to left-center field after two consecutive singles.
After leaving the bases loaded in the second and third innings, the Tar Heels took advantage with the bases full with two outs in the fourth inning. Hunter Stokely drove in one run when he was hit by a pitch, and Alex Madera drove in two with a single up the middle to give UNC a 5–1 lead.
After DeCaro got out of a two-on, two-out jam in the fourth inning by striking out Gage Harrelson swinging, UNC added to its lead in the fifth inning when Kepley walked and scored on Stevenson’s single up the middle.
The Tar Heels scored two more runs in the sixth inning with two hits, the biggest being Kepley’s double to right field.
No. 4 UNC 11, No. 2 FSU 1, 7 innings
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
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 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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