By R.L. Bynum
No. 4 North Carolina couldn’t finish off the road sweep of No. 2 Florida State and will be the No. 3 seed at next week’s ACC tournament.
After pinch-hitter Sawyer Black tied it with a three-run homer in the seventh inning and Gavin Gallaher’s solo homer gave UNC the lead in the eighth inning, the Seminoles rallied for a 5–4 win Saturday on a steamy afternoon at Howser Stadium.
With a double-bye in the ACC tournament next week at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the Tar Heels (39–12, 18–11 ACC), who won the series’ first two games, won’t play until 7 p.m. Friday. UNC’s opponent will be No. 6-seed Virginia, No. 11 seed Notre Dame or the No. 14 seed.
When N.C. State lost to Stanford 6–3 on Saturday, the Tar Heels knew that they’d be no worse than a No. 3 seed. Had Duke beaten Georgia Tech, UNC would have been the No. 2 seed, but the Yellow Jackets won 8–2, giving them the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed and leaving FSU as the No. 2 seed.
UNC and Florida State each finished a half-game back of Georgia Tech.
FSU freshman first baseman Myles Bailey launched a three-run homer off UNC starter Aidan Haugh (4⅔ innings, 6 hits 3 runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts) with one out in the first after an Alex Lodise double and a Max Williams single.
Gallaher led off the second with a walk, took second on a wild pitch, and Alex Madera drove him in with a single to left-center field. That was the first of three UNC at-bats — also in the fifth and sixth innings — that ended with double plays. The Tar Heels left the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
Left fielder Carter French made a spectacular catch in the third inning to rob Bailey of an extra-base hit.
Haugh recovered from the tough start to pitch well, but came out with two outs in the fifth inning after walking two. After a catcher’s interference loaded the base, freshman right-handed reliever Ryan Lynch induced an inning-ending groundout.
Left-hander Wes Mendes was FSU’s most effective starter of the series, going 6⅓ innings, giving up four hits and one run four walks with three strikeouts.
Mendes came out in the seventh inning after walking Tyson Bass with one out. In his first at-bat since suffering a hamate injury on March 30, Black greeted reliever Peyton Prescott with a two-run homer to right field to tie it.
FSU (39–13, 17–10) loaded the bases in the seventh inning with a single, a walk and a two-out hit batsman, but UNC freshman right-handed reliever Walker McDuffie struck out Chase Williams swinging to get out of the inning.
Gallaher’s 13th home run of the season, a blast to right-center field with two outs in the eighth inning, gave UNC a 4–3 lead.
In the eighth inning, after James Hankerson Jr. singled and moved to second on a groundout, McDuffie gave way to Camron Seagraves (loser, 2–1). After getting a groundout and intentionally walking Lodise, Williams and Bailey hit RBI singles to right field to give the Seminoles a 5–4 lead. After the walk, Seagraves got an inning-ending groundout as FSU left the bases loaded for a third time.
FSU reliever John Abraham struck out the side, all swinging, in the ninth to finish off the victory.
ACC standings
| League | GB | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia Tech | 19–11 | — | 39–16 |
| No. 2 Florida State | 17–10 | ½ | 37–13 |
| No. 4 North Carolina | 18–11 | ½ | 39–12 |
| No. 13 N.C. State | 17–11 | 1 | 33–18 |
| No. 15 Clemson | 18–12 | 1 | 41–15 |
| Virginia | 16–11 | 1½ | 32–17 |
| No. 20 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 | 11–18 | 7½ | 26–27 |
| Stanford | 11–19 | 8 | 27–24 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–20 | 9 | 27–26 |
| California | 8–21 | 10½ | 21–30 |
Tuesday’s games
Bellarmine 10, No. 21 Louisville 9
Pittsburgh 15, Penn State 1
High Point 7, Wake Forest 5
Notre Dame 12, Eastern Michigan 10
Thursday-Saturday series
Georgia Tech at No. 20 Duke: Thursday: GT 7–6; Friday: Duke 14–4 (7 innings); Saturday: GT 8–2
No. 15 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. 13 N.C. State: Thursday: State 7–2: Friday: Stanford 4–3, 10 innings; Saturday: Stanford 6–3
Wake Forest at No. 21 Louisville: Thursday: WF 14–4; Friday: WF 5–4; Saturday: UL 14–9
No. 4 North Carolina at No. 2 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: 4
ACC tournament
At Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Link to buy tickets
Final on ESPN2
All other games on ACC Network
Tuesday’s first round
No. 9 Miami vs. No. 16 California, 9 a.m.
No. 12 vs. No. 13, 1 p.m.
No. 10 Louisville vs. No. 15 Pittsburgh, 5 p.m.
No. 11 Notre Dame vs. No. 14, 9 p.m.
Wednesday’s second round
9 a.m. Tuesday winner vs. No. 8 seed Wake Forest, 9 a.m.
1 p.m. Tuesday winner vs. No. 5 seed Clemson, 1 p.m.
5 p.m. Tuesday winner vs. No. 7 seed Duke, 5 p.m.
9 p.m. Tuesday winner vs. No. 6 seed Virginia, 9 p.m.
Quarterfinals
Thursday’s games
9 a.m. Wednesday winner vs. No. 1 seed Georgia Tech, 3 p.m.
1 p.m. Wednesday winner vs. No. 4 seed N.C. State, 7 p.m.
Friday’s games
5 p.m. Wednesday winner vs. No. 2 seed Florida State, 3 p.m.
9 p.m. Wednesday winner vs. No. 3 seed North Carolina, 7 p.m.
Saturday’s semifinals
Thursday quarterfinal winners, 1 p.m.
Friday quarterfinal winners, 5 p.m.
Sunday’s championship
Semifinal winners, noon
| 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. 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 No. 21 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. No. 20 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. No. 13 N.C. State | 37–11, 16–10 |
| 15–17 | Thurs.-Sat. | W, 8–3; W, 11–1 (7); L, 5–4 | at No. 2 Florida State | 39–12, 18–11 |
| ACC tournament | Durham Bulls Athletic Park | |||
| 23 | Friday | Quarterfinal: 7 p.m. | ACCN | |
| 24 | Saturday | Semifinal (with win): 1 p.m. or 5 p.m. | ACCN | |
| 25 | Sunday | Final (with win): Noon | ESPN2 | |
| 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. |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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