By R.L. Bynum
DURHAM — No. 3 North Carolina was the last team to play in the ACC tournament, and the Tar Heels’ offense was slow to arrive.
After leaving seven runners stranded in the first six innings, the wildness of five Boston College pitchers in the seventh inning helped jump-start the Tar Heels’ offense in a 7–2 victory Friday in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
UNC (40–12) advanced to meet No. 2-seed and No. 6-ranked Florida State (38–18), which beat Duke 14–7 in Friday’s first quarterfinal, in a 5 p.m. semifinal Saturday (ACC Network), with sophomore Jason DeCaro (8–3, 3.37 ERA) starting for the Tar Heels. No. 1-seed and No. 16-ranked Georgia Tech (40–16) faces No. 5-seed and No. 14-ranked Clemson (43–15) in the first semifinal at 1 p.m.
Carolina ace right-hander Jake Knapp (winner, 12–0), the program’s first ACC Pitcher of the Year since J.B. Bukauskas in 2016 and fifth overall, faced a rare deficit after BC scored two runs in the third, but worked into a groove. He retired the last 10 Eagles he faced, giving up five hits and two runs with no walks and four strikeouts in seven innings.
“Jake settled in, and I thought that was the story of the game,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said.
Carolina scored five runs on only three hits in the seventh, thanks to three walks, a wild pitch and a hit by pitch, keyed by Jackson Van De Brake’s two-run double down the right-field line to tie the game at two.
“I was able to just get a two-strike pitch over the plate that I was able to get my hands through,” Van De Brake said. “Not a super-comfortable at bat. Got one over the plate, was able to get the barrel to it.”
Luke Stevenson made it a rout in the eighth inning with a two-run home run to center field.
“We kept plugging and plugging, and a really big pinch-hit walk by Perry Hargett and then to get guys on base and Vandy to come up big right there,” Forbes said. “And I know that felt really good for Luke to hit that home run and also drive in that run.”
Boston College (28–29) finished its season after a pair of late-night/early-morning victories in the tournament’s first two rounds.
Eagles starter A.J. Colarusso, pitching after throwing 72 pitches two days earlier, was impressive against UNC, consistently attacking the strike zone. He threw 109 pitches and repeatedly pitched out of trouble, giving up five hits and one run while walking four and striking out nine in 6+ innings.
“That was impressive. That’s an old-school pitching mentality that a lot of people don’t have anymore. So I thought that was extremely impressive,” Forbes said. “He was tough on us in Boston, tough on us again.”
Knapp escaped a two-on, no-out first-inning jam and had retired seven straight batters before Boston College got three straight two-out hits in the third inning. The Eagles plated two runs on Patrick Roche’s RBI double to left-center field and Jack Toomey’s RBI single to left.
UNC left two runners stranded in the fourth inning and the bases loaded in the fifth inning. In the latter, Colarusso struck out Stevenson looking on a 3–2 pitch right down the middle to end the inning.
After walking pinch-hitter Hargett to start the seventh inning on a 3–2 pitch, his 109th pitch, Colarusso gave way to left-hander J.D. Ogden, who departed after two walks loaded the bases.
“I thought Perry had really good BP the last couple of days, like he was more on time,” Forbes said. “He’s a freshman, but he’s not fazed by the big moment. And I felt like we needed somebody in that situation who could work a walk, not necessarily go up there and ambush a fastball, because I thought [Colarusso] was getting tired.”
After Van De Brake greeted sidewinding right-hander Dylan Howanitz with his big double, John Kwiatkowski came on. He threw a wild pitch that scored Kane Kepley and gave up Stevenson’s drive through the right side for a single and another run. Peter Schaefer, the fifth pitcher of the inning, gave up an RBI single to Lee Sowers.
Freshman Walker McDuffie pitched two shutout, hitless innings to pick up his fifth save, striking out three batters.
Forbes said Knapp may have had too much rest, pitching for the first time in eight days, leading him to bring on McDuffie even though Knapp had thrown only 83 pitches because of what Forbes called some “loud outs.”
NOTES — Forbes isn’t assuming anything, and won’t name a Sunday starter unless UNC wins Saturday. … UNC is the No. 4 overall seed in D1 Baseball’s latest NCAA tournament projection. … UNC is 9–3 in the ACC tournament under Forbes, including winning the 2022 championship. … Carolina is 93–73 in the ACC tournament, the second-most wins in conference history. … As a No. 3 seed, UNC is 6–9. … UNC won for the third time in four meetings with Boston College this season, and leads the all-time series 34–7, including 3–0 in ACC tournament play. … Carolina took two of three games from Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla., last weekend.
No. 3 UNC 7, BC 2
ACC tournament
At Truist Field in Charlotte
Buy tickets here.
Tuesday’s first round
No. 16 Duke 21, No. 9 N.C. State 12
No. 12 Stanford 11, No. 13 California 4
No. 10 Notre Dame 5, No. 15 Clemson 4
No. 14 Pittsburgh 16, No. 11 Louisville 8
Wednesday’s second round
No. 8 Virginia 6, Duke 4
No. 5 Miami 11, Stanford 2
No. 7 Virginia Tech 17, Notre Dame 10
Pittsburgh 7, No. 6 Wake Forest 4
Quarterfinals
Thursday’s results
No. 1 (No. 3 ranked) Georgia Tech 16, Virginia 10
Miami 8, No. 4 Boston College 2
Friday’s results
No. 2 (No. 2 ranked) North Carolina 10, Virginia Tech 4
Pittsburgh 8, No. 3 (No. 11 ranked) Florida State 6
Saturday’s semifinals (ACC Network)
Georgia Tech 9, Miami 3
North Carolina 13, Pittsburgh 5
Sunday’s championship
Georgia Tech 13, North Carolina 6
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 13–14 | Fri., Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 12–2 (7); W, 4–3 (11) | vs. Indiana | 3–0 |
| 17 | Tuesday | W, 10–0 (7) | vs. Richmond | 4–0 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 5–3 | vs. Longwood | 5–0 |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun | W, 10–0 (8); L, 10–3; T, 3–3 | vs. East Carolina | 6–1–1 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. N.C. A&T | 7–1–1 |
| 25 | Wednesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. VCU | 8–1–1 |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | W, 16–3 (7); W, 12–2 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 10–1–1 |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | W, 21–1 (7) | vs. Le Moyne | 11–1–1 |
| 3 | Tuesday | W, 5–1 | vs. Elon | 12–1–1 |
| 6–7 | Fri., Sat | L, 13–3 (7); L, 9–2; W, 8–7 (12) | vs. Virginia | 13–3–1, 1–2 ACC |
| 10 | Tuesday | W, 13–3 (7) | vs. Bucknell | 14–3–1 |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 8–1; W, 6–2; W, 10–2 | at California | 17–3–1, 4–2 |
| 18 | Wednesday | W, 8–2 | vs. UNCG | 18–3–1 |
| 20–22 | Fri.–Sun. | W, 11–1 (8); L, 2–0; W, 7–6 | vs. Louisville | 20–4–1, 6–3 |
| 24 | Tuesday | W, 9–1 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 21–4–1 |
| 28, 29 | Sat., Sun | W, 6–5; W, 13–7; W, 15–10 | at Notre Dame | 24–4–1, 9–3 |
| 31 | Tuesday | W, 5–4 (14) | vs. Campbell | 25–4–1 |
| April | ||||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | L, 6–1; W, 5–2; W, 8–7 | vs. Boston College | 27–5–1, 11–4 |
| 7 | Tuesday | W, 8–4 | vs. Charlotte | 28–5–1 |
| 10–12 | Fri.–Sun. | L, 9–5; W, 6–4 (14); W, 12–5 | at Clemson | 30–6–1, 13–5 |
| 14 | Tuesday | W, 14–5 | vs. UNCW | 31–6–1 |
| 17–19 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–2; W, 14–4 (8); L, 5–2 | vs. No. 2 Georgia Tech | 33–7–1, 15–6 |
| 21 | Tuesday | W, 9–2 | vs. High Point | 34–7–1 |
| 23–25 | Thur.–Sat. | W, 3–1; L, 3–1; W, 22–5 (7) | at Duke | 36–8–1, 17–7 |
| 28 | Tuesday | L, 12–2 | vs. Coastal Carolina | 36–9–1 |
| May | ||||
| 3 | Sunday | W, 13–0 (7) (non-conference game) | vs. Duke | 37–9–1 |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 4–1; W, 12–2 (8); W, 7–3 | vs. Pittsburgh | 40–9–1, 20–7 |
| 12 | Tuesday | W, 13–7 | at UNCW | 41–9–1 |
| 14–16 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 9–4; W, 17–7 (8); L, 7–2 | at N.C. State | 43–10–1, 22–8 |
| ACC tournament | Charlotte | |||
| 22 | Friday | W, 10–4 | Quarterfinal vs. Virginia Tech | 44–10–1 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 13–5 | Semifinal vs. Pittsburgh | 45–10–1 |
| 24 | Sunday | L, 13–6 | Championship vs. No. 2 Ga. Tech | 45–11–1 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 8–0 | VCU | 46–11–1 |
| 30–31 | Sat.–Sun. | W, 7–5; W, 9–3 | East Carolina | 48–11–1 |
| June | ||||
| Chapel Hill Super Regionals | ||||
| 5–7 | Fri.–Sun. | L, 9–5; W, 4–0; W, 4–3 | Southern Cal | 50–12–1 |
| College World Series | Omaha, Neb. | |||
| 12 | Friday | W, 6–2 | No. 18 Ole Miss | 51–12–1 |
| 14, 17 | Sun., Wed. | W, 5–2; W, 12–7 | No. 9 West Virginia | 53–12–1 |
| 20–22 | Sat.-Mon. | L, 9–3; W, 6–2; L, 13–2 | CWS Finals vs. Oklahoma | 54–14–1 |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
