By R.L. Bynum
DURHAM — In a battle of two of the best teams in the country, No. 3 North Carolina poured on the offense and used timely hitting and excellent relief pitching to overcome No. 6-ranked Florida State.
Luke Stevenson blasted a mammoth two-run homer and Kane Kepley hit a clutch two-run single in the ninth inning as the Tar Heels knocked off the Seminoles 7–5 in the ACC tournament semifinals at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday.
“Really happy for our guys, because we practiced a lot of things that don’t show up in the box score that we did a good job with executing tonight that helped us win,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said.
UNC (41–12) advanced to the championship game against No. 14-ranked and No. 5-seed Clemson (44–15) at noon Sunday (ESPN2), which beat No. 1-seed Georgia Tech 9–4 in the first semifinal. It is the 12th championship game appearance as the Tar Heels seek the program’s ninth ACC tournament title.
Alex Madera said winning a big-time game like this in the way that the Tar Heels did it will give them confidence as they try to return to the College World Series.
“You can’t really simulate anything like it,” said Madera, who had a key hit in the two-run fifth inning and scored in the ninth inning. “So just to be able to play in a game like this where it means so much, definitely will help our guys in the long run. Just going out there and playing like that just keeps us on our toes and keeps us playing well.”
Forbes said he would coach the game without worrying about Sunday. That was evident when he pulled starter Jason DeCaro in the fifth inning after only 82 pitches and used the usual Sunday starter, Aidan Haugh, out of the bullpen.
Forbes said that while he wants to win the ACC tournament, he didn’t want Haugh to go the entire weekend without pitching.
“We had a plan, and this was the best plan,” Forbes said. “We’re going to go after [the title], but we also wanted to have Aidan Haugh prepared for the regional. The only way to make sure that he pitched was to get him in that game today.”
Haugh (winner, 5–4) did his job, giving up only one hit and one run (although walking three) in 3⅔ innings while UNC piled on the runs after going hitless in the first three innings.
Walker McDuffie, who had thrown 24 pitches and gone two innings in Friday’s 7–2 win over Boston College, pitched a hitless ninth inning with one walk to earn his sixth save.
McDuffie retired ACC Player of the Year Alex Lodise on a lineout to left field to lead off the inning and had to work through the heart of FSU’s order.
“Those are three really good hitters,” Forbes said. “And he executed some really, really good pitches, and one of the best players in the country hit a ball hard, and it went right to us.”
Freshman right-hander Ryan Lynch would seem to be one of the candidates to start against Clemson, but Forbes wouldn’t reveal which way he is leaning.
“I pretty much have in my mind who I’m going to start, but I’m not going to tell you because I could change my mind,” Forbes said.
After falling short of a sweep of Florida State the previous weekend, Madera said the win was sweet.
“I think this one meant a little bit more to us,” Madera said. “Obviously, we lost game three, and we really wanted to sweep. So just being able to pull that through was awesome.”
DeCaro got out of a two-on, one-out jam in the third inning by striking out Lodise on a 79.1 mph curveball and inducing a groundout.
UNC didn’t get its first hit until Gavin Gallaher drove in a run with a liner off the mound and through the middle for a single with two outs in the fourth inning. That scored Kepley, who got hit by a pitch to start the inning, stole second and took third on catcher Jaxson West’s throwing error.
FSU (38–14) quickly tied it when Myles Bailey led off its half of the fourth inning by hitting a DeCaro breaking ball just over the right field wall for a home run. DeCaro worked around a walk and a single to avert further damage.
Two doubles down the lines ignited a two-run UNC fifth inning. Hunter Stokely got the first one on an opposite-field cue shot down the left-field line and came home on the second, Madera’s liner down the right-field line. Carter French’s two-out single to center field scored Madera.
Left-hander Folger Boaz relieved DeCaro (4⅓ innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts) to pitch to the left-handed-hitting Bailey after DeCaro gave up a leadoff walk and a one-out single. Boaz walked Bailey on a 3–2 pitch to load the bases.
“I thought Folger looked really good. It was a really close pitch. The umpire told me it was 100% a ball,” said Forbes, who sounded skeptical.
Haugh then came on and walked in a run. Cal Fisher lined out to second, but two more runs scored when second baseman Jackson Van De Brake’s throw deflected off the dugout to give FSU a 4–3 lead.
Carolina quickly regained the lead in the sixth inning when Van De Brake doubled down the right-field line and Stevenson launched the first pitch he saw 386 feet into the right-field stands for a two-run homer. After walking Gallaher, FSU starter Wes Mendes’ day was done (5 innings, 6 hits, five runs, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts).
FSU tied it in the bottom of that inning when West walked, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Lodise’s double off the left-center field wall.
Madera reached base to lead off the ninth when second baseman Drew Faurot couldn’t handle his hot smash. Perry Hargett hit a perfect bunt down the left-field line for a single. After Carter French bunted both over, Kepley scorched a two-run single to left-center field.
NOTES — Carolina didn’t play Clemson during the regular season. … The Tigers have a 17–14 edge in ACC tournament games against the Tar Heels. … UNC snapped an eight-game ACC tournament losing streak against Florida State with its first win since 2003 in Salem, Va., when the Tar Heels won 3–2. They are now 2–11 against the Noles in the event. … FSU leads the all-time series 74–41, including 15–3 at neutral sites. … UNC is 10–3 in the ACC tournament under Forbes. … After the Clemson-Georgia Tech game only drew 5,118 fans, the UNC-FSU game attracted 8,165.
No. 3 UNC 7, No. 6 FSU 5
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 schedule
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times | Opponent (current rank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | |||
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sat. | 4, noon, 1 | vs. Indiana |
| 17 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Richmond |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Longwood |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 4 (Greenville; ESPN+), 2 (DBAP), 2 (CH) | vs. East Carolina |
| 24 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. N.C. A&T |
| 25 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. VCU |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | 4 p.m., 2 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| March | |||
| 1 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| 3 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Elon |
| 6–8 | Fri.-Sun. | 4, 2, 1 | vs. Virginia |
| 10 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Bucknell |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | 9, 5, 4 | at California |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. UNCG |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 8, 2, 1 Friday on ACCN | vs. No. 8 Louisville |
| 24 | Tuesday | 6:30 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte |
| 27–29 | Fri.-Sun. | 6:30, 3, 1 | at Notre Dame |
| 31 | Tuesday | 8 p.m., ACCN | vs. Campbell |
| April | |||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | vs. Boston College |
| 7 | Tuesday | 7 p.m., ACCN | vs. Charlotte |
| 10–12 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, 2, 12:30 (Sunday on ACCN) | at No. 19 Clemson |
| 14 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW |
| 17–19 | Fri-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 (Saturday, Sunday on ACCN) | vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. High Point |
| 23–25 | Thu.-Sat. | 7, 6, 3 (Thursday on ACCN) | at Duke |
| 28 | Tuesday | 7 p.m., ACCN | vs. No. 6 Coastal Carolina |
| 29 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens |
| May | |||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m., ACCN (non-conference game) | vs. Duke |
| 6 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Winthrop |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. Pittsburgh |
| 12 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | at UNCW |
| 14–16 | Thurs.-Sat. | 7, 6, 1 (Thursday on ACCN) | at No. 17 N.C. State |
| 19–24 | Tues.-Sun. | ACC tournament (ACCN, ESPN2 for final) | Charlotte |
| 29–31 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Regionals | Campus sites |
| June | |||
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Super Regionals | Campus sites |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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