By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — Few teams have been able to hold back Georgia Tech’s potent offense this season.
No. 2 North Carolina is one of them, holding the Yellow Jackets to 11 runs in winning two of three during a mid-April series. But the Jackets, who came into the ACC tournament championship game averaging 10.7 runs per game, bettered that series output on Sunday.
No. 1-seed Tech took control with a five-run third inning and held on for a 13–6 victory over the Tar Heels before 8,574 fans at Truist Field in a battle of top-three-ranked teams as UNC’s bullpen, which has been reliable all season, faltered.
“They’re good. You have to make pitches against them,” UNC coach Scott Forbes said. “When I go back and watch the tape, I think we made a ton of mistakes. I think we had too many free passes, and we didn’t defend at the level we normally defend at, so I thought that was the difference.”
UNC (45–11–1) awaits a likely national seed in the NCAA tournament when the field is announced at noon Monday (ESPN), a position also assured for the Jackets (48–9).
Forbes said his team “put themselves in a great position to be hosting the regional and also be a national seed,” and he is eager to “flip the switch quick” into the NCAA tournament.
“It was tough in the outfield,” said Hull, who remained hot, going 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. “This field’s tough, and that’s no excuse for how we played today defensively. Next time we’re going to sharpen it up and be more aggressive on all fronts.”
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The Tar Heels couldn’t replicate the offense that came so easily in Saturday’s 13–5 semifinal victory over Pittsburgh. Still, UNC kept swinging, and the Tar Heels’ push in the middle innings, then the late chance, fit what Forbes and his players said has defined this group.
“That’s who they are,” Forbes said. “They punched us pretty good, and a lot of teams are done against a team like Georgia Tech, and we’re right back in it. Even at the end, our guys believed. We loaded the bases, we just couldn’t do anything after we loaded them.”
UNC couldn’t get anything out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the ninth inning. But Gavin Gallaher said the final inning echoed what the Tar Heels have felt throughout the season, even on a day when Tech was the sharper team.
“We’re never out of it,” Gallaher said. “Just keeping the compete factor at the top is the most important thing going forward. It’s good to play today in front of a big crowd. Their fans were loud; our fans showed out.”
Hull said UNC’s confidence is paired with preparation that will carry into next week.
“We had an approach for this game,” Hull said. “We executed it for the most part, but there are still some improvements to be made, and we’re going to be ready for this regional coming up.”
Colin Hynek hit into a game-ending double play against Jackets reliever Mason Patel as the Heels couldn’t push across a run in the ninth inning.
Jake Schaffner drew a walk to start the game and quickly gave UNC the lead, scoring on Hull’s line single to right field.
Georgia Tech third baseman Ryan Zuckerman tied it by blasting a 380-foot shot on the roof of the Home Run Porch in right field for his team-high 23rd home run.
Nine Jackets batted in the pivotal third inning, when they chased UNC starter Folger Boaz (3–3; 2⅔ innings, 7 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts). The left-hander gave up Drew Burress’ two-run homer off the yellow line atop the left-field wall, and Alex Hernandez’s three-run double off the left-field wall. Forbes said he expected the postgame review to be blunt.
Walker McDuffie, after throwing 45 pitches Saturday, came on to get a strikeout to leave a runner stranded. McDuffie pitched 1⅓ hitless innings, stranded two by striking out Zimmerman, his last batter, in the fourth inning for his third strikeout.
Forbes said he ordinarily likes to extend McDuffie in spots like that, but the focus shifted with the NCAA tournament looming.
“Most important is that he’s ready to go on Friday,” Forbes said. “It’s probably a different story if you go in today and you have a [Caden Glauber] available and McDuffie available [for more pitches], but for us to still get into that game is a credit to our entire team.”
Rom Kellis V drove in two runs with UNC’s third single of the fourth inning to end Jackets starter Carson Ballard’s day (3⅔ innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts). His relief, Brett Barfield, lasted three batters, exiting after giving up a two-run home run to left field in the fifth inning, a 394-foot Hull drive.
UNC reliever Jackson Rose retired his first four batters before three of four batters reached with one out in the sixth inning. Tech got runs on a Jarren Advincula sacrifice fly and Vahn Lackey’s RBI single.
The Tar Heels got a run back in the seventh inning, thanks to a two-base fielding error by left fielder Parker Brosius on Hull’s fly ball. Hull took third on a wild pitch and scored on Macon Winslow’s groundout.
Matthew Matthijs relieved Rose (2⅓ innings, 4 hits, four runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts) after he gave up two one-out hits in the seventh inning, and three runs scored on Matthijs wild pitches. Forbes said UNC wanted to get multiple arms work in a championship setting, even if the innings did not unfold the way the Tar Heels envisioned.
The Jackets added two runs in the eighth on Zuckerman’s RBI single off Camron Seagraves and Alex Hernandez’s RBI single off Tom Chmielewski.
The bullpen situation on Sunday was hampered by Jason DeCaro going only 3⅓ innings on Friday and Ryan Lynch pitching only four innings on Saturday.
“I wanted to get guys out there,” Forbes said. “In a perfect world, I would have liked Lynch and DeCaro and Boaz to all go more than nine innings combined, so we’re going to have to improve on that for us to reach our goals. It was good to see Rose get in there, Matthijs, Seagraves and Chewie. If we’re not going to win it, I’m glad some guys got some experience in a big atmosphere.”
Notes
— Winslow started at catcher for the first time since the loss to Coastal Carolina on April 28 after starting the previous nine games at designated hitter. Colin Hynek was at DH for the first time since the Coastal game.
— Hull has 19 RBI in the last seven games and 43 in the last 23 games. He has three homers in the last seven games and had multiple hits in all three ACC tournament games, going 6 of 13 with eight RBI.
— Burress’ homer was the 58th of his career, passing Jason Varitek for the most in Georgia Tech program history.
— UNC leads the all-time series with Georgia Tech 84–79 but trails 11–7 in ACC tournament meetings.
— The teams split four games this season.
No. 1 Ga. Tech 13, No. 2 UNC 6
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 | Times/ scores | Opponent (current rank) | Record/ TV * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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. 3 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. No. 24 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. 3 Ga. Tech | 45–11–1 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 29–31 | Fri.-Sun. | Regionals | Campus sites | |
| June | ||||
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | Super Regionals | Campus sites | |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
