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DURHAM — When North Carolina salvaged a game from its three-game regular-season series with Virginia, the Tar Heels did it by shutting out the Cavaliers in a 7–0 victory. Junior right-hander Jake Knapp started that game for UNC and will be on the mound at 3 p.m. Thursday in the ACC tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park when the No. 7-seed Tar Heels meet No. 12-ranked and No. 2-seed Virginia for a spot in Saturday’s semifinals.
DURHAM — When the day comes that UNC coach Scott Forbes can’t write junior Mac Horvath’s name on his lineup card, that will be a tough reality for the third-year head coach. Forbes’ juniors, including catcher Tomas Frick and others, hold a special place for the coach since they were freshmen during his first season when they all had to deal with the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions.
DURHAM — North Carolina took the first step toward repeating as ACC champion and is a win away from a berth in the ACC tournament semifinals. No. 7-seed UNC jumped out to a big lead early and rolled to an 11–5 victory Tuesday over No. 11 Georgia Tech at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in a push for the title unlikely to include star center fielder Vance Honeycutt.
CHAPEL HILL — The bad news for North Carolina headed into the ACC tournament this week is that star center fielder Vance Honeycutt still is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The good news is that Honeycutt is ACC defensive player of the year, and all of the Tar Heels have served the suspensions that the NCAA doled out in the wake of the incident in the Gardner-Webb game. UNC (33–21) opens round-robin play Tuesday at 3 p.m. against Georgia Tech (30–24) at Durham Bulls Athletic Park (ACC Network), with junior right-hander Max Carlson (4–2, 6.20) starting.
When Carolina opens ACC tournament pool play at 3 p.m. Tuesday against No. 11-seed Georgia Tech (30–24) at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the Tar Heels will likely need four wins and the ACC title to have a chance to be an NCAA tournament regional host. The Tar Heels (33–21) are in Pool B, and also play No. 21-ranked and No. 2-seed Virginia (44–11) at 3 p.m. on Thursday. If UNC wins Tuesday and the Yellow Jackets lose Wednesday to Virginia, that Carolina-Virginia game would be for a berth in the semifinals.
Carolina will not only avoid being in the same ACC tournament round-robin pool as No. 1 Wake Forest, but the Tar Heels also wouldn’t have to face the Deacons until the championship game. That was the good news for the Tar Heels after they lost their fourth consecutive game, and Clemson finished off a three-game sweep of their regular-season-ending series on Saturday.
Carolina finally pitched well throughout a game against No. 7 Clemson, but the Tar Heels couldn’t deal with versatile Tigers star Caden Grice. Grice, who usually plays first base, beat UNC from the mound and the plate as the Tigers finished off a sweep of the regular-season-ending three-game series with a 3–1 victory Saturday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium for their 12th consecutive victory.
Carolina battled a red-hot Clemson team well on Friday night, but lost a heartbreaker in the ninth inning. After the Tar Heels tied it in the top of the ninth, Blake Wright ended the game with an RBI single to right with two outs in the bottom of the inning to give No. 7 Clemson a 5–4 victory Friday for the series win and the Tigers’ 11th consecutive win.
Without star center fielder Vance Honeycutt and a rough outing for right-hander Max Carlson, it was a long night in Clemson for North Carolina. The No. 7 Tigers scored six runs of Carlson in the first two innings and rolled to a 14–7 victory Thursday over the Tar Heels at Doug Kingsmore Stadium for their 10th consecutive victory. UNC didn’t go down quietly, though, scoring four runs and getting six of its 15 hits in the ninth inning.
Entering North Carolina’s big regular-season-ending three-game series at No. 7 Clemson, the Tar Heels still have a shot at winning the ACC Coastal Division title while still being projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels (33–18, 14–11 ACC) would need to sweep the Tigers (36–17, 17–10) and get help to win the division.
As North Carolina tried to work its way through the one-game player suspensions, the short-handed Tar Heels couldn’t generate enough offense without four big bats missing from the lineup. The Tar Heels took an early three-run lead, but No. 8 Coastal Carolina quickly took control on its way to an 8–6 victory Tuesday night at Springs Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C., to end their five-game win streak.
North Carolina’s weekend sweep of N.C. State didn’t get the Tar Heels back in the D1 Baseball Top 25, but gave them an outside shot at winning the ACC Coastal Division title entering a week featuring two opponents ranked in the top eight nationally.
CHAPEL HILL — From suicide-squeezing in the game-ending run in the opener to a pair of blowout victories, North Carolina’s three-game sweep of N.C. State showed that the Tar Heels have the potential to repeat the May magic of a year ago. A year after flipping the switch and surging to the ACC title before hosting a regional and a Super Regional, UNC — after never reaching low points quite as dire — appears to have flipped the switch faster than a Mac Horvath drive shoots over the outfield wall.
CHAPEL HILL — Suddenly, Carolina’s previously struggling starting pitching is tough to beat, although N.C. State did all that it could to stop right-hander Jake Knapp on Saturday. Before the fourth inning, the Wolfpack requested that the umpires check Knapp’s cap, glove and hands for sticky substances. The short investigation produced a smile and a laugh from Knapp but no substances. And he resumed sticking it to State batters in his best outing as a Tar Heel.
CHAPEL HILL — A different Max Carlson took the mound Friday in his first start after three weeks in the Carolina bullpen. N.C. State couldn’t handle this version, but not that many teams could have. The junior right-hander showed the talent that made him the No. 1 starter heading into the season and got plenty of offensive support as UNC pounded rival N.C. State 9–3 Friday at a sold-out Boshamer Stadium for its fourth straight win to earn a second consecutive series victory over the Wolfpack.
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