North Carolina jumped four spots to No. 8 in the D1 Baseball Top 25 after winning two of three games last weekend in an emotional series at Virginia Tech.

CHAPEL HILL — Pitching ruled on Sunday at Boshamer Stadium, and No. 16 North Carolina’s edge there and superior defense were the difference in earning the Tar Heels’ first ACC series sweep of the season

CHAPEL HILL — A couple of weeks after No. 16 North Carolina’s offensive doldrums left plenty of questions about the team’s ceiling, the Tar Heels have found their offense and look like a threat to make it to Omaha for a second consecutive season.

CHAPEL HILL — Fourteen innings, the most in a UNC-Duke game in nearly 61 years, were more than enough for Alex Madera. He drove the 466th pitch that took a bounce off the glove of Duke second baseman Jake Berger. The error scored Tyson Bass (top photo) from second base to give No. 19 North Carolina a marathon 8–7 victory at Boshamer Stadium on Saturday to take two of three from the Blue Devils.

CHAPEL HILL — Excellent pitching and just enough offense has been a dependable formula in ACC play for No. 19 North Carolina. On Thursday, the Tar Heels mixed in smart base running and an outstanding defensive play to hold on for the win.

CHAPEL HILL — The choppy start to No. 21 North Carolina’s ACC season continued as the Tar Heels’ offense hit a weekend skid. UNC already had their second consecutive ACC series win secured, thanks to good pitching in the first two games, but couldn’t finish off the sweep. Miami got only its second league win of the season by riding a three-run ninth-inning rally to a 4–2 win Sunday at Boshamer Stadium.

CHAPEL HILL — Jason DeCaro’s reputation as a big-time Friday starter is only improving. The 6–5 sophomore right-hander was efficient in a career-high 7⅔ innings as No. 5 North Carolina extended its unbeaten streak to 10 with season-highs of 16 runs and 17 hits in a 16–2 thumping of Stony Brook at Boshamer Stadium on Friday.

CHAPEL HILL — The momentum from last season’s College World Series run just keeps rolling along for No. 5 North Carolina, which is off to its best start in 12 seasons. In his first homer since a memorable game-ending grand slam during that run, sophomore third baseman Gavin Gallaher ripped a two-run shot 397 feet over the left-center field. That fifth-inning shot gave the Tar Heels (9–0) the lead for good in a 13–4 victory Wednesday at Boshamer Stadium on a day that freshman designated hitter Perry Hargett had an impressive college debut with three hits, one homer and four RBI.

UNC sophomore catcher Luke Stevenson ended the Tar Heels’ five-game homerless drought as the unbeaten No. 6 Tar Heels rolled to an 11–6 victory Sunday before 3,940 fans at Boshamer Stadium.

No. 6 North Carolina got clutch hitting and made the big pitches to get out of jams as the Tar Heels extended their season-opening win streak to five games. The Tar Heels won the first game of a three-day, three-city series 2–0 over East Carolina on a chilly afternoon before a crowd of 6,695 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park to snap a two-game losing streak against the Pirates, who left 10 runners on base.

CHAPEL HILL — The tall and short of it was that No. 6 North Carolina made quite a statement with its three-game opening-series sweep of Texas Tech.

The ACC drastically changed the league’s baseball tournament format on Wednesday, with all 16 teams making a single-elimination tournament.