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DURHAM — North Carolina’s pitching didn’t hold up in the early innings in a 10–4 loss to Clemson in the ACC tournament semifinal on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Tar Heels (35–22) were bounced after winning their two pool-play games, but they couldn’t defend their tournament title from a year ago.
If rain washes out the rest of the ACC tournament, even Carolina’s big victory over Virginia probably isn’t enough for the Tar Heels to be an NCAA tournament regional host. UNC (35–21) is up to 27th in the RPI after that 10–2 victory over No. 12-ranked Virginia on Thursday, but only 16 teams are hosts.
DURHAM — If the bad weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday is accurate, the outlook for North Carolina winning its second consecutive ACC title isn’t good. If the league cannot complete the ACC tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, it will award the championship to the team with the best record in the tournament. The title will go to the highest-seeded team if there’s a tie.
DURHAM — Neither Carolina nor Virginia started their top pitchers, but junior Tar Heels right-hander Jake Knapp performed like an ace on a day when UNC poured on the offense. Knapp struck out five in 5⅔ innings as No. 7-seed UNC beat No. 12-ranked and No. 2-seed Virginia 10–2 to earn a spot in Saturday’s ACC tournament semifinals to snap the Cavaliers’ 10-game win streak.
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.
With Coach Brian Kalbas’ Carolina women’s tennis team winning the NCAA title on Saturday, here is a look at the University of National Champions by the numbers.
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.
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