UNC, NC State pound their way to important ACC baseball tournament wins
Just as North Carolina did in Tuesday’s preceding ACC Tournament game, N.C. State used a powerful burst of early offense to fuel a much-needed win.
The difference is the Wolfpack saw its big lead disappear before the offense awakened in extra innings.
The Wolfpack tallied seven runs while Duke used four pitchers over the first three innings before the Blue Devils rallied and finally tied the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.
But freshman Cannon Peebles’ RBI single in the top of the 11th inning proved to be the difference in the N.C. State’s 8-7 win over the Blue Devils at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Seeded No. 9 in the ACC Tournament, N.C. State (35-18) strengthened its chances to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team.
“We’ve got a great team in a great league,” NC State coach Elliott Avent said. “Everybody always asks me, ‘Are we in? Are we in?.’ That’s a big question. If we’re not in, I just don’t understand the whole concept.”
The secondary meaning to Tuesday’s thrilling pool play win is the Wolfpack may not need to worry about the selection committee’s whims.
The win over No. 5 seed Duke (35-20) means if N.C. State beats No. 4 seed Miami (37-18) on Thursday at 7 p.m., the Wolfpack will win Pool D and earn a spot in Saturday’s ACC Tournament semifinals.
UNC is also one win away from an ACC Tournament semifinal appearance after the No. 7 seeded Tar Heels blasted No. 11 seed Georgia Tech, 11-5, on Tuesday afternoon at the DBAP.
Having halted the four-game losing streak it carried into the postseason, UNC (34-21) just needs to beat No. 2 seed Virginia at 3 p.m. Thursday to win Pool B.
“We finished the regular season kind of with the mindset of every game is a playoff game,” said UNC’s Mac Horvath, who smacked his 22nd home run of the season in the Tar Heels win. “So we just kind of continued that mindset of it’s kind of like win or go home. We’re playing every game like it’s gonna be our last game.”
In pounding Georgia Tech (30-26), UNC scored three runs in the first inning and never trailed.
N.C. State took a similar route to its win over Duke. The Wolfpack took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first before the Blue Devils recorded an out. LuJames Groover’s two-run homer put the Wolfpack ahead.
N.C. State added two runs in the second inning and three more in the third to build a 7-1 lead as Duke coach Chris Pollard used four pitchers to get the first nine outs.
The Wolfpack offense stalled from there, failing to collect another hit over the next six innings.
Duke chipped away at the lead before MJ Metz blasted a one-out, two-run home run to tie the game at 7-7 in the ninth inning.
But Noah Soles singled to lead off the NC State 11th inning and, after two wild pitches, scored on Peebles’ single to center to provide the game-winning run.
Though armed with a No. 26 RPI that appears to ensure an NCAA Tournament bid if it doesn’t win the ACC championship, the Wolfpack went 13-16 in ACC regular-season play and was just 9-15 against RPI Top 50 teams.
Beating Duke gives NC State another top-50 win with another opportunity to shore up that portion of the resume ahead on Thursday against Miami.
Duke stranded seven runners over the sixth, seventh and eighth innings against N.C. State as it attempted to chase down the Wolfpack. That included leaving the bases loaded in the eighth inning when Andrew Fischer was called out on strikes.
Metz changed that with his blast into the right-centerfield seats. But after Duke’s fifth pitcher, Fran Oschell, hurled four scoreless innings, Jimmy Romano allowed the Wolfpack to score in the 11th inning.
The loss continued a May slide by the Blue Devils. After starting the month ranked No. 10 nationally, Duke has lost seven of 11 games to fall out of the rankings.
Now in danger of not being awarded the top 16 national seed that would mean home games in an NCAA Tournament regional appearance, Duke will close its ACC Tournament play against Miami on Friday before turning its full attention to the NCAA Tournament.
In Tuesday’s first pool play game, No. 6 seed Boston College beat No. 10 seed Virginia Tech, 11-7, in Pool C.
The Eagles (35-17) need a win over No. 3 seed Clemson in their 11 a.m. game on Friday to win the pool and reach the semifinals.
On Wednesday, the ACC Tournament’s second day of games begins win No. 1 seed Wake Forest, the nation’s top-ranked team, facing No. 12 seed Pittsburgh in Pool A. Virginia plays Georgia Tech at 3 p.m. followed by Clemson and Virginia Tech at 7 p.m.
The winners of the four pools advance to the Saturday’s semifinals, which are set for 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
The tournament championship game is Sunday at noon on ESPN2. ACC Network is televising all other tournament games.