ACC tournament semifinals: Upsets take out top seeds, leaving Duke, Wake among final four
Semifinal Saturday at the ACC baseball tournament features none of the tournament’s top four seeds as the league’s depth has been on display in Charlotte.
After outlasting top-seed North Carolina in extra innings Friday night, No. 8 seed Wake Forest joins No. 5 seed Florida State, No. 6 seed Duke and No. 11 seed Miami as the final four teams standing in the quest for the league championship at Truist Field.
Nick Kurtz blasted a two-run home run in the 12th inning, after his two-out, two-strike double in the top of the ninth tied the game, as Wake Forest upset UNC, 9-5, on Friday night.
That gave the Demon Deacons the best record among the three Pool A teams.
Earlier on Friday in Charlotte, Florida State slugged its way past Virginia, 12-7, to win Pool D and set up today’s 1 p.m. semifinal game with Wake Forest.
Duke captured Pool C with its 8-1 win over No. 3 seed N.C. State on Thursday night. Miami defeated No. 2 seed Clemson, 8-7, earlier Thursday to win Pool B. The Hurricanes beat Louisville, 8-5, on Tuesday’s first day of pool play.
While Wake Forest (38-19), Florida State (42-14) and Duke (38-18) are all safe to make the 64-team field for the NCAA Tournament, Miami is the true bid-stealer still left in the ACC field. The Hurricanes (27-29) need to pull upsets over Duke today and in Sunday’s championship game against either Wake Forest or Florida State to earn the league’s automatic berth and continue their season.
Tournament schedule
Tuesday’s results
Miami 8, Louisville 5
Florida State 12, Georgia Tech 9
Duke 11, Virginia Tech 8
Wednesday’s results
Virginia 13, Georgia Tech 0
Wake Forest 8, Pittsburgh 1
N.C. State 19, Virginia Tech, 9
Thursday’s results
Miami 8, Clemson 7
North Carolina 12, Pittsburgh 2
Duke 8, N.C. State 1
Friday’s results
Florida State 12, Virginia 7
Clemson 8, Louisville 7
Wake Forest 9, North Carolina 5 (12 innings)
Saturday’s semifinals
Wake Forest vs. Florida State, 1 p.m. (ACC Network)
Duke vs. Miami, 5 p.m. (ACC Network)
Sunday’s game
Championship, noon (ESPN2)
Pool standings
Pool A | |
(8) Wake Forest | 2-0 |
(1) North Carolina | 1-1 |
(12) Pitt | 0-2 |
Pool B | |
(11) Miami | 2-0 |
(2) Clemson | 1-1 |
(7) Louisville | 1-1 |
Pool C | |
(6) Duke | 2-0 |
(3) NC State | 1-1 |
(10) Virginia Tech | 0-2 |
Pool D | |
(5) Florida State | 2-0 |
(4) Virginia | 1-1 |
(9) Georgia Tech | 0-2 |