UNC faces top-seeded Virginia Tech for final spot in ACC baseball tournament semifinals
The final pool play game of the ACC baseball tournament will determine the final spot in Saturday’s semifinals. No. 8 seed North Carolina takes on top-seeded Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. on Friday at Truist Field in Charlotte.
The remaining three semifinal slots were claimed by No. 10 seed N.C. State and No. 11 seed Pittsburgh, which will play Saturday’s 5 p.m. game. The winner of the Tar Heels and Hokies matchup will advance to take on No. 4 seed Notre Dame in Saturday’s 1 p.m. game.
Carolina, which last claimed the ACC tournament title in 2019, hasn’t played since its 9-2 win over Clemson on Tuesday night, but has won 12 of its last 14 games.
The Heels lost their season series with the Hokies 2-1 at the beginning of April. UNC coach Scott Forbes told The News & Observer on Monday that his team has grown since that loss.
“At that point, we weren’t getting much more than three innings from our starters (pitching),” Forbes said. “And although our bullpen was good, it was a hard thing to manage because your bullpen is gonna get worn out. I would say the other thing is, we’ve really improved defensively.”
In the Heels’ win over Clemson, starting pitcher Max Carlson gave up one run in six innings. UNC will start southpaw pitcher Brandon Schaeffer (6-2, 4.15 ERA) against the Hokies. Forbes said he has the philosophy to use whoever he needs from the bullpen to win on Friday, because if they don’t win, they don’t advance.
“They’re hard to match up against from the standpoint that they hit right handers, left handers, they’re distributed throughout the order,” Forbes said. “They’ve got a couple of really high draft picks and (Tanner) Schobel and (Gavin) Cross and their two starters have thrown extremely well this year.”
How to watch?
The game will be televised on Bally Sports/Regional Sports Network or click here for the live stream on ACCX. The game will also be broadcast locally on WCHL 97.9FM radio or can be streamed through the Varsity Sports Network app on any mobile device.
UNC vs. Virginia Tech
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Truist Field, Charlotte
This story was originally published May 27, 2022 at 6:10 AM.