ACC Baseball Tournament Finals Projections: Schedules, results and more
The ACC baseball tournament is on its third day of college baseball pool play on Thursday at Truist Field in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Three teams – No. 9 Georgia Tech, No. 10 Virginia Tech and No. 12 Pittsburgh – have waved goodbye to their ACC baseball championship intentions as they each lost twice already in their respective pools.
On the other hand, No. 11 Miami has clinched a spot in the semifinals after surprising No. 2 Clemson and No. 7 Louisville in Pool B. No. 6 Duke pulled off wins over No. 10 Virginia Tech and No. 3 NC State in Pool C play to make the last four as well.
Top-seed North Carolina and No. 8 Wake Forest were impressive in Pool A matchups and will clash for the last-four slot on Friday. The Pool D semifinal slot is also at stake as Virginia and Florida State won over Georgia Tech and will meet each other on Friday morning.
The winners of each pool will clash in the semifinals on Saturday and the ACC championship will be held on Sunday, 12:00 p.m. ET.
ACC baseball tournament scores and schedule
The first three days of pool play have been full of surprises, especially in Pool B. No. 11 Miami opened pool play with a stunning upset of No. 7 Louisville, 8-5.
No. 5 Florida State notched their first win in Pool D as they outclassed No. 9 Georgia Tech, 12-9. No. 6 Duke also clinched its first victory in Pool C as it came back from five runs down to beat No. 10 Virginia Tech, 11-8.
The second day saw lopsided wins with No. 4 Virginia ousting No. 9 Georgia Tech, 13-0 in seven innings in Pool D while No. 8 Wake Forest zoomed to an 8-1 triumph over No. 12 Pittsburgh in Pool A. Then, No. 3 NC State overwhelmed No. 10 Virginia Tech, 19-9 booting the Hokies out of Pool C.
Day 3 saw Miami continuing its giant-killing ways with a win over Clemson, 8-7. The Hurricanes' upset of the Tigers handed them a Pool B semifinal slot in the ACC Tournament. No. 1 North Carolina arranged a winner-take-all clash with Wake Forest in Pool A with a 12-2 victory over Pittsburgh. Duke clinched the Pool C last-four berth with an 8-1 win over NC State.
The fourth day of play on Saturday will see Virginia and Florida State fighting for the Pool D semifinal berth at 11:00 a.m. ET. Meanwhile, Clemson and Louisville will battle it out in a no-bearing game at 3:00 p.m. ET. No. 1 North Carolina and No. 8 Wake Forest cap off the Pool A festivities with a match for the semifinal slot at 7:00 p.m. ET.
ACC baseball tournament finals prediction
Miami and Duke will face each other in their semifinal clash on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. This will be held after the first semifinal game between the winners of Pool A and Pool D at 1:00 p.m. ET.
The winners of the semifinals will play each other in the ACC championship on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. ET with ESPN2 covering the game live on television.
On paper, Duke should have no problem beating Miami in their semifinal duel, but the Hurricanes have upset higher-ranked teams Louisville and Clemson to pick up the Pool B semifinal seat. Virginia and North Carolina are expected to top Pool D and Pool A, respectively, and arrange a last-four clash. If the Tar Heels win their Pool A game against Wake Forest, they could dominate Virginia in the semifinal and meet Duke in the finale.
The final will be tough to call as both teams are known for their hitting abilities. The game will likely boil down to defense with North Carolina winning, 4-3 to win the ACC Tournament title.
Who do you think will win the ACC baseball championship this year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.