Which ACC teams have won the College World Series? Deep dive into the NCAA baseball history
The Atlantic Coast Conference or the ACC has figured prominently in this year's College World Series with four of its teams—North Carolina, Florida State, NC State and Virginia—aiming to become the third in conference history to win the national championship. They will face four other Southeastern Conference (SEC) teams, namely Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Florida.
The last ACC schools to win the championship were Virginia in 2015 and Wake Forest in 1955. Let's take a look at how the Cavaliers and Demon Deacons won their respective titles.
Wake Forest rules 1955 CWS to hand ACC its first title
Wake Forest captured its only national baseball title when the Demon Deacons ruled the 1955 CWS. The Taylor Sanford-coached squad, who went 24-6 (11-3 in ACC) during that season, qualified after winning two three-game series in the District III Tournament in Morgantown, West Virginia.
At the CWS, they competed against Arizona, Colgate, Colorado State College, Oklahoma A&M, Springfield, Southern California and Western Michigan. They won their first two games against Colgate (1-0) and Colorado State College (10-0).
They encountered a speed bump when they lost to Western Michigan (9-0). However, the Demon Deacons won their second game against the Broncos (10-7) to arrange a duel with Oklahoma A&M.
The Demon Deacons prevailed over the Cowboys (2-0) in the preliminary en route to the final; where they met Western Michigan again. Wake Forest emerged victorious (7-6) and brought home that year's title.
Virginia edges Vanderbilt in three games to win 2015 CWS
Sixty years after Wake Forest won the first CWS title for ACC, it was Virginia's turn to make history. The Cavaliers made it to the NCAA Baseball Tournament after being chosen by the selection committee as one of the best at-large teams that stood out in the 2015 season.
Virginia was bracketed in the Lake Elsinore Regional where they beat USC, San Diego State and USC again in the regional final to arrange a super regional duel with Maryland. The Cavaliers swept the Terrapins (2-0) in a best-of-three clash to make it to the CWS, where they were bracketed with Arkansas, Miami and Florida.
The Cavaliers opened their campaign with a win over Arkansas (5-3), and entered the semifinals after winning against Florida (1-0). They met the Gators anew in the semifinals after Florida won over Miami in the second round (10-2).
The Gators forced a deciding game after winning their first match (10-5). However, the Cavaliers proved to be stronger in tense situations as they claimed the winner-take-all game (5-4).
The win propelled Virginia to the CWS final where they met Vanderbilt in a best-of-three showdown. The Commodores took Game 1 with a beatdown (5-1), but the Cavaliers won the next two games (3-0 and 4-2) to capture its first national championship in college baseball.
Josh Sborz was recognized as the Most Outstanding Player in the series as he shared All-Tournament Team honors with teammates Brandon Waddell, Ernie Clement, Kenny Towns and Daniel Pinero. Kade Scivicque (LSU), Zander Wiel (Vanderbilt), Bryan Reynolds (Vanderbilt), Harrison Bader (Florida), Jacob Heyward (Miami) and Connor Wanhanen (TCU) were also selected to the All-Tournament Team.