The ACC is one of the strongest baseball conferences this year, with a total of seven teams ranked in the top 25.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship has come to an end as Duke takes the ACC title after defeating Florida State during Sunday's championship game.
The ACC is one of the strongest baseball conferences this year, with a total of seven teams ranked in the top 25.
In a game that had nothing but pride on the line, Clemson came back from a big deficit to edge Louisville 8-7 on Friday afternoon.
The Tigers trailed 6-0 before rallying and won the game on a bases-loaded, walk-off walk.
With Clemson behind 7-4 in the bottom of the eighth, Jimmy Obertop hit a three-run home run to tie the game and set up the final heroics.
It was Clemson's 23rd comeback win of the year.
James Tibbs III hit his team-leading 25th homer of the season and 52nd of his career, and No. 5 seed Florida State advanced to the ACC Tournament semifinals with a 12-7 victory over fourth-seeded Virginia on Friday.
Tibbs, the ACC player of the year, went 2 for 3 with five RBIs. He gave Florida State (41-14) the lead in the fourth inning on a two-run single and then walked with the bases loaded in the fifth to make it 4-1. He added a sacrifice fly to begin a seven-run seventh inning.
Daniel Cantu highlighted the top of the seventh with a long shot to the wall that centerfielder Bobby Whalen appeared to catch but the ball fell out of his glove. Cantu raced for a triple and two scored for a 9-2 lead.
Virginia (41-15) responded by hitting three home runs in an inning for the third time this season to make it 11-7. But the Cavaliers intentionally walked Cam Smith to load the bases with one out in the eighth to face Tibbs, who delivered with a deep drive into the seats.
Tibbs is tied with Mike McGee for the fifth-most homers in FSU history.
Jamie Arnold (10-3) turned in another quality start for Florida State, allowing two earned runs with nine strikeouts across six innings. Brennen Oxford secured his fifth save.
Virginia starter Joe Savino (2-2) allowed four runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Associated Press contributed.
Duke and NC State played Thursday night for a spot in the semifinals.
Each team has won a game in pool play. The winner of this game advances.
The No. 3 seeded Wolfpack polished off Virginia Tech 19-9 on Wednesday. in a run-rule eight-inning affair.
Duke, the No. 6 seed, beat the Hokies 11-8 on Tuesday.
Through four innings, State and Duke remained scoreless but Duke's Chase Krewson opened the top of the fifth with a solo home run to give the Blue Devils the 1-0 lead.
The Blue Devils then loaded the bases with no outs and second baseman Zac Morris crushed a grand slam to center-left field to break the game open and give Duke a 5-0 lead. AJ Gracia then added a shot to make it 6-0 in a monstrous inning for the Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils tacked on two more in the top of the sixth to make it 8-0.
The Wolfpack is down to its last chance, batting in the bottom of the ninth.
The Pack gets a run in, but they still trail 8-1.
And it's a final. Duke advances to the semifinals with an 8-1 victory. The Blue Devils will play No. 11 seed Miami at 5 p.m. Saturday.
The University of North Carolina baseball team began its 2024 ACC Baseball Championship with three straight home runs.
Anthony Donofrio, Casey Cook, and Parks Harber all went yard in the top of the first. Luke Stevenson then struck out, but Alberto Osuna reignited the scoring with yet another solo homerun.
The Tar Heels put up 4 runs in the first inning, without possibly their best player even in the lineup. Vance Honeycutt, a high first-round MLB Draft prospect, who leads the Tar Heels in home runs and stolen bases, was not in the starting lineup.
No official reason was given for Honeycutt's absence.
On the ACC Network, UNC Coach Scott Forbes tried to downplay Honeycutt's absence.
"To advance we have to win tomorrow night, so I just wanted to give him some time to get those spasms under control," he said.
Ultimately, the game did not matter. With Pitt losing its first game against Wake Forest, the only game that could affect which team in Pool A advances to the semifinals is the game Friday at 7 p.m. between UNC and No. 8 seed Wake Forest.
North Carolina did end up winning with a final score of 12-2.
Cook hit two home runs, and pitcher Jason DeCaro gave up two runs over seven innings.
DeCaro gave up five hits and a walk with six strikeouts. Kyle Percival and Connor Bovair each pitched a scoreless inning of relief for North Carolina.
UNC swept the Panthers in Chapel Hill to open conference play and has won seven straight against them since Pitt beat the Tar Heels in the 2021 ACC Tournament.
The Associated Press contributed.
