UNC Baseball: Schedule Change at the ACC Baseball Tournament
By Jordan Falls
The UNC baseball team has advanced to the ACC Semifinals at the ACC Baseball Tournament in Durham, but the weather could play a factor on Saturday’s schedule.
The UNC baseball program has had a successful week in Durham at the ACC tournament as they have secured wins over no. 11 seed Georgia Tech and no. 2 seed Virginia to advance to the ACC Semifinals.
In both games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP), the Carolina offense scored double-digit runs, putting ten on the Yellow Jackets, and eleven on the Cavaliers.
The Tar Heels came into the ACC Tournament to improve their NCAA Tournament resume and potentially play themselves into hosting a regional. While hosting a regional is a long shot, with an undefeated week in the ACC Tournament, possibly including wins over Virginia, Clemson, and No. 1 Wake Forest, it’s possible that there could be June baseball at The Bosh.
Well, UNC baseball is halfway there with their 2-0 record in pool play. Now, they head to the ACC semifinals to face No. 3 seed Clemson, which was originally scheduled for 5:00 PM on Saturday. However, there is bad weather in the forecast for the weekend which could have an impact on the tournament being finished. Yesterday, the ACC announced a plan to determine the automatic qualifier if the tournament couldn’t be completed.
From the ACC:
— Conor O'Neill (@ConorONeill_DI) May 25, 2023
In the event pool play is not completed, the No. 1 seed will be the auto-bid.
If pool play is completed, team with best record in ACC Championship would be auto-bid.
If teams in semifinal or championship game have same record, highest seed gets auto-bid.
On Friday morning, speculation began to circulate around the area that the ACC could look into using multiple ballparks in the triangle area (UNC, NC State, or the DBAP) to play both games at the same time during a window when there would be a break in the rain.
There's a rumor about discussions to play the semifinals simultaneously if there is a weather window by using a second site. Nothing official from the ACC, though.
— R.L. Bynum (@r.l.bynum on Threads) (@RL_Bynum) May 26, 2023
Once the ACC Semifinals were set with Clemson beating No. 6 seed Boston College 4-1 on Friday morning, the ACC then began to move into a plan for Saturday. The original schedule meant No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 4 Miami playing at 1:00 PM with no. 3 Clemson and no. 7 North Carolina to follow at 5:00 PM. That plan has now included moving both games to 1:00 PM, with Wake Forest and Miami heading to Chapel Hill to play at Boshamer Stadium while Clemson and Carolina will stay at the DBAP.
The ACC announces Saturday’s semifinals will be played at 1 p.m. at DBAP and Boshamer Stadium. UNC-Clemson will be at DBAP, and Wake-Miami will be at the Bosh.
— Pat James (@patjames24) May 26, 2023
Once the rumor began on Friday morning to utilize multiple stadiums, one could’ve assumed that Carolina would not get to play at The Bosh. As nice as that would’ve been, the ACC was going to be sure to do everything they could to keep a neutral site for all teams involved.
The Tar Heels versus Tigers matchup will be featured on ACC Network and Wake Forest versus Miami can be found on ACC Network Extra. The winners will advance to the ACC Championship game on Sunday, which is scheduled for 1:00 PM on ESPN2. There is also weather in the forecast on Sunday as well, so that’ll be something to watch for any team that advances, but definitely, something for UNC baseball fans to keep an eye on.
Next. UNC Baseball: Vance Honeycutt doubtful for ACC Tournament. dark
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