UNC Baseball program clinches No. 1 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament
The ACC Regular Season title and the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament belong to Scott Forbes and the UNC baseball program!
The ACC regular season title and No. 1 seed belong to us!!!#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/HQ2gDqfXPU
— Carolina Baseball (@DiamondHeels) May 17, 2024
Heading into the weekend, the Diamond Heels needed one win against Duke over the three-game series to secure both titles. After suffering a loss on Thursday night, the Tar Heels responded on Friday with a come-from-behind victory.
The UNC baseball program took an early 1-0 lead, but the Blue Devils responded with a three-run bottom of the third inning. An RBI double off the bat of Casey Cook followed by a Parks Harber RBI single gave the Diamond Heels the lead in the fifth inning, as Duke responded to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth inning.
With the game tied heading into the ninth inning, it was the Diamond Heels who found a way to manufacture runs.
Harber drove in Vance Honeycutt on a sacrifice fly to give the Tar Heels the lead, while Anthony Donofrio added some cushion with a RBI double. Dalton Pence, who entered the game in the eighth inning and got out of a huge jam, stayed on to close out the win for North Carolina.
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FINAL: @DiamondHeels beat Duke 6-4 to clinch the ACC regular-season title. Dalton Pence finishes it with 2 K in a scoreless ninth, after escaping that 8th inning jam with another K. Heels rallied in T9 to break a 4-4 tie. Great ballgame between 2 very good Omaha-caliber clubs. pic.twitter.com/x1toHlN5KK
— Aaron Fitt (@aaronfitt) May 17, 2024
The UNC baseball program will be the top seed in the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2018. If you recall, that is also the last time the Diamond Heels made a trip to Omaha.
Hopefully, this is a sign of very good things to come for the UNC baseball program over the next few weeks.
North Carolina will close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon as they look to win the rubber game of the three-game set against the rival Duke Blue Devils. First pitch in Durham is scheduled for 1:00 PM EST.