The UNC baseball program moves on to the 2025 ACC Tournament Semifinals!
On Friday night, the Diamond Heels defeated Boston College by a final score of 7-2. While the score doesn't show it, this game was an extremely competitive one through seven innings of play.
Boston College was playing for its season, needing to win the ACC Tournament to earn a bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament. They turned the ball over to ace AJ Colarusso, who was working on just two days rest, and the left-hander certainly delivered.
Expecting Colarusso to throw around 50-60 pitches, Boston College rolled with their ace, and rightly so. He held the Tar Heels scoreless into the seventh inning, as the 2-0 lead the Eagles built seemed to be a tall task for the Diamond Heels to erase.
However, North Carolina showed us once again that no lead is insurmountable.
In the bottom half of the seventh inning, the Tar Heels scored five runs to take their first lead of the game. With the bases loaded, captain Jackson Van De Brake ripped a double down the right field line, scoring two to tie the game. A few pitches later, Kane Kepley scored on a wild pitch, which would be followed by RBI singles by Luke Stevenson and Lee Sowers.
Looking for some extra insurance, Stevenson got the job done. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Stevenson blasted a two-run homer to right center field, putting the game securely out of reach.
While you can make the case that Jake Knapp didn't have his best stuff, he was still very efficient and effective for the Tar Heels. North Carolina's ace threw seven strong innings, allowing just two runs, and handed the ball over to freshman Walker McDuffie to close out the final two innings.
Now, the UNC baseball program heads to the ACC Tournament semifinals, where a rematch with Florida State awaits them. It hasn't been long since these two teams met on the diamond, as North Carolina took two of three games from the nationally ranked Seminoles in Tallahassee this past weekend.
First pitch in Durham is scheduled for 5:00 PM EST. The winner will advance to Sunday's final and will face the winner of the other semifinal matchup between Clemson and Georgia Tech.