ACC Baseball Tournament 2023: Thursday Scores, Updated Bracket and Schedule
The 2023 ACC baseball tournament continued Thursday with pool play at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina.
The top teams from the four pools will move on to compete in the ACC tournament semifinals on Saturday with a berth in Sunday's championship game on the line.
The No. 1 seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons kicked off Thursday's slate with a 10-2 victory over the No. 12 seeded Pitt Panthers in Pool A action. Wake Forest is the No. 1 team in the country in D1Baseball.com's Top 25, so their dominance in Thursday's game comes as little surprise.
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Matchups between the No. 7 seeded North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers and No. 4 Miami Hurricanes and No. 9 NC State Wolfpack are also on tap for Thursday.
With the semifinals on the horizon, here's a recap of Thursday's pool action.
Thursday Results
- No. 1 Wake Forest def. No. 12 Pitt Panthers, 10-2
- No. 7 North Carolina def. No. 2 Virginia, 10-2
- No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 7 North Carolina, 3 p.m. ET
- No. 4 Miami vs. No. 9 NC State, 7 p.m. ET
Wake Forest 10, Pitt 2
Wake Forest was dominant from the start to kick off Thursday's action, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning on RBI from left fielder Lucas Costello, second baseman Justin Johnson and right fielder Pierce Bennett.
Pitt responded early with an RBI from first baseman Noah Martinez in the bottom of the first inning, but the Demon Deacons tacked on three more runs in the top of third on home runs by third baseman Brock Wilken and catcher Bennett Lee.
Wake Forest added another run in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Bennett before tacking on three runs in the top of the ninth on a home run by designated hitter Danny Corona and an RBI single from center fielder Tommy Hawke.
Pitt's only other run came on a home run by left fielder Dom Popa in the top of the eighth inning.
Wake Forest starting pitcher Rhett Lowder was impressive in Thursday's win, allowing only one earned run on three hits and striking out six batters in seven innings.
Wake Forest will return to action Friday against No. 8 Notre Dame at 7 p.m. ET looking to lock up the top spot in Pool A.
North Carolina 10, Virginia 2
North Carolina lost the regular-season series to Virginia, but the Tar Heels got the last laugh with a 10-2 win over the Cavaliers on Thursday.
It was a dominant showing for UNC as the bats erupted for 10 hits and three extra-base hits.
After scoring a run in the top of the first inning on an error, the Tar Heels followed it up with three runs in the top of the fourth inning driven in by first baseman Hunter Stokely, designated hitter Alberto Osuna and shortstop Colby Wilkerson to take a 4-1 lead.
North Carolina tacked on another three runs in the top of the seventh inning on a two-RBI single from catcher Tomas Frick and an RBI single from left fielder Patrick Alvarez. Frick also drove in three runs in the top of the eighth with a double to center field.
First baseman Ethan Anderson provided half of Virginia's run production with a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Tar Heels starting pitcher Jake Knapp allowed one earned run on five hits and struck out five batters through 5.2 innings. He was replaced by Dalton Pence, who allowed two hits and struck out three in 3.1 innings.
Miami 4, N.C. State 2
Avenging their loss to the Wolfpack in the ACC Tournament last year, the Hurricanes came out the gate strong in their tournament debut on Thursday night with a 4-2 victory in what was essentially a home game for NC State in Durham.
Miami got things going early as Edgardo Villegas stepped up to the plate and hit a two-run homer in the top of the first inning to give his squad an early lead.
It wouldn't last long, however, as Eli Serrano tied it up in the bottom half of the inning with a two-RBI single and gave some life to the Wolfpack's offense.
But it didn't seem to fire them up much after that as N.C. State's bats went ice cold.
Following a tough first inning, Miami pitcher Gage Ziehl really settled into the game, going 4.2 innings and allowing just those two runs with five strikeouts and three walks. He then got great backup from the rest of the Hurricane's bullpen, which shut the Wolfpack out the rest of the night.
Closer Andrew Walters was particularly good. The First-Team All-ACC selection continued his incredible regular season form by giving 2.1 innings of relief, only allowing one hit and striking out three batters.
The Hurricanes' offense would tack on two more runs, first in the fourth inning off a Dorian Gonzalez RBI-single and then a final insurance run in the eighth off a pass ball from N.C. State pitcher Justin Lawson.
Miami will now play Duke on Friday on the final day of pool play with a chance to advance to the tournament semifinals.
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