ACC Baseball Championship 2012: NC State Will Win Bout of North Carolina Schools

North Carolina State and North Carolina will take the ACC baseball diamond tonight, but don't expect the Tar Heels to stomp on the Wolfpack tonight.

I know, not the most subtle of puns, but you get the point.

The Wolfpack haven't won the ACC title in over two decades. However, with their recent victory over Miami, and Carlos Rodon, the 2012 ACC Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, set to take the mound against the Heels, State looks ready to book their reservations for the tournament's final game. Rodon currently boasts a conference-best 1.59 ERA and an unblemished 9-0 record on the season.

North Carolina is coming off a recent victory over Wake Forest where the 'Heels pitchers combined for a four-hit shut out over their opponents however, so Saturday night may turn out to be a pitching duel.

However, due to UNC manager Mike Fox losing his cool and earning an ejection in his team's loss to the Miami Hurricanes, the Tar Heels go into tonight's battle for Carolina without their usual skipper.

Despite his absence from the game tonight, Fox shared his thoughts on the upcoming game to Harold Guttmann of the Herald-Sun:

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Hopefully, it will be a big crowd, and State’s got a great team that will present all kinds of challenges. I would expect a really good, competitive game no matter what’s at stake.

"

While tonight is a battle with plenty of local bragging rights on the line, N.C. State's coach Elliot Avent realizes tonight's game and this year's tournament in general are important for his school's program for other reasons, telling Lenox Rawlings of the Winston-Salem Journal:

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Everybody's playing for something. We think if we win this [tournament], we might be a national seed. But you don't know.

"

With Fox unavailable to coach and the ACC Pitcher of the Year on the mound tonight, the Wolfpack will have two advantages that the Tar Heels will be unable to overcome. After tonight's victory, Avent will be just one more win away from seeing if his team earns that national seed after wrapping up the ACC title.