UNC Dominates Clemson in 2025 ACC Baseball Title Game to Win Championship Bracket

North Carolina steamrolled Clemson 14-4 in the ACC championship game on Sunday to win its first conference tournament title since 2022.

This marks the ninth ACC tournament championship for the Tar Heels, tied with Georgia Tech for the second-most all-time.

After opening up a four-run lead through four innings, the Tar Heels broke things wide open with eight runs in the bottom of the fifth.

They sent 12 batters to the plate in that fifth inning, with seven consecutive hitters reaching base at one point. Hunter Stokely, Tyson Bass and Jackson Van De Brake all homered.

The eight runs in one inning were more than 18 teams scored in a full game over the course of the entire ACC tournament. North Carolina hadn't scored more than seven runs in each of its previous two tournament games.

Four Tar Heels players had multiple hits, led by three each from Gavin Gallaher and Alex Madera. Van de Brake, Stokely, Bass and Kane Kepley all drove in at least two runs.

Clemson used three different pitchers before finally getting out of the fifth. Chance Fitzgerald and Hudson Lee were both charged with three runs in the inning on a combined six hits allowed.

Lee, in particular, looked completely overmatched. The left-hander didn't record an out against the three batters he faced, allowing two hits and hitting one batter.

The Tar Heels' relentless attack didn't slow down in the sixth, though it wasn't as overwhelming as the previous inning. They loaded the bases with one out and pushed across two more runs on Clemson third baseman Josh Paino's throwing error and Van De Brake's groundout to short.

Clemson was able to string together a brief rally in the top of the seventh. Cam Cannarella's two-out homer off Olin Johnson got the Tigers on the board to avoid the shutout.

Jack Crighton gave Clemson another run in the eighth inning with an RBI single that allowed Paino to score.

While North Carolina's offensive outburst will get most of the attention, it shouldn't be lost what starting pitcher Ryan Lynch did on the mound against a Clemson lineup that scored at least six runs in its first three games of the tournament.

Lynch, making his first college start after 23 relief appearances this season, had seven strikeouts and two hits allowed over four shutout innings. He escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the the top of the fourth by getting back-to-back strikeouts and TP Wentworth to ground out to second.

D1 Baseball already had North Carolina projected as the No. 4 overall seed and host of a regional in the NCAA tournament coming into the day. An impressive win over Clemson after defeating Florida State—ranked No. 6 in the current top-25 poll—in the semifinal only strengthens the Tar Heels' resume.

Clemson is also penciled in as a national seed (No. 11) and regional host in the D1 Baseball projections. This is a downer note to end ACC play on, but the team is still in good shape overall looking ahead to the NCAA tournament.

The full field of 64 will be announced on Monday at 12 p.m. ET.