ACC Baseball Tournament 2019: Duke, Wake Forest Score Crucial Wins

The 2019 ACC baseball tournament got underway Tuesday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina, with three games scattered throughout the day.

No. 12 Boston College and No. 8 Clemson opened play, with No. 10 Wake Forest and No. 6 Florida State to follow. Eleventh-seeded Notre Dame and seventh-seeded Duke brought the night to a close.

Below is a brief recap from Tuesday's trio of matchups as the tournament unfolded.

Tuesday Results

No. 12 Boston College def. No. 8 Clemson, 7-5 (11)

No. 10 Wake Forest def. No. 6 Florida State, 7-4

No. 7 Duke def. No. 11 Notre Dame, 10-6

Wednesday Schedule

No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 12 Boston College, 11 a.m. ET

No. 2 Georgia Tech vs. No. 11 Notre Dame, 3 p.m. ET

No. 9 Virginia vs. No. 5 North Carolina, 7 p.m. ET

The full tournament schedule and bracket are available on the ACC's official site

Tuesday Recap

Duke 10, Notre Dame 6

Duke catcher Michael Rothenberg set the tone in the bottom of the first inning by jacking a grand slam to give the Blue Devils an early 4-0 lead.

Notre Dame chipped away to shrink Duke's advantage to 7-6 heading into the bottom of the seventh, where the Blue Devils added three more. The Fighting Irish had the bases loaded with one out in the top of the eighth, but Duke's Thomas Girard struck out the remaining two batters to get out of the inning unscathed.

Girard closed the game on a strikeout, too, and tallied 2.2 innings pitched with six strikeouts, two walks and no runs allowed.

Even though it resulted in a loss, Notre Dame's ability to score six runs should be encouraging considering the Fighting Irish entered the contest ranking 249th in the country in scoring, per The Chronicle's Evan Kolin.

Notre Dame starting pitcher Cameron Junker only made it through 2.2 innings, giving up six earned runs on four hits, six walks and six strikeouts. Duke chasing Junker out of the game was a major accomplishment, as the junior's 3.62 ERA made him the conference's ninth-best pitcher (h/t Kolin).

With Tuesday night's victory, Duke maintains hope to plate the program's first-ever ACC tournament title. However, the win did come at a cost, as shortstop Ethan Murray was drilled by a pitch near his eye and left the game in the bottom of the fourth.

Murray started every game at shortstop for the Blue Devils and is one of the team's most prolific offensive players, too.

The Blue Devils will next face No. 2 Georgia Tech on Friday at 11 a.m. ET. Should they win, they will advance to the tournament's semifinals.

Boston College 7, Clemson 5

Boston College scored twice in the top of the 11th to open the ACC tournament with a 7-5 win over Clemson.

Gian Martellini opened the inning with a single to right field. Head coach Mike Gambino brought Lucas Stalman to pinch run for Martellini. Stalman moved to second on a fielder's choice and came around to score when Clemson first baseman Chad Fairey encountered a bad hop on ground ball by Peter Burns.

Dante Baldelli provided an insurance run with a single in between first and second.

Joey Walsh, who entered the game in the bottom of the eighth, set the Tigers down in order to preserve the win.

Boston College opened the bottom of the eighth six outs away from earning a victory. Then Clemson plated three runs to tie the game at five. Kyle Wilkie scored on a Sam Hall single and Michael Green put two runs on the board with a two-out single up the middle.

Eagles second baseman Cody Morissette was the standout offensive performer, going 3-for-6 with two home runs and three RBI. Walsh was also instrumental in the result. The left-hander didn't allow an earned run and struck out four over the final 3.1 innings.

Wake Forest 7, Florida State 4

A three-run seventh inning powered Wake Forest to a 7-4 win over Florida State.

Momentum swung drastically in both directions throughout the game. The Demon Deacons drew first blood with three runs in the second inning and another run in the third. The Seminoles responded with a two-run triple by J.C. Flowers and a two-run homer by Nander De Sedas in the bottom of the fourth.

The game remained tied until the seventh, when Wake Forest loaded the bases with one out. Clayton Kwiatkowski entered the game and immediately walked in the go-ahead run. Shane Muntz came home on a passed ball before Kwiatkowski walked his third batter, allowing DJ Poteet to make the jog home.

Colin Peluse didn't have a great start for the Demon Deacons. He was charged with four earned runs on four hits in 3.1 innings. The Florida State offense went quiet when the Wake bullpen took over.

Antonio Menendez, Carter Bach, Tyler Witt and William Fleming combined to surrender two hits and two walks over the final 5.2 innings.