ACC Baseball Tournament 2019: UNC, Georgia Tech Clinch Spots in Title Game

Four of the top teams in the ACC competed in the semifinals of the 2019 ACC baseball tournament Saturday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina, for a chance to play in Sunday's championship game.

Fifth-seeded North Carolina met 12th-seeded Boston College in the first semifinal of the day, while second-seeded Georgia Tech and third-seeded NC State were second on the slate. Both games represented win-or-go-home scenarios with the winners earning an opportunity to compete for a conference title.

Here is a look at Saturday's semifinal results, along with a recap of each game and the schedule for Sunday's ACC baseball tournament title game.

Saturday Scores/Schedule

(5) North Carolina def. (12) Boston College, 13-5

(2) Georgia Tech def. (3) NC State, 9-2

Sunday's Championship Schedule

(5) North Carolina vs. (2) Georgia Tech, 12 p.m. ET

Saturday Recap

North Carolina 13, Boston College 5

North Carolina overwhelmed Boston College in a 13-5 slugfest Saturday to advance to the ACC baseball tournament championship game.

The Tar Heels got production throughout their lineup during Saturday's contest, but the trio of shortstop Danny Serretti, third baseman Ike Freeman, first baseman Michael Busch and right fielder Dallas Tessar led the way in what was an offensive outburst.

Serretti went 2-for-3 with three RBI, Freeman went 3-for-4 with two RBI, Busch went 4-for-5 with a home run and two RBI, and Tessar went 2-for-5 with two RBI in the win.

UNC jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI groundout from Serretti and an RBI single by Freeman:

Boston College cut the lead in half in the top of the second, but North Carolina added two more in the third and knocked starting pitcher John Witkowski out of the game.

With UNC leading 4-1, Tessar truly broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth when he cleared the bases with a two-run single:

Three runs scored on the play, but one of the runs was unearned because of an error by the outfielder. Regardless, UNC was up 7-1 and on the verge of advancing to the conference title game.

Boston College manufactured four runs in the top of the fourth, however, which got the Eagles back in the game, as they trailed by just two.

Just when it seemed like BC could be on the verge of completing a major comeback, just like UNC did Friday when it overcame a five-run deficit to beat Miami, the Tar Heels tacked on three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Thanks to a two-run triple by Serretti and an RBI single by Freeman, North Carolina was up 10-5, and it followed that up with three more runs in the eighth, including a two-run home run by Busch:

By virtue of its victory, North Carolina will face the winner of the second semifinal between Georgia Tech and NC State to determine the ACC baseball tournament champion Sunday.

Georgia Tech 9, NC State 2

Powered by a three-run home run from designated hitter Michael Guldberg in the fifth inning, Georgia Tech defeated NC State 9-2 to advance to the ACC baseball tournament championship game.

With the game tied 1-1, Guldberg drove in Nick Wilhite, Luke Waddell and himself with a three-run bomb over the high wall in left to produce the game's decisive runs:

That homer came off NC State starting pitcher Jason Parker, who was lifted from the game after allowing five hits, two walks and four earned runs in 4.2 innings.

The Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when first baseman Tristin English drove a solo shot off Parker to open the scoring:

NC State tied the game in the top of the third when catcher Patrick Bailey hit an RBI triple off GT starter Keyton Gibson, marking the only run Gibson allowed in 3.2 innings of work.

Gibson was relieved by Jonathan Hughes, who shut down the Wolfpack lineup, by going five innings and allowing just two hits, three walks and one run.

The three-run home run by Guldberg in the fifth was all the run support Hughes needed in order to help guide Georgia Tech to victory.

Even so, the Yellow Jackets added some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth when right fielder Brandon Radcliff smacked an RBI double and then scored on a wild pitch. Wilhite also drove in two more with a single to turn it into a laugher.

By virtue of the win, Georgia Tech will move on to Sunday's championship game against North Carolina with the winner earning an automatic bid into the NCAA baseball tournament.

The Yellow Jackets seemingly have a slight advantage entering Sunday's game since they took the regular-season series from UNC 2-1.