UNC (21-7 in the ACC) earned the No. 1 overall seed and will head up Pool A in the 2013 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship, which will be held from Wednesday, May 22 through Sunday, May 26 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Carolina finished the regular season with a school-best 48 wins after defeating visiting Florida State following a two-out rally in the bottom of the eighth inning Monday night to scratch out a 4-3 win.
The Tar Heels will be joined by fourth-seeded NC State (42-13, 19-10), fifth-seeded Clemson (39-17, 18-12) and eighth-seeded Miami (35-21, 14-16).
Florida State (44-11, 20-10) earned the No. 2 overall seed and will be joined in Pool B by third-seeded Virginia (45-9, 22-8), sixth-seeded Virginia Tech (35-19, 15-14) and seventh-seeded Georgia Tech (33-23, 15-15).
All eight teams in this year’s ACC Championship field are ranked among the top 20 of the NCAA’s most recent RPI report. North Carolina is ranked as high as No. 2 nationally in the latest national polls, with NC State as high as No. 5, Virginia No. 7, Florida State No. 8, Clemson No. 14 and Virginia Tech No. 22.
Under the pool-play format, each team will play one game against each of the other three opponents in its pool Wednesday through Saturday (May 22-25). The two teams with the best records within their respective pools will advance to the title game on Sunday, May 26, with the winner earning the ACC’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Play begins on Wednesday at 11 a.m. with Florida State facing defending champion Georgia Tech. Virginia meets Virginia Tech at 3 p.m., followed NC State vs. Clemson at 7 p.m.
Virginia meets Georgia Tech in Thursday’s 11 a.m. game, while North Carolina swings into action against Miami at 3 p.m. Florida State faces Virginia Tech in the 7 p.m. Thursday game.
Friday’s slate opens with NC State against Miami at 11 a.m., followed by Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech at 3 p.m. North Carolina and Clemson square off in the 7 p.m. game.
Saturday’s opener finds Florida State facing Virginia at 11 a.m. Clemson will meet Miami at 3 p.m., followed by North Carolina vs. NC State at 7 p.m.
The championship game between the Pool A and Pool B winners will be played Sunday at 1 p.m.
Fans can still purchase tickets to next week’s competition. Complete books to all 13 games are available, as well as individual game tickets that can be purchased by calling the Durham Bulls ticket office at 919-956-BULL or by ordering on-line at: http://theacc.co/13Basetix.
All 13 games of this year’s ACC Baseball Championship will be televised for the seventh straight year. Regional Sports Networks from across the conference footprint and across the nation will carry all 12 games on Wednesday through Saturday. Please check theACC.com for RSN coverage of each game (http://www.theacc.com/live/rsn.html). Sunday’s 1 p.m. championship game will televised nationally by ESPN2.
All games will live-streamed via the Internet by ESPN3. In addition, all 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. games will be broadcast via satellite radio on Sirius XM 85. The 7 p.m. Wednesday (May 22) and Thursday (May 23) games will be broadcast on Sirius 93/XM 190. The Friday (May 24) 7 p.m. game will be carried on Sirius 111/XM 190, and the Saturday 7 p.m. game will be carried on Sirius 158/XM 190. Sunday afternoon’s championship game will be carried by Sirius XM 91 (College SportsNation).