Posted by Brandon Rink on May 28, 2011 under ACC Baseball | Comments are off for this article
No. 5 Miami vs. No. 8 Wake Forest, 4:30 p.m. ET
Final: Miami 4-2.
What Happened: 1) Miami’s early offense holds off Deacs – The Hurricanes jumped on Wake Forest early with a two-RBI single from DH Chris Pelaez and another run-scoring single from SS Zeke DeVoss (8/10, 4 RBI in the ACC Tourney) in the first inning. In the 3rd, Miami LF Rony Rodriguez proceeded to knock a ball over the famous bull atop the Blue Monster in left field at Bull Durham Athletic Park to give Miami a 4-0 lead. Wake Forest had their chances late with strong bullpen work and an array of singles to make it a two-run game.
2) UNC eliminated, Virginia clinches Division B – The Tar Heels were holding on to the small hope that Wake Forest, after playing a game until almost 2 a.m. and completing it around 4 p.m. – could somehow beat Miami to pave the way for UNC’s shot at the division. Didn’t happen.
3) Round-robin criticism picks up – Whenever you have a conference tournament game with absolutely nothing on the line for either team – it’s not good. I can see arguments for and against the system, but a team like Wake Forest works hard to make this thing for the first time since 2009…and only plays one meaningful game? Just doesn’t seem right.
What Happened: 1) After a 14 hour, 37 minute rain delay, UNC wins with style – Heels spread out nine runs over five innings to win 9-0 in a game that started at 12:09 a.m. Saturday morning ET and concluded at 5:30 p.m. ET.
2) Rain spoils no-hit bid – UNC’s Patrick Johnson struck out eight Deacs and did not allow a hit through six innings, but the weather put him and the Tar Heels on the bench early in the a.m. At 2/3 of an inning into the resumed game – the combined no-hitter went out the window when Chris Munnelly gave up a bloop single to CF.
3) UNC’s dim hopes still alive to play Sunday – The Heels become huge Wake Forest fans in their game against Miami. A Wake Forest win combined with the UNC triumph over Virginia punches their ticket to face Florida State at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Win: Patrick Johnson (10-1, 6 IP/0 H/0 R/0 ER/2 BB/8 K)
Loss: Tim Cooney (6.1 IP/7 H/7 R/7 ER/2 BB/5 K)
Top hitters: UNC 1B Jesse Wierzbicki – 2/2, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R; UNC 2B Tommy Coyle – 2/4, 2 RBI, 1 R; UNC SS Levi Michael – 3/4, RBI, 3 R;
Next up: Wake Forest plays Miami in the next game; UNC takes on Virginia after Wake/Miami.
Posted by Brandon Rink on under ACC Baseball | Comments are off for this article
No. 6 Clemson vs. No. 7 NC State, 12:50 p.m. ET
Final: 6-3 Clemson.
What Happened: 1) Tigers dig the long ball – Five of Clemson’s six runs came off HRs on the day with a 3-run HR by Richie Shaffer to give Clemson a 4-3 lead in the 6th and solo shots by Brad Miller and Chris Epps.
2) FSU clinches DivisionB – By that 6-3 win back on Thursday against Clemson, the ‘Noles await who they’ll face from Division A now (most likely Virginia).
3) Clemson now a mortal lock for hosting a regional – All the cool kids have them hosting now from SEBaseball to Perfect Game to Baseball America. I’ll go on the record for saying if the Tigers don’t get a regional…I really have no idea what the NCAA committee is thinking. At 41-18 and on a strong run, no one wants to face this team right now. Odds-on now, the ACC gets five hosts – maybe this season it actually results in a CWS Championship?
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