Saturday was one of the more hectic days in recent memory in ACC baseball, and after the final pitch was thrown, the two top-seeded teams advanced to Sunday's championship game at 1 p.m that can be seen on Fox Sports South. The last five ACC Champions have advanced to the College World Series; who will take home the conference bragging rights for 2011?
No. 2 Florida State defeated No. 3 Georgia Tech 4-2
Starting pitcher Buck Farmer struggled with command early in the game for the Jackets, and FSU was able to jump out to a 4-0 lead through four innings. Tech had its chances later, loading the bases in the sixth inning but failing to score and then scoring two but leaving three on base again in the seventh. Mike McGee didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning and finished with 5.1 innings and no runs allowed to get the win for FSU. Farmer picked up the loss, allowing three earned runs in 6.0 innings to fall to 10-3 on the season.
While the early morning win didn't clinch a championship game berth for FSU, the Seminoles only had to wait a couple of hours for that to happen. 2011 marks the 10th time in the last 20 years that Florida State has played for the ACC Championship. The loss most likely knocked Georgia Tech out of the running for a national seed, while Florida State greatly improved their chances of getting one.
No. 6 Clemson defeated No. 7 NC State 6-3
Clemson was eliminated with the Florida State win, but that didn't stop the Tigers from coming from behind to get the victory to send the Seminoles on to Sunday. Will Lamb, Richie Shaffer, and Chris Epps all homered for the Tigers to overcome an early 2-0 deficit. Clemson starting pitcher Jonathan Meyer was knocked out of the game early after taking a line drive to the knee, and the Tiger bullpen combined to pitch 7.2 innings of one-run baseball.
Clemson was on the bubble of being able to host a regional next week and seems to have done enough in Durham to improve their resume to get a home game in the first round.
No. 4 North Carolina defeated No. 8 Wake Forest 9-0
After being delayed in the seventh inning Saturday morning at 1:55 a.m with North Carolina leading 5-0 and with two runners on base, the game resumed at 4:32 p.m. on Saturday. The first batter after the delay, Tommy Coyle, doubled in both runners and then was knocked in by Jacob Stallings to quickly make the score 8-0.
North Carolina will get one of the eight national seeds and gets to enjoy home field advantage through the super regionals.
No. 4 Miami defeated No. 8 Wake Forest 4-2
The Hurricanes scored four runs in the first three innings and held onto that lead for the win. Wake Forest reliever Michael Dimock was stellar out of the bullpen, throwing 4.1 innings without allowing a run after replacing starter Austin Stadler. The Miami win clinched a title game berth for the Virginia Cavaliers who had yet to play on Saturday.
Miami will wait until the bracket is announced to find out where they will be heading next week.
No. 1 Virginia defeated No. 5 North Carolina 3-2
The game between two probable national seeds didn't mean anything in terms of the ACC Championship after Miami beat Wake Forest, but the two teams put on an entertaining battle that neither team wanted to lose. Virgina advances to its third title game in the last four years.
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