No. 3 seed North Carolina (42-12) used an eight-run fifth inning Sunday to pull away for a 14-4 win over No. 5 seed Clemson (44-16) in the championship game of the 16-team, single-elimination Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament before 9,159 fans at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
It was UNC’s ninth ACC title and third since 2019. UNC catcher Luke Stevenson was voted the Most Valuable Player and headlined the 11-member all-tournament team, and Jackson Van De Brake drove in five runs.
UNC had six extra-base hits, while starting pitcher Ryan Lynch struck out seven over four scoreless innings to start the game.
Clemson’s Cam Cannarella belted a two-run home run, while Dominic Listi and Jack Crighton drove in the Tigers’ other two runs.
Sunday night, the Tar Heels, Tigers and Florida State were named among the 16 NCAA regional hosts next weekend. The pairings in the 64-team tournament will be announced at noon Monday on ESPN2.
Sun Belt final
Coastal Carolina 7, Southern Mississippi 5: The top-seeded Chanticleers, ranked eighth nationally, beat the second-seeded Golden Eagles, ranked 12th, for the Sun Belt title in Montgomery, Alabama. It was Coastal’s third tournament crown and first since back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.
Trailing 3-2, the Chanticleers scored five runs in the fifth. The tying run scored on an error before Walker Mitchell and Colby Thorndyke hit RBI singles and Wells Sykes capped the outburst with a two-run single.
A bases-loaded hit batsman in the sixth and a home run by Sun Belt Player of the Year Nick Monistere in the eighth brought Southern Miss to 7-5, but Coastal slammed the door. Darin Horn (5-1) earned the win, and Ryan Lynch claimed a three-out save.
Both teams were named Sunday night among the 16 NCAA regional hosts. So were Georgia, Auburn, Texas, LSU, Oregon State, Oregon, Arkansas, Tennessee, UCLA, Vanderbilt and Mississippi.