Box Score | Bracket | ACC Championship Photos
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Top-seeded Virginia Tech turned its 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship debut into an offensive showcase.
Nick Biddison and Carson Jones hit two home runs each and drove in a combined nine runs as Tech outscored 12th-seeded Clemson 18-6 in Thursday’s session nightcap.
Virginia Tech (41-11) will now focus on Friday’s 7 p.m. game versus eighth-seeded North Carolina (35-19). The winner will earn a spot opposite Notre Dame in Saturday’s 1 p.m. semifinal, with that winner advancing to Sunday’s title game against NC State or Pitt.
Clemson (35-23) concluded play in this year’s Championship with Thursday night’s game.
The Hokies, who entered the tournament as the nation’s No. 2 ranked team in every major poll, awed the Truist Field crowd with four two-out home runs in the top of the third inning to go up 10-2.
Jones, the reigning ACC Co-Player of the Week, started the onslaught with a two-run blast that gave Virginia Tech a 5-2 lead. Then, following a walk to Lucas Donlon and a base hit by Carson DeMartini, the top of the Hokies order – Biddison, Gavin Cross and Tanner Schobel – went deep back-to-back-to-back to build their eight-run lead in almost unbelievable fashion.
It marks the first time three players have homered in succession in any game since Virginia Tech joined the ACC for the 2005 season. Cross and Schobel went back-to-back three times earlier this season (twice against North Carolina and once against Boston College).
It also gave the Hokies three home runs in an inning for the second consecutive game. Three of Virginia Tech’s first four hitters – Biddison, Schobel and Jack Hurley – hit solo shots in the first inning of last Saturday’s win over Duke that closed out the regular season.
The Tigers countered by playing long-ball themselves.
Blake Wright’s two-run homer in the bottom of the second had accounted for Clemson’s first two runs. ACC Player of the Year Max Wagner hit a two-run homer in the bottom of third, giving him 27 for the year, tying the Clemson single-season record, and that total is the third most by an ACC player in a single season.
And freshman Camden Troyer, who entered the game with one homer in 34 at-bats this season, added another two-run homer in the fourth to bring the Tigers within 10-6.
But Clemson could get no closer, and the Hokies led 14-6 when the game was halted with one out in the bottom of the seventh due to lightning in the area. When the game resumed following a 53-minute delay, Virginia Tech tacked on four runs in the top of the ninth for the final margin. Jones capped the scoring with another two-run homer, giving him seven in the last five games.
Biddison finished 3-for-4 with five RBI, and Cross was 3-for-6 with three runs scored and three batted in. The Hokies outhit the Tigers 15-6, with nine of those hits going for extra bases.
Virginia Tech is now 19-0 this season when scoring 10-or-more runs.
The Hokies’ six home runs as a team were one short of the ACC Championship single-game record of seven set by Louisville versus Clemson in last year’s tournament at Truist Field.
A total of 34 home runs have been hit in the first nine tournament games this year, with six games still scheduled to be played. The record for total home runs in the tournament since the ACC switched to a pool-play format in 2007 is 51 in 2010 at Greensboro, North Carolina (13 games). A total of 45 home runs were hit in 15 games here last year.
2022 ACC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
May 24-29 at Truist Field, Charlotte, N.C.
POOL A – #1 Virginia Tech, #8 North Carolina, #12 Clemson
POOL B – #2 Louisville, #7 Georgia Tech, #11 Pitt
POOL C – #3 Miami, #6 Wake Forest, #10 NC State
POOL D – #4 Notre Dame, #5 Virginia, #9 Florida State
Tuesday, May 24
No. 11 Pitt 12, No. 7 Georgia Tech 6
No. 10 NC State 11, No. 6 Wake Forest 8
No. 8 North Carolina 9, No. 12 Clemson 2
Wednesday, May 25
No. 11 Pitt 6, No. 2 Louisville 5
No. 9 Florida State 13, No. 5 Virginia 3 (8 innings)
No. 10 NC State 9, Miami 6
Thursday, May 26
No. 7 Georgia Tech 9, No. 2 Louisville 4
No. 4 Notre Dame 5, No. 9 Florida State 3
No. 1 Virginia Tech 18, No. 12 Clemson 6
Friday, May 27
No. 5 Virginia vs. No. 4 Notre Dame, 11 a.m. (RSN/ACCN Extra)
No. 6 Wake Forest vs. No. 3 Miami, 3 p.m. (RSN/ACCN Extra)
No. 8 North Carolina vs. No. 1 Virginia Tech, 7 p.m. (RSN/ACCN Extra)
Saturday, May 28
Pool A Winner vs. Notre Dame, 1 p.m. (ACCN/ACCN Extra)
No. 11 Pitt vs. No. 10 NC State, 5 p.m. (ACCN/ACCN Extra)
Sunday, May 29
ACC Championship, Noon (ESPN2/ACCN Extra)