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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – After struggling to bring runners home throughout Saturday’s ACC Baseball Championship semifinal, eighth-seeded North Carolina found a way when it counted the most.
The Tar Heels broke open a tie game with three runs in the top of the eighth inning and tacked on two more in the ninth to defeat No. 4 seed Notre Dame, 7-2, before a Saturday afternoon crowd of 4,912 at Truist Field.
UNC (37-19) advanced to Sunday’s noon championship game versus the winner of Saturday’s second semifinal between 10th-seeded NC State and No. 11 Pitt.
UNC will be seeking its eighth ACC baseball championship since the league began determining the winner via tournament format. The Tar Heels have won 11 league baseball championships total.
Saturday’s win was the 14th in the last 16 games for the Coach Scott Forbes’ team, whose RPI has taken a meteoric rise to No. 6 with Monday’s NCAA tournament selections looming. Notre Dame also entered Saturday’s game on an uptick with an RPI of 8 following Friday’s tournament win over Virginia.
Mac Horvath’s RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning put UNC in front 3-2, and Danny Serretti followed with a two-run double to left to give the Tar Heels a three-run lead. UNC had been 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position on Saturday before Horvath and Serretti delivered.
Johnny Castagnozzi, who had entered the game in the eighth inning, came through again for UNC in the ninth with a two-out, two-run single that capped the scoring.
Mikey Madej led a 13-hit UNC attack, going 4-for-4 at the plate and scoring four runs. The Tar Heels’ late-inning magic made a winner of Shawn Rapp (4-0), the fourth of five UNC pitchers. Davis Palermo worked the final two innings to earn his fifth save of the year, allowing one hit and walking one batter while striking out three.
Notre Dame (35-14) scored both of its runs on solo homers – a 419-shot by Jack Brannigan that led off the bottom of the third and Carter Putz’s one-out drive over the leftfield wall in the fifth that gave the Irish a 2-1 lead. But UNC scored the game’s final six runs, beginning with Hunter Stokely’s game-tying double in the top of the sixth.
Aidan Tyrell, who came on to pitch for Notre Dame in the top of the eighth and was charged with three unearned runs, suffered his first loss in six decisions. The Fighting Irish used seven pitchers in Saturday’s game.
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. 4 Notre Dame 3, No. 5 Virginia 0
No. 6 Wake Forest 16, No. 3 Miami 3
No. 8 North Carolina 10, No. 1 Virginia Tech 0
Saturday, May 28
No. 8 North Carolina 7, No. 4 Notre Dame 2
No. 11 Pitt vs. No. 10 NC State, 5:25 p.m. (ACCN/ACCN Extra)
Sunday, May 29
ACC Championship, Noon (ESPN2/ACCN Extra)
No. 8 North Carolina vs. Winner of Saturday’s second game