NC State baseball and updated ACC Tournament field
NC State baseball moved one big step closer to playing in the ACC Tournament next week in Durham, N.C., by rolling past Pittsburgh, 7-2. That leaves the Wolfpack needing just one more victory to clinch a spot in the 12-team field.
Florida State has already been eliminated from consideration. Louisville is currently the next team out, but entering the weekend there was still a possibility that NC State, Pitt or Virginia Tech could find themselves finished with their seasons instead of the Cardinals.
There is still a fairly wide range of possibilities in the seeding for NC State. The Pack could be anywhere from not playing to as high as the No. 9 seed.
Here is the current seeding order with their respective ACC record.
1. Wake Forest – 21-6 (Atlantic Division champ)
2. Virginia – 17-11 (Coastal Division champ if season ended Thursday)
3. Clemson – 18-10
4. Duke – 16-11
5. Miami – 16-12
6. North Carolina – 14-12
7. Notre Dame – 15-13
8. Boston College – 14-14
9. Georgia Tech – 12-16
10. Virginia Tech – 11-16
11. NC State – 11-16
12. Pittsburgh – 10-16
Not in the field:
13. Louisville – 10-18
14. Florida State – 7-21
The formula for clinching a berth into the ACC Tournament for NC State baseball is fairly simple: win the weekend series against Pittsburgh. Wolfpack game one starter and redshirt junior righthander Logan Whitaker made sure that got off to a good start by pitching 7.0 innings of one-hit baseball before giving way to fifth-year senior righty Baker Nelson for the final two frames.
That elevated NC State past Pitt in the seeding order. Both Virginia Tech (at Wake Forest) and Georgia Tech (home vs. Virginia) lost. That put the Wolfpack into a tie with VT and just a game back in the win column of the Yellow Jackets.
Currently the Hokies have the tiebreaker over NC State. Since the two did not play head-to-head, the tie is broken by records vs. common opponents starting at the top. Against Virginia, the Hokies won 2 of 3, while NC State lost 2 of 3.
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NC State and Georgia Tech could not tie unless the Yellow Jackets had a game canceled this weekend against Virginia.
The Wolfpack can also clinch a spot into the field with a Louisville loss at home to Florida State. The Cards rallied for a 7-4 win over the Noles on Thursday evening to stay alive in the ACC Tournament picture.
NC State baseball and ACC Tournament pools
Here is how the pools would currently shape up. Each teams play each other, and if there is a tie then the higher seed advances. Since NC State will be one of the bottom four seeds if the Pack makes the ACC Tournament, it will need to win both games in pool play to have a chance to advance to a third consecutive ACC Tournament finals.
Pool A:
1. Wake Forest
8. Boston College
12. Pittsburgh
Pool B:
2. Virginia
7. Notre Dame
11. NC State
NC State baseball lost 2 of 3 home to Virginia this season, needing a walk-off win in game three to avoid a sweep. The Pack did take 2 of 3 at Notre Dame.
Pool C:
3. Clemson
6. North Carolina
10. Virginia Tech
Pool D:
4. Duke
5. Miami
9. Georgia Tech
