DURHAM, N.C. — North Carolina baseball got started early and maintained the momentum to open the ACC Tournament, delivering a fresh start to the postseason after encountering difficulties to end the regular season.
The Tar Heels quickly jumped ahead of Georgia Tech and led throughout on the way to winning 11-5 on Tuesday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, a victory that unlocked the chance to advance past pool play later in the week.
Seventh-seeded Carolina next meets second-seeded Virginia, the league’s Coastal Division champion, on Thursday afternoon. Under the tournament format, the winner of that game will claim Pool B and move on to Saturday’s single-elimination semifinals.
The Tar Heels entered the conference tournament on a four-game losing skid, marked by a three-game sweep suffered at the hands of Clemson. But behind Patrick Alvarez (three hits, three RBI), Tomas Frick (three hits, two RBI), Jackson Van De Brake (two hits, two RBI) and Co. here Tuesday, UNC (34-21) defeated the 11th-seeded Yellow Jackets (30-26) for the third time this season. The Tar Heels took two of three games from Georgia Tech when these teams met in early April during the regular season.
“I just feel like we really came together,” the catcher Frick said. “Especially when we talked the other day, we were like, ‘all right, it’s a new season.’ We forgot about Clemson. New season, we’re going to come out and we’re going to get after it. We’re not going to worry about the results, we’re just going to play hard.”
Carolina got a useful-enough outing from up-and-down starter Max Carlson, who pitched into the fifth inning. Carlson became one of postseason heroes for UNC during last year’s run to the ACC Tournament title and ultimately the NCAA super regionals. He left with Carolina leading 4-1 on Tuesday, after a Jack Rubenstein liner glanced off him on the mound, and Jadyn Jackson followed with a bloop single to put Georgia Tech on the board.
Three relievers — Ben…
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