North Carolina Wins 2025 ACC Baseball Championship
from www.theacc.com
DURHAM, N.C. (theACC.com) – No. 3 seed North Carolina (42-12) used an eight-run fifth inning to pull away with the 14-4 win over No. 5 seed Clemson (44-16) in the 2025 ACC Baseball Championship Game in front of 9,159 fans on Sunday, May 25, in Durham, North Carolina.
The title marks the Tar Heels’ ninth baseball championship (1982, 1983, 1984, 1990, 2007, 2013, 2019, 2022, 2025).
North Carolina catcher Luke Stevenson was voted the Most Valuable Player and headlined the 11-member all-tournament team.
The combination of the Tar Heels’ offense and pitching was the difference in the championship game, as UNC scored 14 runs on 13 hits, including six extra-base hits, while starter Ryan Lynch struck out seven Clemson hitters over 4.0 scoreless innings to start the contest.
Seven different Tar Heels registered a base hit, with four recording multi-hit games, led by three hits apiece from Gavin Gallaher (3-for-4, 2B, BB, RBI, run) and Alex Madera (3-for-5, 2B, RBI, 2 runs, SB). In addition, Jackson Van De Brake (2-for-6, HR, 5 RBI, run) posted a game-high five RBIs, while both Hunter Stokely (1-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, run) and Tyson Bass (1-for-3, HR, BB, HBP, 2 RBI, 3 runs) joined Van De Brake in hitting a home run in the win.
Clemson offensively had four runs on nine hits, only two of which were extra-base hits, and stranded 11 runners on base. Cam Cannarella (1-for-3, HR, BB, 2 RBI, run) had a two-run home run, while Dominic Listi (1-for-2, HBP, 2 BB, RBI) and Jack Crighton (1-for-4, RBI) drove in the other two runs for the Tigers.
The Tar Heels’ Olin Johnson (2-0) picked up the win out of the bullpen, as he entered the game in the fifth inning and gave up two runs on four hits, two walks and one strikeout over 2.2 innings.
The loss fell to Clemson starter B.J. Bailey (2-5), as the lefty gave up three runs, two of which were earned, on one hit, one walk and one strikeout in 1.1 innings of work.
Carrying over the momentum from its semifinal win on Saturday night, North Carolina got on the scoreboard early with the help of a Clemson error on a double to left field by Gallaher to take an early 1-0 lead.
The Tar Heels added to their lead in the next inning, again with some help from the Tigers, as they loaded the bases on back-to-back hit by pitches and a walk. Saturday night’s hero Kane Kepley, hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score one run, before Van De Brake laced a two-out single to left field to plate another run and pushed the lead to 3-0 after two innings of play.
After UNC’s Lynch struck out the side in the top of the third inning, the Tar Heels added another run in the bottom half on a Madera RBI single, putting the score at 4-0 early in the contest.
Clemson threatened in the bottom of the fourth, opening the frame with back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases with no outs. However, Lynch struck out the next two batters and got the third to ground out to second base to end the inning and keep the 4-0 lead intact.
The Tar Heels blew the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth inning, as a trio of home runs – a two-run shot to deep right field from Stokely, the second a two-run bomb off the video board in left-center field by Bass and the third a three-run home run to left-center field from Van De Brake – as well as RBI single extended the lead to 12-0 with four innings to play.
Following a two-run sixth inning from the Tar Heels to push the score to 14-0, Clemson spoiled the shutout with a two-run home run over the right field wall by Cannarella to put the score at 14-2.
The Tigers added one in the eighth and one in the ninth.
The field of 64 teams competing for the 2025 NCAA college baseball championship will be announced on Monday, May 26, at noon ET on ESPN2.
The 64 teams will be placed in 16 different four-team regions, with teams seeded one through four to compete in a double-elimination format.
Games start with regionals and continue with the super regionals before the Men’s College World Series begins Friday, June 13, at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska.
All-Tournament Team
C – Luke Stevenson, North Carolina (MVP)
1B – Myles Bailey, Florida State
2B – Jackson Van De Brake, North Carolina
SS – PJ Moutzouridis, California
3B – Patrick Roche, Boston College
OF – Jacob French, California
OF – Dominic Listi, Clemson
OF – Cam Cannarella, Clemson
DH – Eddie King, Jr., Louisville
P – Jake Knapp, North Carolina…from Page High School, in Greensboro, N.C.
P – AJ Colarusso, Boston College
2025 ACC Baseball Championship Results
Tuesday, May 20
Game 1 – No. 16 California 12, No. 9 Miami 2 (8 innings)
Game 2 – No. 12 Virginia Tech 7, No. 13 Stanford 4
Game 3 – No. 15 Pitt 13, No. 10 Louisville 11
Game 4 – No. 14 Boston College 5, No. 11 Notre Dame 4 (10 innings)
Wednesday, May 21
Game 5 – No. 16 California 14, No. 8 Wake Forest 12
Game 6 – No. 5 Clemson 6, No. 12 Virginia Tech 1
Game 7 – No. 7 Duke 4, No. 15 Pitt 3
Game 8 – No. 14 Boston College 12, No. 6 Virginia 8
Thursday, May 22
Game 9 – No. 1 Georgia Tech 10, No. 16 California 3
Game 10 – No. 5 Clemson 7, No. 4 NC State 6
Friday, May 23
Game 11 – No. 2 Florida State 14, No. 7 Duke 7
Game 12 – No. 3 North Carolina 7, No. 14 Boston College 2
Saturday, May 24
Game 13 – No. 5 Clemson 9, No. 1 Georgia Tech 4
Game 14 – No. 3 North Carolina 7, No. 2 Florida State 5
Sunday, May 25 – Championship Game
Game 15 – No. 3 North Carolina 14, No. 5 Clemson 4