It was an utterly disappointing day for Clemson baseball.
The North Carolina Tar Heels trounced the Tigers 14-4 in the championship game of the ACC Tournament in Durham, NC on Sunday afternoon in a contest that was never really close. North Carolina led wire to wire, and Clemson trailed 12-0 before they even got on the scoreboard. In the aftermath, it left head coach Erik Bakich’s team to regroup with the NCAA tournament starting in the coming days.
North Carolina (42-12) got on the board against Clemson starter B.J. Bailey in the first inning after a two-out error allowed the frame to continue into a run-scoring double. The Tar Heels plated two more runs in the second, including a two-out RBI single from Jackson Van De Brake. Alex Madera’s single in the third put the Tigers down 4-0, but for a moment it seemed as if Clemson would mount a rally.
The Tigers loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth inning, but North Carolina starter Ryan Lynch struck out Jacob Jarrell and Jack Crighton before inducing a ground out off the bat of T.P. Wentworth to end the threat. What started as a promising chance to get back into the game went for naught and it would also be the last competitive gasp for Clemson in the game.
The Tar Heels poured it on in the fifth, scoring eight times while recording just one out. Hunter Stokely and Tyson Bass each smashed two-run home runs, and the game was put firmly out of reach when Van De Brake launched a three-run shot to make it 12-0.
Cam Cannarella belted a two-run homer in the seventh for Clemson’s first two runs of the game, his third home run of the season which extended his hitting streak to an impressive 19 games. Crighton plated a run with a single in the eighth and Dominic Listi’s single in the ninth capped the Tigers’ scoring.
While it was a staggering wake-up call for Clemson baseball, Bakich promised after the game that the Tigers would enter the NCAA Regionals with something to prove.
“We will certainly have that and feel that,” lamented Bakich. “I mean, something like this puts a little steel on the spine and callouses the mind a bit and we’ve had enough adversity and at the end of the trail, end of the season, so our guys, they’ll be in a great mindset. They’ll be playing with that chip on their shoulder, they’ll want to play well at home, and a lot of them have the experience of doing it last year and the year before. So, it’s a great opportunity for us to get back on the positive side of things.”
Clemson vs. North Carolina Game Highlights | 2025 ACC Baseball Championship (Finals)
Bailey (2-5) took the loss for Clemson while Olin Johnson (2-0) pitched 2.2 innings of relief to earn the win. Lynch, who started the game for the Tar Heels, allowed just two hits and struck out seven over his four scoreless innings.
Justin LeGuernic pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief for Clemson baseball, allowing just one hit and striking out six.
Now, Clemson baseball turns its attention to the NCAA tournament where they will host a regional for the third straight season. They await their opponent(s) with the NCAA selection show taking place on Monday night. Despite Sunday’s loss, the Tigers have won five of their last six games and have a chance to put this loss behind them with the beginning of what Clemson hopes is a run to Omaha and the College Baseball World Series.
