UNC baseball moves up in college rankings ahead of Georgia Tech series

UNC baseball moves up in college rankings ahead of Georgia Tech series

UNC baseball keeps racking up comeback wins and road victories to remain among the top five in the latest USA TODAY Coaches poll, which was released April 13.

The third-ranked Tar Heels (30-6-1, 13-5 ACC) have won nine of their 10 road games, including a three-game series against Clemson (23-14, 5-10) at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. It's the best start away from Chapel Hill since 2013, a season that ended with Carolina advancing to the College World Series.

UNC opened with an 9-5 loss to the Tigers before bouncing back to take Game 2 with a 6-4 win in 14 innings, rallying in the ninth inning to tie the game before going on to secure their eighth comeback win of the season. The Heels capped off their weekend in South Carolina with a 12-5 victory to take a series at Clemson for the first time since 2012.

The Heels are one of four teams nationally with 30 wins and second in the ACC standings behind No. 2 Georgia Tech (30-5, 15-3). No. 10 Florida State (24-11), No. 12 Virginia (26-11) and No. 24 Boston College (26-12) are the other ACC teams among the top-25 rankings in the coaches poll.

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UNC hosts UNC Wilmington (20-15, 9-6 CAA) on Tuesday, April 14 (6 p.m., ACC Network Extra), in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels host the Yellow Jackets in a top-three matchup from April 17-19, with two of the three games in the series scheduled to be televised on ACC Network.

Here’s a breakdown of the latest rankings and where UNC stands in the current polls.

UNC baseball rankings, April 13

• USA TODAY Coaches Poll: No. 3 (+2)
• Baseball America: No. 3 (+3)
• D1Baseball: No. 3 (+3)

USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll rankings

• 1. UCLA (30)
• 2. Georgia Tech
• 3. UNC
• 4. Texas
• 5. Georgia
• 6. Oregon State
• 7. Texas A&M
• 8. Coastal Carolina
• 9. USC
• 10. Florida State
• 11. Auburn
• 12. Virginia
• 13. Alabama
• 14. Oklahoma
• 15. West Virginia
• 16. Mississippi State
• 17. Arkansas
• 18. Florida
• 19. Oregon
• 20. Southern Miss
• 21. Kansas
• 22. Arizona State
• 23. Ole Miss
• 24. Boston College
• 25. Nebraska

Rodd Baxley covers North Carolina Tar Heels athletics for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding UNC? Send them to rbaxley@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC baseball rankings, polls before Georgia Tech series