UNC Baseball set to host massive series against Georgia Tech

While the ACC consistently fights with the SEC to be recognized as the best baseball conference, the unwieldy size of the conference means that unlike in other sports, some of the top teams don’t face each other during the season. Carolina only had ten conference matchups this year, and they’ve already faced off against ranked teams in Notre Dame, Louisville, and Boston College. Now, though, comes their biggest test of the season: ACC-leading Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets are a 15-3 in the ACC, and they’re on a stunning ten-game win streak in conference. They haven’t lost a conference series all year, and they have swept three straight teams in NC State, Florida State, and Cal. Mixed in there is a run-rule win over Auburn before they played Cal. They are just rolling right now, and they present a prickly challenge for the Tar Heels.

You just don’t get series like this on your home field too often. Last year the Tar Heels faced a number two team in Florida State, but it was down in Tallahassee. Just being able to play a team of Georgia Tech’s caliber at the Bosh should create a fun environment.

The Tar Heels showed they were focused on the here and now in a pretty easy win over UNC-Wilmington Tuesday Night, 14-5. Carolina jumped up 5-0 early and despite UNCW getting some runs late, the Tar Heels ran away with the game to set up this showdown.

A look at the team numbers for Georgia Tech shows they aren’t just winning, they are demolishing, and they’re going to be playing in ideal hitting conditions this weekend as the weather will be warm in Chapel Hill. The team batting average is a full 50 points better than the second-place squad in Pitt, they’ve scored 80 more runs, have nine more homers, lead in slugging by 70 points, have the most walks, and only the seventh most strike outs. They just mash.

That said, Carolina brings the best pitching in the ACC to the table. The team ERA is .60 better than the Jackets, and notably they have given up the fewest home runs of anyone in the conference. They are tied with Boston College in only allowing 25 homers; the bad news is that the team next team on the list — California and their 26 allowed round-trippers — got whomped by the Yellow Jackets 17-2, 7-2, and 9-3. Preventing home runs isn’t any sort of guarantee that it’ll keep Georgia Tech off the board.