This Week in ACC Baseball | Feb. 16 - 24
Noting ACC Baseball – Feb. 16
• Following a preseason in which the ACC has received its share of the spotlight, the 2023 campaign begins for all 14 teams on Friday. The conference weekend series begin March 10. The regular season is set to conclude Saturday, May 20, with the ACC Baseball Championship scheduled May 23-28 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, North Carolina.
• Louisville and Wake Forest were selected as the 2023 ACC Baseball co-favorites by the league’s 14 head coaches. The Cardinals and Demon Deacons were each chosen as the ACC’s likely overall winner by six coaches in this season’s preseason poll. Louisville edged Wake Forest in the coaches’ vote for the likely Atlantic Division champion, while Miami was the clear Coastal Division favorite.
• Eleven of the ACC’s 14 baseball teams have been ranked in at least one major preseason poll, and 22 different conference players have been named to at least one preseason All-America team. Louisville and Wake Forest (each as high as No. 5) and Miami (as high as No. 8) have placed the nation’s top 10 in multiple rankings. Wake Forest was ranked among the preseason top 10 by all six major publications.
• Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall enters this season as NCAA Division I’s winningest active head coach with 1,348 career victories. Hall, whose career spans part or all of the last six decades, has posted 1,140 wins in his 29 years with the Yellow Jackets.
• Link Jarrett, a two-time National Coach of the Year at Notre Dame and a 1994 Florida State graduate, returns to his alma mater this season. The Tallahassee native has 10 years of head coaching experience at the collegiate level, including the last three at Notre Dame, where he led the Fighting Irish to the 2022 College World Series for just the third time in school history.
• Erik Bakich takes the reins at Clemson. Bakich served as head coach at Michigan the last 10 seasons, leading the Wolverines to the 2019 College World Series finals. Bakich also served as a head coach at Maryland (2010-12) and as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt (2003-09) along with one year as a volunteer assistant coach at Clemson in 2002.
• Shawn Stiffler steps in as the 22nd head coach at Notre Dame. Stiffler turned the VCU baseball program into one of the most consistent programs in the country in his decade at the helm, as it is one of just seven programs nationally to earn 34 or more wins in each of the last eight full seasons.
• ACC Network will offer an expansive schedule of baseball games involving league teams during the 2023 season with more than 40 regular-season matchups, beginning with Florida State's Feb. 18 date versus James Madison during opening weekend. ACCN will also exclusively feature every game from pool play to the semifinals of the ACC Baseball Championship in May, with the Sunday, May 28 title game airing on ESPN2. Additional events will be available on ACCN’s digital platform ACC Network Extra (ACCNX) throughout the season.
• The USA Today Sports Coaches Poll placed seven ACC teams among the top 25, tying for the most of any conference. No. 10 Wake Forest led the way, followed by No. 11 Louisville, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 16 Virginia Tech, No. 18 Miami, No. 20 Virginia and No. 22 NC State.
• Nine ACC schools – the second-most of any conference – were listed among the top 35 of the 26th annual NCBWA rankings. Wake Forest and Louisville again led at No. 8 and 10 respectively. Defending ACC champion North Carolina was at No. 13, followed by No. 17 Miami, No. 18 Virginia Tech and No. 19 Virginia. NC State held the No. 24 spot, followed by No. 32 Florida State and No. 34 Notre Dame. Clemson and Georgia Tech also received votes.
?
• No. 5 Louisville leads three ACC teams among the top 10 of Baseball America's preseason rankings, and a total of seven conference teams are among the publication's preseason top 25. The Cardinals are joined in the top 10 by No. 8 Miami and No. 9 Wake Forest. Virginia Tech holds the No. 13 spot, followed by No. 17 North Carolina, No. 19 Virginia and No. 25 NC State.
• Seven ACC teams are ranked among the top 25 in the D1Baseball preseason poll. No. 6 Wake Forest is joined by No. 12 North Carolina, No. 14 Virginia Tech, No. 16 Louisville, No. 19 Virginia, No. 21 NC State and No. 22 Miami.
• Led by five selections from Wake Forest and three from Virginia Tech, 16 ACC players were named Preseason All-Americans by Perfect Game. The ACC contingent includes four first-team selections in Virginia third baseman Jake Gelof, North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt, Wake Forest starting pitcher Rhett Lowder and Miami reliever Andrew Walters. Nine ACC squads had at least one player selected first-, second- or third-team. Wake Forest’s five selections led the nation.
• The ACC placed 12 players on both the NCBWA and D1Baseball Preseason All-America Teams, including four first-team selections on each squad. Reigning ACC Pitcher of the Year Rhett Lowder of Wake Forest is joined on the NCBWA first team by Virginia third baseman Jake Gelof, North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt and Miami closer Andrew Walters. Lowder, Honeycutt and Walters were also named to the D1Baseball first team, along with Wake Forest first baseman Nick Kurtz.
• Led by No. 5 Wake Forest, seven ACC baseball teams are among the top 25 of Perfect Game's 2023 preseason poll. The Demon Deacons are joined among the top 10 by No. 7 Louisville and No. 9 Miami. Defending ACC champion North Carolina is at No. 13, followed by No. 15 Virginia Tech, No. 19 Virginia and No. 21 NC State.
• Nine ACC players -- including four first-team selections -- were named to the 2023 Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-America Team Powered by Diamond Sports. First-team selections included 2022 ACC Pitcher of the Year Rhett Lowder of Wake Forest, Miami closer Andrew Walters, Virginia third baseman Jake Gelof and North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt.
• Collegiate Baseball's Fabulous 50 preseason poll includes 10 ACC teams, including three among the top 10. Louisville leads at No. 6, followed by No. 8 Miami and No. 10 Wake Forest. Defending ACC champion North Carolina checks in at No. 11, followed by No. 16 Virginia and No. 23 Georgia Tech among the top 25. Virginia Tech is at No. 28, followed by No. 30 NC State, No. 32 Florida State and No. 42 Clemson.
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Feb. 17
Navy at Virginia, 2 p.m.
Pitt vs. Maine (Port Charlotte, Fla.), 2 p.m.
Bucknell at Louisville, 3 p.m.
Notre Dame at Lipscomb, 3 p.m.
Wagner at NC State, 3 p.m.
Binghamton at Clemson, 4 p.m.
St. Joseph’s at Duke, 4 p.m.
Miami (Ohio) at Georgia Tech, 4 p.m.
Youngstown State at Wake Forest, 4 p.m.
Seton Hall at North Carolina, 4 p.m.
Virginia Tech at College of Charleston, 4 p.m.
Boston College at Pepperdine, 4:30 p.m.
James Madison at Florida State, 5 p.m.
Penn State at Miami, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 18
Pitt vs. Maine (Port Charlotte, Fla.), Noon
Bucknell at Louisville, 1 p.m.
Binghamton at Clemson, 1 p.m.
James Madison at Florida State, 2 p.m. (ACCN)
Wagner at NC State, 2 p.m.
Seton Hall at North Carolina, 2 p.m.
Notre Dame at Lipscomb, 2 p.m.
Navy vs. Virginia (Wilmington, N.C.), 1 p.m.
Miami (Ohio) at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m.
Virginia Tech at College of Charleston, 2 p.m.
St. Joseph’s at Duke, 3 p.m.
Virginia at UNC Wilmington, 3 p.m.
Illinois at Wake Forest, 4 p.m.
Boston College at Pepperdine, 4 p.m.
Penn State at Miami, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 19
Youngstown State at Wake Forest, 8:30 a.m.
Virginia vs. Ohio (at Wilmington, N.C.), 11 a.m.
Pitt vs. Maine (Port Charlotte, Fla.), Noon
Illinois vs. Wake Forest, 12:30 p.m.
St. Joseph’s at Duke, 1 p.m.
Bucknell at Louisville, 1 p.m.
Binghamton at Clemson, 1 p.m.
Wagner at NC State, 1 p.m.
Seton Hall at North Carolina, 1 p.m.
Notre Dame at Lipscomb, 1 p.m.
Miami (Ohio) at Georgia Tech, 1 p.m.
Virginia Tech at College of Charleston,1 p.m.
Penn State at Miami, 7 p.m.
James Madison at Florida State, 1 p.m.
Boston College at Pepperdine, 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 21
ETSU at Virginia Tech, 1:30 p.m.
Longwood at Virginia, 3 p.m.
Radford at North Carolina, 4 p.m.
Wake Forest at UNC Greensboro, 4 p.m.
Charlotte at Clemson, 4 p.m.
Stetson at Miami, 6 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Georgia Southern, 6 p.m.
Florida State at Jacksonville, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 22
Xavier at Louisville, 3 p.m.
NC State at Coastal Carolina, 4 p.m.
Longwood at North Carolina, 4 p.m.
Liberty at Duke, 4 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 24
Boston College vs. Bucknell (at Charleston, S.C.), 11 a.m.
Pitt vs. Harvard (at Port Charles, Fla.), 1 p.m.
Bryant at Virginia Tech, 1 p.m.
Bowling Green at Louisville, 3 p.m.
Belmont at NC State, 3 p.m.
Columbia at Virginia, 3 p.m.
Baylor at Duke, 4 p.m.
Binghamton at Wake Forest, 4 p.m.
UCF at Clemson, 4 p.m.
Notre Dame at UNC Greensboro, 4 p.m.
Tennessee Tech at Georgia Tech, 4 p.m.
North Carolina at East Carolina, 5 p.m.
Dartmouth at Miami, 7 p.m.
Florida State at TCU, 7:30 p.m.