ACC Baseball News & Notes: Wake is the Preseason Favorite

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We are nine days away from the start of the college baseball season. It is an exciting time to be a coach, player or fan. The ACC held its preseason coaches poll recently, and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons were picked to be the regular season champions. It appears that the rest of college baseball agrees with it. Wake Forest has been named the preseason #1 ranked team in five national polls. D1 Baseball, Baseball America, Perfect Game, NCBWA, and USA Today Coaches poll. The Demon Deacons are looking to return to Omaha in late spring to try again to become national champions.

Wake is one of six league programs to be named in a national poll. Clemson, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Virginia are the other schools, each have appeared in each of the preseason polls. Once again, it looks like the ACC is loaded with good teams and talent. Wake Forest returns 562 at-bats from last year’s team that made a serious run in Omaha for a title. The offense is led by Preseason Player of the Year Nick Kurtz who slashed .353/.527/..784. They also welcome into the fold last Summer Breakout Prospect Award Winner, Seaver King. On the hill, the Demon Deacons are led by Preseason All-American Josh Hartle who a season ago fanned 143 batters, which was the second most in program history and was fifth in the nation. From the transfer portal, Wake Forest grabbed Chase Burns from Tennessee. Last season Burns was a semifinalist for the Golden Spike Award, after going 13-5 with a 2.81 ERA. Wake Forest begins their season at home vs Fordham.

The Clemson Tigers finished behind Wake in the polling collecting 79 points and two first-place votes. A big addition to the Tigers’ pitching staff is Rob Hughes who is playing a sixth-year, graduate season after transferring to Clemson from Furman in 2020, after the school decided to end their baseball program. He has battled injuries since arriving on the Tigers campus. Last season he threw 17.1 innings, owning a 1.56 ERA while striking out 21 hitters. He was part of the reason why Clemson rode a 17-game winning streak into last spring’s NCAA Tournament. The Tigers begin their year at home vs Xavier.

North Carolina will play a tough non-conference schedule that will consist of 17 games against teams ranked in the USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll. Along with their conference series, they have a game schedule vs East Carolina, a three-game set, and single games vs Coastal Carolina and South Carolina. The Tar Heels open their season at home vs Wagner.

The Duke Blue Devils received 71 points. after finishing 39-24 last year. They advanced to the program’s third super regional last spring. Their schedule featured games against seven ranked teams, including Coastal Carolina and East Carolina, along with the ACC teams. Pitching could very well be the Blue Devils calling card. Three members of the staff have been named Preseason All-America by the NCBWA. Fran Oschell III posted a 6-0 record out of the Blue Devils bullpen in 22 appearances. He finished with a 0.69 ERA, allowing just three earned runs. He struck out 66 hitters and opponents hit just .133. LHP James Tallon Broke the single-season record for saves with 12 in 33 innings. He held opponents to a .185 batting average while striking out 54. Andrew Healy posted a 2.32 ERA with 45 strikeouts a season ago. In 11 starts he went 5-1 in 42.2 innings. He is a draft-eligible sophomore.

Virginia put together a 50-wins season a year ago and 19 of those victories came in the ACC. Their record landed them a spot in the NCAA tournament and a spot in the CWS. Two members of this season landed on the Baseball America Preseason All-American List. Shortstop Griff O’Ferrall Broke, the school’s single-season record for hits with 108. He played all 65 games at SS last year. He batted .396, with 20 doubles, a HR, two triples, and 42 RBI. He also stole 16 bases in 18 attempts. First baseman Ethan Anderson started all 65 games batting .375, with 21 doubles, 15 home runs, 66 RBI, and 71 runs scored. He broke the Virginia single-season record for doubles with those 20. Virginia begins their season vs Hofstra.

North Carolina State returns 20 players from last season’s team. They welcome 19 newcomers with 13 of them being freshmen. Their freshmen class has already been ranked the #5 freshman class in the country along with the #12 transfer class. They were 36-21 in 2023 making the tournament for the 33rd time in school history last year. They have made a regional appearance in 17 of the past 20 tournaments. They will open their season vs VCU.

The league has placed at least one team in the last 17 college World Series and at least six in the last 19 NCAA Tournaments. The season begins next Friday, Feb.16th. Conference play begins on March 8. The ACC Baseball Tournament takes place on May 21st and runs through the 26th. The site will be Trusit Field in Charlotte, NC