ACC Baseball News & Notes: North Carolina is Red Hot

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As we begin the final six weeks of the college baseball schedule, the race for divisional titles is getting interesting. In the ACC, that race is getting tighter. In the Coastal division, North Carolina (25-4, 10-2) and Virginia Tech (21-5, 10-2) are tied at the top of the division. They have a three-game lead on everyone else. In the Atlantic, Clemson (25-3, 7-2) has a two-game lead on the rest of the division. This week we look inside the numbers of the league.

The Tar Heels head into this weekend with a nine-game winning streak and a perfect 20-0 record at home. What is interesting about UNC is they are the worst fielding team in the ACC with a .963 fielding percentage. They have made 38 errors in 29 games. The defense has turned 24 double plays. However, they have only been able to throw out 3-of-16 would-be base stealers. The offense is where UNC is making it work. They are second in runs scored with 265, second in hits with 313, and second in runs batted in at 243. On the mound, the Tar Heels are fourth in ERA at 4.12, first in innings pitched with 253.1 IP, and first in wins with 25, They are first in home runs allowed with 21, which means the pitching staff is first in homers allowed per game at 0.75. They are also first in flyouts per game at 9.77 which may be a good reason for the high home run total. On defense, UNC is first in putouts with 760, first in errors with 38, and second in chances with 1,029.

Duke (20-8, 6-6) is one team getting it done in many different areas. Do not let the record fool you as this is a pretty good team. If they can get to the tournament, they could be a dark horse. They are fourth in the ACC in team batting at. 322, They are second in the league with 68 home runs. The Blue Devils are number one in slugging percentage at .572, with an on-base percentage of .419. They are pretty good at stealing them, with 26 steals in 34 attempts. They have the best team ERA in the league at 3.66 with three shutouts and eight saves. Charlie Beilenson leads the league with six. Teams are hitting .197 against them. The staff has allowed 100 earned runs which is the lowest in the conference. On defense, they have the third-best fielding percentage at .984% with 15 errors in 965 chances. Ben Miller is the player to watch as he leads the league in hitting at .455, on-base percentage at .531, hits with 51, doubles with 14, and total bases with 92.

The head-scratcher is Wake Forest (17-10, 4-8). They are tied for last in hitting in the league at .276. Their ERA is middle of the pack at 5.29, and their fielding is the same at .970%. with 29 errors in 953 chances. But here is where it gets hard to understand. The Demon Deacons pitching staff is first in hit batters with 47 and wild pitches with 45. They are also first in batters struck out looking with 91 and second in strikeouts with 323. Chase Burns leads in strikeouts with 82 and in SO looking with 17. David Falco is tied in appearances with 16. He is also tied in games in relief with 16. While Zack Johnson leads in hit batters with nine. Will Ray is tied in balks with two.

Two ACC teams that are struggling at the moment are where we go next. The Pittsburgh Panthers (12-13, 2-10), have a tough time playing home games. They have played nine of them, winning just three. The Panthers have played the most neutral site games of anyone in the league at six, winning five of those. They are next to last in hitting at .286, last in slugging at .446%, and next to last in on-base at .400. Their pitching staff has a 6.35 team ERA. On defense, they have a .967%, 29 errors in 867 chances. They have grounded into the most double plays at 32. The pitching staff is second in balks with four. Justin Fogel grounded into the most double plays with eight, and strikeouts per game at 0.25. Ryan Zuckerman is second in errors with 10.

Notre Dame (14-12, 2-10) has lost four in a row and is 3-7 in their last 10 games. They have played the lowest number of home games to date at five (4-1). Weather in the middle part of the country may have something to do with that total. ND has played the most road games at 21 with a record of 10-11. They are tied for last in hitting at .276, and third from the bottom in ERA at 6.70. The staff has allowed the second most earned runs at 167 while giving up 42 HR which are the most in the league. However, the Irish are the best fielding team in the league 985%, with 14 errors in 915 chances. They have turned 25 double plays which is tied for the most in the conference. The pitching staff is first in sac-fly allowed at 15. Matt Bedford leads the staff and the league in losses with four, and Ricky Reeth is second with three. Connor Hincks leads in fielding double plays with 24.

This will give you some idea of team’s and player’s strandings as the final third of the season gets underway. We’ll keep track as we go along. Next week we will have more from ACC Baseball.