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ACC baseball Week 3 power rankings: Virginia, Duke and NC State are off to slow starts
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Baseball isn’t like football or even basketball where an early loss or losses can derail a team’s entire season. It’s a 56-game grind spread out over 3 months with any number of variables involved.
So while predicted ACC frontrunners Virginia, Duke and NC State have reason to be concerned by their stumbling starts, it’s too soon to panic.
The Cavaliers started the year ranked No. 2 in the D1Baseball preseason poll. The Blue Devils were No. 11 and the Wolfpack No. 13. But between them, they’ve combined for just an 11-12 record over the opening 2 weeks.
With the start of the conference schedule still 2 weeks away, there’s plenty of time to work out the issues that are plaguing them. Just as there’s time for the ACC’s 3 remaining unbeaten teams – Florida State, North Carolina and Stanford – to get even better.
Week 3 ACC power rankings
The early struggles of the UVA, Duke and NC State, combined with encouraging starts by Stanford, Louisville and Notre Dame, have produced a major juggling of the rankings. Here’s how the ACC’s 16 teams stack up heading into Week 3 of the long season:
16. Boston College
The Eagles lost 2 of 3 at New Orleans over the weekend, both by a single run, to fall below .500 (2-3) for the season. Hitting hasn’t been the problem for Todd Interdonato’s team. It’s averaging 7.8 runs per game with a cumulative batting average of .303. The pitching staff, however, is off to a slow start with a team ERA of 6.65.
15. Cal
After opening the season with a series win against Nevada, the Bears lost 2 of 3 in a weekend series against Houston. Redshirt freshman Gavin Eddy and junior Cole Clark came within 2 outs of the program’s first no-hitter since 1978 before finishing with a 2-hit, 5-1 victory against the Cougars. Cal bounced back with a midweek win on Wednesday. But even then, it took 11 innings and a come-from-behind effort to get past 2-7 Cal State Bakersfield.
14. NC State
It’s been a miserable week for Elliott Avent’s team. The Wolfpack went to Jacksonville, Fla. to play in the Jax College Baseball Classic and dropped all 3 games, managing only 6 runs combined in losses to Ohio State, Alabama and Coastal Carolina. Things only got worse once State returned home. A 5-1 loss to Richmond on Tuesday extended its losing streak to 5 since an opening weekend sweep of Fordham. The Wolfpack’s fall from No. 6 in last week’s power rankings is the biggest this week.
13. Duke
Just when it looked as though the Blue Devils had gotten their act together, especially on the mound by outscoring Cornell 34-8 in the final 2 games of their weekend series. Saturday’s win was the 382nd of coach Chris Pollard’s career, making him the winningest coach in program history. But the positive momentum didn’t last long. A 9-6 loss to Campbell on Tuesday and an 11-4 defeat at the hands of Liberty on Wednesday have dropped Duke below .500 at 4-5.
12. Pittsburgh
The Panthers were looking good after starting the season with 5 straight neutral-site wins. But after a 1-run loss to Monmouth in Cary, N.C., they returned North and dropped their home opener against Bucknell on Tuesday. Pitt mustered only 4 hits in the 7-3 loss to the Bison. Things will only get tougher for the Panthers moving forward as they return to North Carolina this weekend for a 3-game series at UNC Greensboro that kicks off an 11-game road trip.
11. Notre Dame
Pitching was the name of the game for the Irish this weekend, as they improved to 5-1 with 3 crisply-played victories in Deland, Fla. Jack Radel and 3 relievers got things off to a winning start by holding Iowa to a single run in an 11-inning 2-1 triumph that was decided on a homer by Connor Hincks. That was followed by a 12-2 win against UMBC with Jackson Dennies striking out 8 in 5.1 innings and an 8-2 win against host Stetson. Up 4 spots from No. 15, the Irish are the biggest mover in this week’s rankings.
10. Virginia Tech
The Hokies have come out swinging to start the season. They’re hitting .364 as a team with 83 runs in their first 8 games. Redshirt senior outfielder Sam Tackett is hitting .500 (13-for-26) with 4 homers and 12 driven in, sophomore catcher David McCann is hitting .448 (13-for-29) with 2 homers and 8 RBI while junior second baseman Jared Davis is hitting .429 (12-for-28). After taking 2 of 3 from UNC Greensboro over the weekend, Tech improved to 6-2 with a Tuesday victory against James Madison.
9. Georgia Tech
The Yellow Jackets came within 6 outs of winning their weekend series against Marshall. But the bullpen imploded in the final game on Monday, giving up 9 runs in the final 3 innings of a 12-8 loss. Relief pitching was an issue in each of the final 3 games of the series. The Thundering Herd scored 16 runs in 15 innings against the Tech bullpen. A 16-7 win against West Georgia on Thursday upped the Yellow Jackets’ record to 6-2.
8. Miami
The Hurricanes (8-1) enjoyed a dominant weekend while pounding out 4 straight wins against Princeton. It was their first 4-game sweep since a home-opening series against Towson in 2022. Miami outscored its Ivy League opponent 36-5, including an 8-0 shutout in the final game on Sunday on a combined 1-hitter highlighted by a 9-strikeout effort over 6 innings by starter Brian Walters. The Hurricanes then continued their winning ways with a 14-6 victory against Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday.
7. Virginia
The Cavaliers continue to spin their wheels after coming out of the starting gate at No. 2 in the preseason polls. Though they’re not exactly struggling. They could easily be 6-1 rather than 4-3 if their 2 extra-inning losses had gone the other way. Still, there are clearly issues to address after going 1-2 in 3 games – with setbacks to Oregon State and Oklahoma – at the Karback Round Rock Classic in Texas. On a positive note, ace Evan Blanco made his first appearance following a preseason injury in a 6-4 win against VMI on Tuesday, although he was on a strict 25-pitch count and lasted only 1 inning.
6. Louisville
Pitching and defense are usually a winning combination and the Cardinals have been strong at both so far. Their pitchers are averaging 11.3 strikeouts per 9 innings and they’ve made only 4 errors through 7 games. But it’s their bats that have them off to an explosive 6-1 start. Louisville pounded out 31 runs and pounded out 19 extra-base hits in a 3-game weekend sweep of Western Michigan. They ranked 11th nationally with a .351 team batting average before going off for 16 hits and 15 runs against Butler on Wednesday.
5. Stanford
The Cardinal returned to their Pac-12 roots by sweeping a 4-game series against former conference rival Washington. They’ve now won 7 of their last 8 against the Huskies and are off an 8-0 start for the first time since beginning the 2018 season with 10 straight wins. Their current 8-game streak is their longest since reeling off 17 in a row in May 2022. Stanford’s offense is averaging 8.9 runs per game, led by ACC Player of the Week Trevor Haskins, who homered in all 4 games while going 7-for-18 with 12 RBI.
4. Wake Forest
Even with ACC Pitcher of the Year Chase Burns having moved on to the professional ranks, coach Tom Walter still has plenty of live arms at his disposal. They were on full display over the past 4 games, all wins. Missouri transfer Logan Lunsford struck out 13 in 5.1 innings on Friday and Tennessee transfer Matthew Dallas allowed only 1 hit over 6 innings on Saturday in back-to-back shutouts of St. John’s. Then after finishing off the series of the Red Storm on Sunday, Wake’s bullpen took over in a midweek win against Elon. After falling behind 6-0 in the top of the first, 6 relief pitchers shut the Phoenix down the rest of the way in a 9-6 win that extended the Deacons’ nonconference home winning streak to 64 straight.
3. Clemson
The Tigers opened their home schedule by winning all 4 of their games in the Clemson Invitational, beating VCU and North Carolina A&M twice each. The final 2 featured pitching gems by starters Ethan Darden and Justin LeGuernic. Clemson’s bats then took over in a 20-7 run-rule victory against Winthrop on Tuesday that improved its record to 7-1. The Tigers warmed up for this weekend’s series against arch-rival South Carolina by scoring runs in all 6 of the innings they went to the plate while tallying their most runs since scoring 20 against Miami in March 2022.
2. North Carolina
The fifth-ranked Tar Heels completed their first-ever 3-game sweep of in-state rival East Carolina, including a 2-0 shutout behind ace Jason DeCaro in the opener at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday. They followed that up with midweek wins against VCU and North Carolina A&T. The most encouraging aspect of UNC’s perfect 9-0 start, its best since 2019, has been the play of Hunter Stokley. The graduate first baseman, who missed all but 3 games last season with a hand injury, hit .667 in the 4 games against ECU before slamming a pair of homers against VCU. He’s got 15 hits in his first 36 at-bats with 10 runs scored and 11 driven in.
1. Florida State
The Seminoles aren’t just off to the most impressive start among ACC teams. As one of the nation’s 12 remaining unbeatens at 8-0, a case can be made that they’re among the very best in all of college baseball over the first 2 weeks. Link Jarrett’s seventh-ranked team put on a balanced display of hitting, pitching and defense in outscoring defending Ivy League champion Penn 44-9 during a 4-game weekend sweep. Ace Jamie Arnold was dominant again in striking out 8 in 5 scoreless innings on Friday. But he had plenty of help behind him. FSU’s 1.35 team earned run average is the second best nationally, behind only ACC rival Miami. Offensively, the Noles are hitting .340 with 11 homers. They pounded out 16 hits in a 9-6 win against Jacksonville on Wednesday for their second 8-0 start in as many years.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
