GREENSBORO, N.C. -- With two of the three ACC baseball teams that are in contention for a national seed in action on Day 2 of the ACC Baseball Tournament -- not to mention four more teams that could use a win for their NCAA Tournament hopes -- there was plenty on the line.
Even though no one is going home just yet after a loss, like both NC State and Wake Forest did yesterday in two play-in games, an early loss in pool play can be too much to overcome, even for top-seeded teams.
Sometimes, teams can get hot at the right time -- like Georgia Tech (34-24), winners of yesterday's play-in game. The Yellow Jackets came down from 3-1 down after six innings to beat Miami, the No. 1 overall seed, 6-3.
"You've got to have confidence, especially a 9-seed facing a No. 1 seed. We were down 3-1, but we'd already beaten (Miami) two out of three (in the regular season), so confidence was a key factor in our win today," Georgia Tech's Brandon Gold said. "We kept on battling and grinding our at bats out, and it happened to come in our favor with the 'w'."
Miami dropped to 40-16 with the loss, and the Hurricanes took a hit to their national seed hopes. But the Hurricanes came into the Tournament winners of 27 of their last 30 games, and they hope that hot streak can keep going.
"We've been hot lately. Just because we lost one today doesn't mean we can't start another streak, and that's what we plan on doing," Miami pitcher Andrew Suarez said.
Now, Georgia Tech has a significant edge in Pool A. The Yellow Jackets could still drop a game to either Duke or Clemson and even if Miami wins its remaining two pool play games, it will still finish ahead of the Hurricanes and advance to the ACC title game.
"It's only one game. Well, we've won two. But, yeah, in the real terms we've won two. Yeah, it's a great start for us," Georgia Tech head coach Danny Hall said. "We're happy to win, and we're going to play a good Duke team tomorrow."
Duke, meanwhile, has an RPI in the 80's and probably needed to win at least two games in pool play to have an at-large NCAA Tournament chance. But the fourth-seeded Blue Devils fell 5-3 to No. 5-seed Clemson in their Tournament opener.
It's Duke's first ACC Tournament appearance since 2009, but the Blue Devils aren't just happy to be here. They know what's at stake -- even if they can't play like it the rest of the way.
"Obviously, we need to win these next two games. I don't think weâre going to feel more pressure, necessarily," Duke starting pitcher Michael Matuella said. "I think we're going to take it one pitch at a time. We know we can beat any team if we play to our abilities. I don't think there is any really pressure added to us."
"If we start to press and feel like we need to make some sort of statement, I think we can find ourselves in here having the same conversation," Duke head coach Chris Pollard said.
Clemson came into the ACC Tournament with a strong RPI, but reeling. The Tigers had lost a series to an awful Notre Dame team and had split the first two games of its final ACC series against Boston College. But the rubber match resulted in Clemson erasing a seven-run deficit after the top of the seventh inning to win it in extras.
Maybe, just maybe, that gave Clemson (35-22) a bit of momentum.
"I've always thought we have a really good baseball team," Clemson head coach Jack Leggett said. "We won a big game the other day, and I think that gave us a lot of momentum and confidence in what we're doing. We've played through a tough schedule along the way, and this is another tough ballgame for us. Every game we play in the ACC is tough.
"There isn't anything easy about it. But I've always believed in this team, and the team has always played pretty consistently for the most part."
Florida State (42-14), meanwhile, is the No. 2 seed (by virtue of winning the Atlantic Division), and they likely didn't need to do much in the Tournament to lock up a national seed.
That didn't stop them from ruthlessly stomping on the proverbial throat of No. 7 seed UNC (33-24), going up 5-0 after the fourth and barely giving an inch the rest of the way, squelching almost any Tar Heel threat on the bases with inning-ending double plays. The final was 7-1, the largest margin for a winning team so far in two days of play.
It was, oddly enough, the Seminoles' first ACC Tournament win in their last seven tries.
FSU pitching coach Mike Bell went to Florida State, and he joined head coach Mike Martin's staff two years ago. Martin said Bell let the team know he hadn't won an ACC Tournament game since 1994. Plenty of the Seminoles weren't even alive yet.
"So you might say we were aware of the drought," Martin said dryly, "but just glad that we played well and got it done."
Jameis Winston became the first Heisman Trophy winner to pitch in an ACC Tournament when he came on to close out the ninth inning, needing just 14 pitches to do it. The two other winners (both from Florida State) also played baseball, but just one in college (Charlie Ward). Chris Weinke had a brief minor league baseball career before attending Florida State.
But that was by far the least interesting part of the night for the Seminoles, save that it got him some work as a late reliever. The outing by starting pitcher Billy Strode made sure the staff will be plenty rested, and likely the most dangerous team left in the field.
"It's very typical of how they beat you. They pitch well, don't give you any opportunities," UNC head coach Mike Fox said of the Seminoles. "They take advantage. When you open the door -- a walk there, two-out hits, all the things that you would script out on how to win a game -- Florida State does it time after time after time."
North Carolina probably didn't need to win the game to make the NCAA Tournament, but it wouldn't have hurt matters, either. The Tar Heels will have two more chances against two top-30 RPI teams starting on Friday after an off day.
"I'm trying not to think about it. But we've got to compete better and we've got to try to win a couple more games here in the tournament," Fox said. "All of that is going to play out based on how we finish here, I think.
"We're either going to be in or out. If we're out, it's going to be our own doing."
On Thursday, the only two teams that haven't seen action so far -- both from Pool B -- will begin play, as No. 6 Maryland and No. 3 Virginia start things off in the morning. Duke will look to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive against Georgia Tech at 3:00, while Miami will face Clemson in the nightcap.
