ACC Tournament: First Round Recap
- Montgomery Taylor
- May 21
- 8 min read
Photo Courtesy of Pitt Athletics
A marathon first day of the ACC Tournament kicked off at 9 am with the first of four games. Three teams achieved upsets and sent higher seeded teams home early. The final out of the day wasn’t recorded into the wee hours of Wednesday morning after an extra innings thriller.
If Cal were bothered by the time difference, it didn’t show as they run-ruled the Miami Hurricanes, 12-2 behind a dominant performance by starting pitcher Oliver de la Torre. Miami, who just a few weeks ago appeared to be safely in the NCAA Tournament, now heads home to sweat a little bit while Cal looks to continue their season tomorrow morning against Wake Forest.
Cal catcher Alex Birge got the scoring started in Durham with his 11th home run of the season. The two-run blast in the 2nd inning came off the bat at 108 MPH and traveled 445 feet. Birge would add a big second two-run home run in the 8th inning to put the Bears ahead by 10 runs.
Oliver de la Torre dazzled over six shutout innings as he stifled the Miami bats with a lethal fastball and change up mix that kept Hurricane hitters off balance.
“Yeah, the changeup was working today,” said de la Torre post-game. “I really just wanted to focus on getting ahead and then using that as a finish pitch.”
De la Torre, who hadn’t pitched in 10 days, extended his scoreless streak to 10 innings after going four shutout innings on May 10th against Florida State. Through the first three innings against Miami, only one baserunner reached while he struck out four batters.Perhaps the most impressive part of his scoreless streak is that he has struck out 13 batters while walking zero.
“His last outing was outstanding against Florida State," said Cal head coach Mike Neu. “We gave him a little rest to be ready for this one. He threw so well, changing speeds like that and obviously his fastball was really good, too. It was just a great mix and he's super competitive so that was fun to see. It gives your whole team some life when you got a guy out there competing like that.”
Cal broke it open with a seven run 4th inning. With the bases loaded, Ethan Kodama started the scoring run with a single past a diving Jake Ogden in just his 19th at-bat of the season. After Advincula reached on an error, PJ Moutzouridis drove a double into the left field corner to add two more runs and extend the lead to 6-0. After an RBI hit by pitch from Jacob French, left fielder Carl Schmidt added two more runs on a bloop single to center field. When Miami finally retired the side, it was 9-0, Cal.
Daniel Cuvet went 2-for-3 with a double and catcher Tanner Smith hit a 2-run HR to avoid a run rule in the 7th inning for Miami, but Birge’s second home run in the 8th sealed the deal to send Miami back home.
“We have to win this tournament to have a chance at the postseason,” said Neu. “If there's a chance we want to go full on.”
Cal will play #8 Wake Forest at 9am on Wednesday morning.
The Hokies survive to play another day as Virginia Tech outlasted Stanford, 7-4. The top three hitters in the Tech order enjoyed multi-hit days while second baseman Jared Davis flashed the leather in crucial moments to help seal the win. Stanford’s debut season in the ACC, which started so strong, ends in Durham.
After strong starts from both starting pitchers, Stanford scored first in the 3rd inning on a wild pitch by Jake Marciano. The Hokies immediately responded in the bottom half with an RBI double to left center by freshman Hudson Lutterman to score Cam Pittman from first base..
In the 4th, Jackson Cherry laid down a perfect safety squeeze bunt against Stanford pitcher Joey Volchko. The graduate outfielder not only scored the runner from third to take the lead, but beat the throw to first for a hit..
“I knew there was no way anybody was going to catch that just because it was so far off the end of my bat,” Cherry said. “It kind of back spun and just stuck, like I stuck it right on the green. And it ended up being the go ahead run, which was pretty awesome.”
Cam Pittman added another run via a single to make the score 3-1 in favor of Virginia Tech. After Trevor Haskins hit a solo home run with two outs in the 5th, the Hokies went to the bullpen. Freshman Jake Marciano had enjoyed a strong start, going 4.2 innings and giving up just four hits and two runs while striking out five batters and walking none.
“I thought Marciano gave us a great start,” said Virginia Tech head coach John Szefc. “He had a shorter outing on Friday against UVA, but to come in and do what he did to get us off to a good start against Stanford was huge.”
Stanford was able to get runners on the corners with one out in 6th. Stanford center fielder Ethan Hott attempted to lay down a safety squeeze but was unsuccessful before ultimately striking out for the second out. After the next batter walked, the bases were loaded for Cort MacDonald, who knocked a high bloop over the infield that had center fielder Cam Pittman and second baseman Jared Davis making an attempt to catch the ball. The hit that would’ve tied the game was instead robbed on outstanding play by Davis to end the threat.
The Hokies would add three runs in the 6th and then a Mycah Jordan solo home run in the 7th to open up a 7-2 lead before standout reliever Grant Manning gave up a late two run blast to Jimmy Nati.
The Hokies will advance to face #5 Clemson at 1pm on Wednesday.
The Pittsburgh Panthers added another upset to their ACC Tournament history as they took down the 10th seeded Louisville Cardinals in a thrilling 13-11 game. Lorenzo Carrier drove in five runs and Luke Cantwell hit the go ahead homer in the 9th in another display of “Grittsburgh” baseball.
Pitt jumped all over Louisville starter TJ Schlageter in the 1st inning as the Panthers scored three runs, highlighted by a Carrier double that drove in two runs. Louisville’s Eddie King Jr– who went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, and five runs driven in– responded with an RBI double of his own in the bottom half to make it 3-1.
Pitt would eventually extend their lead to 8-2 by the bottom of the 5th inning. Their offensive output was highlighted by a solo shot by senior catcher Jayden Melendez, who hit a mammoth home run off the bull above the left field wall.
“Historically, Jayden's very good against left-handed pitchers,” said Pitt head coach Mike Bell. “And it was really great to see his senior year. Think about the emotions that these guys are going through. They're not knowing if this is the last time they’ll play college baseball. But to have that moment and that memory that's created, I told him it's not a steak, though, it was a salad because I think it hit the salad up there. But it was a great shot by him.”
Eddie King Jr started the Louisville comeback with a monster three-run blast in the bottom of the 5th to cut the score to 8-5. After they were able to cut the deficit to 8-6, Carrier hit a three-run bomb to seemingly put the game out of reach– but Louisville clawed back again. It was once again King Jr drawing a crucial two out walk with the bases loaded that extended the inning. One batter later, Garrett Pike lined a single to center field to tie the game. It was a team effort, but King was at the center of every rally.
“[Eddie King Jr] got his degree, and just to see him do the things he's doing this year offensively, and it's fun,” said Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell. “A guy like that can carry you through the postseason, as you saw today, but he can't do it by himself. We obviously have to help him, but I'm really happy for Eddie.”
With the game tied 11-11, Pitt turned to the player that has embodied the “Grittsburgh” mentality the most over his two years with the program. .Luke Cantwell drilled a one out, two run blast to restore Pitt’s lead. Ethan Firoved, who’d given up the lead in the 8th inning, delivered a clean 9th to preserve the 13-11 win.
“Every at-bat, you have an approach and you have a plan,” said Cantwell post-game of his home run. “It's just about the execution and simplifying the game no matter what the moment is. As the coaches preach to us, ‘let the game come to you.’ They harp on it every day, every at-bat, every pitch. So no matter who they throw out there, it's the enemy, it's another pitch. It's another at-bat. It's another moment. And I was fortunate to get a good one and help the boys get an important W.”
Pitt will advance to face Duke at 5p on Wednesday hoping to keep their season alive for another few days.
Boston College completed the third upset of the day as they grinded out a thrilling 5-4 victory over Notre Dame in 10 innings. The game ended at 1:44 AM on Wednesday morning, completing a marathon first round at the ACC Tournament in Durham, North Carolina.
The Irish struck first after freshman Parker Brzustewicz delivered a ground rule double to drive in DM Jefferson. Carson Tinney came in to score on a sacrifice fly to center field from Connor Hincks.
“I was really excited about our start to the day,” Notre Dame head coach Shawn Stiffler said post game. “I'm fine with the way we played throughout.”
Unfortunately for the Irish, the early lead was short-lived. Kyle Wolff, the ACC leader in HBP, had been relegated to the 8-spot in the lineup after recent struggles. The junior slugger delivered a monster three run blast to give Boston College a 3-2 lead in the 2nd inning. The Eagles would add another run on a sacrifice bunt by Gunnar Johnson in the 3rd inning to make it 4-2.
From there, both pitchers settled down somewhat as Rory Fox completed six innings without giving anymore runs while AJ Colarusso departed after four innings following a solo shot to Estevan Moreno that cut the deficit in half. The Irish would load the bases in the 6th and tie the game on a Brady Gumpf walk with one out, prompting BC head coach Todd Interdonato to go to another reliever.
Boston College called upon freshman Gavin Soares to face DM Jefferson and Carson Tinney. Soares, who entered the game with a dazzling sub 3.00 ERA, had been snubbed earlier in the week for the All ACC Freshman Team. Soares made a statement to the entire conference on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning as he dominated on the mound and tossed 4.2 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win.
“[Soares] has just progressed all the way throughout the course of the year to the point where now he's thrown into these situations,” said Interdonato. “Everybody is willing to lose with him on the mound. It's just been a steady progression.”
Senior shortstop Sam McNulty led off the Top of the 10th with a single, then took second on a wild pitch with one out, bringing graduate student and team spark plug Patrick Roche to the plate. The local boy delivered with a go ahead ground back up the middle to score McNulty and take a decisive 5-4 lead.
“Pat was talking after he punched out with runners on first and third in the seventh,” explained Interdonato. “He was just talking about, like, ‘give me another opportunity, give me another opportunity.’ So, I was happy that he got one there.”
Gavin Soares worked a shutout bottom half of the 10th to seal the deal and send Boston College onto the next round. Notre Dame will now return to South Bend and await their fate. The Irish won 10 of 12 ACC games down the stretch and played themselves onto the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, but needed a few wins in Durham to feel safer about the postseason.
“I think we did enough,” Stiffler said about his team’s chances. “I mean, you have 16 teams in this league, you certainly should be getting more teams into the postseason. This league is an 11-bid league, in my opinion.”
Boston College will play Virginia on Wednesday night at 9pm for a spot in Friday’s quarterfinals.
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