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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC

    2018 ACC baseball tournament

    Thought I would start a dedicated thread to this event.

    First, a recap on the somewhat confusing format.

    Twelve teams, divided into four 3-team pods.

    Everyone plays the other two teams in their pods.

    Winner of pods advance to semifinals Saturday.

    Title game Sunday.

    Now, there are only two ways a pod can go.

    In Scenario A, one team goes 2-0, one team goes 1-1, one team goes 0-2.

    Easy to see who advances here.

    Scenario B is the circular-firing squad scenario, in which each team goes 1-1.

    No head-to-head advantage for anyone here.

    So, the tiebreaker goes to the top seed in the pod, based on regular-season in conference.

    Those teams would be North Carolina, Clemson, NC State and Duke.

    They are the only four teams that can advance with a loss.

    In other words, the three teams that lost yesterday-Georgia Tech, Virginia and Notre Dame-have no chance to advance to the semifinals. And none of these teams has a realistic chance of making the NCAAT.


    So, their second games are meaningless. For them. But not necessarily for their opponents.

    So, it will be interesting to see how these teams play out their season.


    Some words on yesterday's action. A 2-1 game, a 3-2, 11-inning game and a 6-2 game that was 1-2 going into the bottom of the eighth.

    So pitching ruled, excluding the Notre Dame bullpen collapse against Miami.


    Pitt's win over GT was a big, big upset. They were the `12th seed. They play UNC tonight and would clinch their pod with a win.


    A more likely outcome has UNC winning and punching their ticket to Saturday. The Tar Heels absolutely mauled Pitt earlier in the season.

    So, count on lots of light blue in the stands Saturday.


    Duke doesn't open until tomorrow. But the first game today involves Wake Forest and Louisvile, the other two teams in Duke's pod.


    They are scoreless after two.

    Should Wake win, Duke could clinch the pod by beating them tomorrow.

    Should Louisville win, Duke could clinch the pod by winning over Louisville Friday.

    But there's another dynamic at work for Duke.

    Duke hopes to host first-round NCAA action next week. Sixteen regionals will need hosts.

    By most accounts, Duke is just on the outside looking in. I really think Duke needs to win both pool games to feel good about hosting.

    Note also, that Duke's next win will be a school-record 40th.

    It's hot and humid in Durham, with rain expected. Could throw a figurative monkey wrench into the proceedings.

    More later.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    St. Louis
    Quote Originally Posted by jimsumner View Post
    Thought I would start a dedicated thread to this event.

    First, a recap on the somewhat confusing format.

    Twelve teams, divided into four 3-team pods.

    Everyone plays the other two teams in their pods.

    Winner of pods advance to semifinals Saturday.

    Title game Sunday.

    Now, there are only two ways a pod can go.

    In Scenario A, one team goes 2-0, one team goes 1-1, one team goes 0-2.

    Easy to see who advances here.

    Scenario B is the circular-firing squad scenario, in which each team goes 1-1.

    No head-to-head advantage for anyone here.

    So, the tiebreaker goes to the top seed in the pod, based on regular-season in conference.

    Those teams would be North Carolina, Clemson, NC State and Duke.

    They are the only four teams that can advance with a loss.

    In other words, the three teams that lost yesterday-Georgia Tech, Virginia and Notre Dame-have no chance to advance to the semifinals. And none of these teams has a realistic chance of making the NCAAT.


    So, their second games are meaningless. For them. But not necessarily for their opponents.

    So, it will be interesting to see how these teams play out their season.


    Some words on yesterday's action. A 2-1 game, a 3-2, 11-inning game and a 6-2 game that was 1-2 going into the bottom of the eighth.

    So pitching ruled, excluding the Notre Dame bullpen collapse against Miami.


    Pitt's win over GT was a big, big upset. They were the `12th seed. They play UNC tonight and would clinch their pod with a win.


    A more likely outcome has UNC winning and punching their ticket to Saturday. The Tar Heels absolutely mauled Pitt earlier in the season.

    So, count on lots of light blue in the stands Saturday.


    Duke doesn't open until tomorrow. But the first game today involves Wake Forest and Louisvile, the other two teams in Duke's pod.


    They are scoreless after two.

    Should Wake win, Duke could clinch the pod by beating them tomorrow.

    Should Louisville win, Duke could clinch the pod by winning over Louisville Friday.

    But there's another dynamic at work for Duke.

    Duke hopes to host first-round NCAA action next week. Sixteen regionals will need hosts.

    By most accounts, Duke is just on the outside looking in. I really think Duke needs to win both pool games to feel good about hosting.

    Note also, that Duke's next win will be a school-record 40th.

    It's hot and humid in Durham, with rain expected. Could throw a figurative monkey wrench into the proceedings.

    More later.
    Thanks for the format explanation, which was illuminating. My attempt to spork it was unsuccessful.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    A three-run blast by Josh Stowers put Louisville up 3-1, after four.

    The Deacs had a chance to blow it open in the third, bases loaded, no outs. But Jake Mueller hit into a DP, scoring a run. No further damage that inning.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Wake beginning to unravel. 5-1 Louisville still batting in B6.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Josh Stowers clears bases with triple.

    Stowers has six RBIs and Louisville goes to the top of the ninth clinging to a tenuous 10-2 lead.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    And that's our final.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Winston-Salem, NC
    Louisville wins 10-2

    The only question for Duke is what to do with starting pitchers. Bullpen pitchers are always ready to go, and our coaches can make those decisions on the fly.

    Duke should start their #2 Starting pitcher against Wake and our #1 pitcher vs UL. Our #3 can start on Saturday if we're fortunate enough to get there - and we can pull him quickly if needed to get to DeCaster, Jarvis, Stinson, and Labosky as needed. Duke's bullpen depth is fantastic, and our top 4 relievers could be strung together to get 8 innings.

    If Duke can get to Sunday, our #2 pitcher might have enough left to throw a few innings. UL will be very tough, but we have to win that game to host a regional. We should try to beat Wake too - as Jim pointed out - although the game is meaningless for our ACC Tourney advancement, it matters for our chances to host an NCAA regional.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by richardjackson199 View Post
    Louisville wins 10-2

    The only question for Duke is what to do with starting pitchers. Bullpen pitchers are always ready to go, and our coaches can make those decisions on the fly.

    Duke should start their #2 Starting pitcher against Wake and our #1 pitcher vs UL. Our #3 can start on Saturday if we're fortunate enough to get there - and we can pull him quickly if needed to get to DeCaster, Jarvis, Stinson, and Labosky as needed. Duke's bullpen depth is fantastic, and our top 4 relievers could be strung together to get 8 innings.

    If Duke can get to Sunday, our #2 pitcher might have enough left to throw a few innings. UL will be very tough, but we have to win that game to host a regional. We should try to beat Wake too - as Jim pointed out - although the game is meaningless for our ACC Tourney advancement, it matters for our chances to host an NCAA regional.
    I'm not sure Duke has a clear number one starter, especially after last weekend's debacle.

    Pollard indicated earlier in the week that his two senior weekend starters would start the pod games. Mitch Stallings and Ryan Day were both roughed up pretty good at GT. But both are seniors and should be able to rebound. Order of use? TBD.

    That likely would leave Laskey to start Saturday, should Duke advance that far.

    Louisville looked pretty tough today. Wake helped them out a lot, an error, five walks, two wild pitches, three hit batters, a balk, a passed ball and abysmal clutch hitting.


    But first things first and Wake is first. Who knows what they'll bring to the table. They could be in off-season mode, or nothing-to-lose, have-fun-and-kick-butt mode. TBD.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Lightning delay with Notre Dame up over Clemson 2-0 in second.

    This is where the schedule starts to get iffy.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Wilmington, NC
    Thinking about going to the weekend session. Tickets are only $45 for the semis and championship game. Wish I knew more about the weather is gonna do, and what Duke is gonna do. Still, even if Duke doesn't make it, you can find worse places to hang out on a Sunday afternoon than Durham Bull athletic park.

    Does anyone know if they serve beer inside the park for this tournament? I know it's a college tournament, but it's a pro park, off-campus. If not, I can always hit up Tobacco Road or something before, during, and after.

    Jut gotta talk the wife into 3 baseball games in 2 days.

    Update:
    Me: Want to go to the ACC baseball tournament this weekend?
    Her: When?
    Me: Semis are Saturday, championship game is Sunday.
    Her: Sure. And you can take me to the Sugarland concert Saturday night afterwards. Thanks for asking.
    Me:

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Saturday's weather looks great.

    Sunday? Not so much.

    Keep in mind that UNC only has to beat a 28-25 Pitt team to guarantee a spot in the semis and NC State might be around; FSU is a tough out in their pod.

    But tickets could--note the qualifier-be at a premium this weekend. Put all three Triangle schools in and it's going to be crowded.

  12. #12
    Thanks very much for the helpful explanation, Jim.

    Now that Louisville has beat Wake, is it right that Duke's game with Wake is meaningless? Whether we win or lose that game, it seems like if we beat Louisville, we will advance to the semis. Right?

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by Willy2351 View Post
    Thanks very much for the helpful explanation, Jim.

    Now that Louisville has beat Wake, is it right that Duke's game with Wake is meaningless? Whether we win or lose that game, it seems like if we beat Louisville, we will advance to the semis. Right?
    Meaningless for the purposes of the ACCT.

    Very much meaningful for Duke's chances of hosting the first weekend of the NCAAT.

    Duke will go all out to win tomorrow.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    It took Clemson about three innings to decide if they wanted to bother with this one.

    But they've exploded in the top of the 4th, with six runs and counting.

    They lead 7-3.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    And counting. Clemson still batting in T4, 11-3, bases loaded.

    If you are in the Durham area and have eligibility remaining, report to the Notre Dame bench.

    They need arms.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Seriously.

    Send help.

    Grand slam by Davidson, second home run of inning, 15-3, Clemson ties ACCT record for runs in inning at 14.

    They've batted around twice.

    And yes, the ACC has a 10-run mercy rule. But the game has to go seven innings and it might be tomorrow before we get there.

    Painful to watch. Figuratively and maybe literally.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Home run hits the bull.

    18-3. 17 runs this inning.

    And still batting.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh
    Quote Originally Posted by jimsumner View Post
    Home run hits the bull.

    18-3. 17 runs this inning.

    And still batting.
    Could/would the ND coach and his team head to the locker room now and request/call it a forfeit?

    Kidding. Mostly.

    [redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Finally over. A called third strike.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by jimsumner View Post
    Meaningless for the purposes of the ACCT.

    Very much meaningful for Duke's chances of hosting the first weekend of the NCAAT.

    Duke will go all out to win tomorrow.
    Just as with State vs UVA, neither team will go "all out". You aren't going to throw your best pitcher. You aren't even going to throw your second or third best. The goal is to win the ACCT, do that and hosting isn't in question.

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