Diamond Heels 2026 ACC Tournament Central

Friday, May 22

Charlotte, N.C.

11 AM

North Carolina

Virginia Tech

May 21, 2026 | Baseball

By: William Soulé

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Diamond Heels once again travel to Trusit Field for the 2026 ACC Baseball Championship.

The defending champions wil take on Virginia Tech in their first game Friday morning already having earned themselves a spot in the quarterfinals with a double bye as the No. 2 seed with a 22-8 conference record. Carolina is 11-3 in the ACC tourney under Forbes, including tournament titles in '22 and '25.

All-time UNC holds a 95-73 (.565) record with nine ACC Tournament Championships, both the second most of any program in the conference. Carolina has won three of the last six tourneys.

UNC most recently faced Virginia Tech in the 2025 regular season, taking a road series in Blacksburg 2-1 with 9-6 and 7-4 wins on Friday and Sunday. The last time these programs faced in the ACC Tournament, Carolina claimed a 10-0 victory over the then No. 2 ranked Hokies.

SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals: Friday, May 22 – vs. Virginia Tech
11 AM – Watch – Live Stats
All games in the tournament will appear on ACC Network.

No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels (43-10-1)(22-8 ACC)
Head Coach: Scott Forbes
Record at UNC: 243-114-1
Record vs. Virginia Tech: 9-7

Virginia Tech Hokies (30-23)(15-15 ACC)
Head Coach: John Szefc
Record at Virginia Tech: 253-197
Record vs. UNC: 8-14

PROJECTED STARTERS
Friday: RHP Jason DeCaro vs. TBA

SERIES HISTORY
All-Time: UNC 86-34-2
Current Streak: W1
Chapel Hill: 48-17-2
Away: 32-17
Neutral Site: 6-0
First Meeting: 1907

EIGHT HEELS EARN ACC HONORS
➤ Carolina led the conference in All-ACC awards with eight Tar Heels earning end of year recognition.
➤ Caden Glauber was named the ACC Freshman of the Year, the eighth UNC player and second pitcher to earn the distinction since its inception in 1991. Aaron Sabato was the most recent winner as a DH in 2019 with future big leaguer Daniel Bard the most recent Carolina pitcher back in 2004.
➤ Joining him on the All-ACC First Team were Jason DeCaro, Owen Hull, and Jake Schaffner, giving the Heels 124 all-time first team selections.
➤ Bullpen ace Walker McDuffie made the second team with Gavin Gallaher, Ryan Lynch, and Macon Winslow included on the third team. Glauber also obviously headlined this year's All Freshman Team.
➤ The eight total honorees were the most of any program and the second most in a single season in Carolina's history. Only the 2024 team had more with 11. It is the most first team members since 2017.

ROAD DAWGS GOT BITE
➤ The Diamond Heels finished the season with a 14-3 (.823) road record in 2026, officially making it one of the best years away from home in program history.
➤ They will not have enough opportunities to match the win total from the 2008 team that went 17-4, but the .823 is the best road win percentage since before World War II when UNC went 8-0 on the road in 1934.
➤ .813 in 2017 was the previous best. It was also the last time Carolina won all five ACC road series in the same year.
➤ They got to this point in large part thanks to sweeps in their first two ACC series on the road. It was only the second time the program had done that since the three-game series format was adopted in 1990.
➤ Previously, UNC had lost its first true road game of the year in each season from 2018-2024.
➤ The prior best under Forbes was a 12-6 mark in 2025.

HEELS ON HISTORIC PACE
➤ Carolina is officially off to one of its best starts in program history, through 54 games it is the fourth best position they've won for themselves.
➤ The Heels have reached the 40 win mark for the 27th time in program history. It is the third year in a row and the fourth total time under Forbes.
➤ They have also reached 20 ACC wins for the 10th time in program history. UNC is the only school in conference history to hit the double digit mark. Florida State sits second with eight in total.