Virginia Tech's run in the ACC Tournament came to an end Friday afternoon at Truist Field, dropping a 10-4 decision to second-seeded North Carolina in the quarterfinals. The Hokies (30-24, 15-15 ACC) gave the Tar Heels (44-10-1, 22-8 ACC) a genuine scare for a while, but UNC pulled away late, and that was that.
Griffin Stieg got the start and was actually pretty solid early, considering what he was working against. He walked five — a career high — but worked around trouble in the first, punching out Owen Hull and Erik Paulsen with two runners stranded in scoring position.
North Carolina got to him in the second, though, when Carter French singled, and Jake Schaffner ripped a ball into the left-center gap for a two-run double, putting the Hokies in an early hole.
Virginia Tech answered in the third in a big way. Ethan Gibson and Henry Cooke hit back-to-back home runs to left center off All-ACC first teamer Jason DeCaro, flipping the game to a 3-2 Hokie lead. The inning could have been even bigger.
The Hokies loaded the bases after the homers and Sam Gates absolutely smoked one to right center, but French tracked it down at the wall to end the threat and keep it a one-run game.
That momentum didn't last. Stieg ran into trouble in the fourth when North Carolina loaded the bases, hit a batter to force in the tying run, and then Hull singled through the left side to score two more and put UNC back in front 5-3. Stieg's day was done, and Ethan Grim — who lasted just five batters against Notre Dame on Wednesday — came on in relief.
Ethan Ball kept the Hokies alive in the fifth, leading off with a solo shot to right center that cut it to 5-4. It was his third home run of the tournament week, tying Chad Pinder's 2013 program record. Grim actually settled in nicely after his rough start two days earlier, working three and two-thirds innings in relief and allowing just one run — a sixth inning RBI single by Gavin Gallaher that pushed the lead back to two.
Virginia Tech had chances but couldn't cash in. The Tar Heels turned two inning-ending double plays at critical moments that kept the deficit from shrinking. Then in the eighth, North Carolina broke it open — Schaffner tripled in a run, and Macon Winslow followed with a two-run homer to make it 10-4, and that was the ballgame. Caden Glauber had been largely untouchable since coming on in relief, and he finished it off with a clean ninth for his ninth win of the season.
Schaffner was the story for UNC — 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, and four RBIs. Hull added three RBIs and Winslow two. DeCaro only got through three and a third before the Hokies chased him, which was an encouraging sign, but Glauber shut the door from there.
Virginia Tech finishes 30-24 and now turns its attention to Monday's NCAA Tournament selection show at noon. The Hokies are looking for their first tournament bid since 2022, when they won the Blacksburg Regional and made a Super Regional for the first time in program history. After what they showed this week in Charlotte, they should hear their name called.
