DURHAM, N.C. – It ain’t over until it’s over, but sometimes, you know when it’s already over.
So it was in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, where the North Carolina Tar Heels got a spectacular start from freshman righty Ryan Lynch and exploded for 14 runs through the first six innings to mollywhop the Clemson Tigers 14-4 and take the ACC title, their first title since 2022 and the ninth in program history.
It was a combination of explosive offense and outstanding pitching, but to Tar Heels head coach Scott Forbes, the story of the game was Ryan Lynch, a true freshman who had made 23 appearances but had yet to make a start since coming to Chapel Hill.
“He’s got velo and movement, so it’s a pretty good combination,” Clemson head coach Erik Bakich said of Lynch following the game. “And we had some scoring opportunities we didn’t cash in on, so nobody to blame but ourselves in that situation. But he’s good, he’s really good.
Luke Stevenson got on base when Clemson center fielder T.P. Wentworth lost Stevenson’s high pop to shallow center in the sun. Gavin Gallaher drove him in with a double off the top of the monster wall in left field that bounded past Tigers’ left fielder Dominic Listi, and the Tar Heels took a 1-0 lead.
They tacked on two more an inning later when Clemson starter B.J. Bailey hit Tyson Bass and Perry Hargett and then walked Carter French to load the bases with one out, prompting Tigers head coach Erik Bakich to lift Bailey for Nathan Dvorsky. Kane Kepley lofted a high fly ball to the left field warning track for a sacrifice fly to score Bass. Jackson Van de Brake followed with a single to score Hargett and give the Tar Heels a 3-0 lead.
An inning later, Gallaher again doubled off the blue monster, and was driven in two batters later when Alex Madera singled to center.
“I don’t think I hit either one of those very well, so I think the ballpark might have helped me out,” Gallaher said of his two doubles off the 32-foot high left field wall — two hits that might have gone out of other ballparks. “That big wall being a little [closer] than most ballparks. So, I mean, at the end of the day, a double is a double, and I’ll take them when I can get them.”
On the mound, Lynch, making the first start of his collegiate career, got through the first three innings with ease, but loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with singles to Collin Priest and Josh Paino and a walk to Dominic Listi. Up came Clemson’s Jacob Jarrell, who hit a grand slam on Saturday, and Lynch struck him out looking on three pitches, then fanned Jack Crighton swinging and induced a ground out to second from T.P. Wentworth to get out of the jam, turning over a shutout to the bullpen.
“I thought the story of the game was Ryan Lynch,” said Tar Heels head coach Scott Forbes. “Went out there as a true freshman, pitching like that and then loading the bases and not giving up one run. That’s hard to do against a team like Clemson.”
Already up 4-0, the Tar Heels put their foot on the gas in the bottom of the fifth. Hunter Stokely provided more insurance, clobbering a fastball over the middle of the plate from Dvorsky into the right field seats for a two-run homer, his 13th of the year, and a 6-0 North Carolina lead. After Hudson Lee entered the game from the Clemson bullpen, Alex Madera doubled to the left center field gap. Two pitches later, Tyler Bass homered to left center, making it 8-0 Tar Heels.
Lee plunked the next batter, Perry Hargett, and then was lifted for Chance Fitzgerald, who issued singles to Carter French and Kane Kepley. Van de Brake’s three-run homer over the monster in left field made it 12-0 for the Tar Heels, and after Gavin Gallaher, the 11th batter of the inning for North Carolina, hit a single up the middle, Fitzgerald came out for Noah Samol. Samol got Stokely to line out to first baseman Jack Crighton to bring the inning to a merciful end.
Clemson avoided the shutout when Cam Cannarella hit his third homer of the season, a two-run shot to right field, in the top of the seventh that made it a 14-2 ballgame. They add one more in the eighth and ninth, but never threatened the Tar Heels lead.
Sitting in the press conference room, a commemorative hat on his head, Forbes said that we haven’t seen the last, nor the best, of Lynch.
“I’ve told him the whole year, you’re a starter on probably 95% of teams. Not every team has the rotation we have,” the coach said. “I think he’s going to be one of the best starters in our league when it’s all said and done.”
With the ACC title in hand, North Carolina is almost certain to hold a regional and will likely be among the top eight seeds in the NCAA tournament, which would bring both a regional and a super regional to Chapel Hill. Clemson (44-16) will very likely host an NCAA regional next week at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, but will have to wait and see if they’ll be among the top eight seeds in the NCAA tournament, which would make them a host for a super regional should they advance next weekend.
2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament Schedule
Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham, N.C.
All times Eastern Daylight Time
Tuesday, May 20 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
No. 16 California 12, No. 9 Miami 2
No. 12 Virginia Tech 7, No. 13 Stanford 4
No. 15 Pitt 13, No. 10 Louisville 11
No. 14 Boston College 5, No. 11 Notre Dame 4
Wednesday, May 20 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
No. 16 California 14, No. 8 Wake Forest 12
No. 5 Clemson 6, No. 12 Virginia Tech 1
No. 7 Duke 4, No. 15 Pitt 3
No. 14 Boston College 12, No. 6 Virginia 8
Thursday, May 21 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
No. 1 Georgia Tech 10, No. 16 California 2
No. 5 Clemson 7, No. 4 N.C. State 6
Friday, May 22 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
No. 2 Florida State 14, No. 7 Duke 7
No. 3 North Carolina 7, No. 14 Boston College 2
Saturday, May 23 – Games Broadcast on ACC Network
No. 5 Clemson 9, No. 1 Georgia Tech 4
No. 3 North Carolina7, No. 2 Florida State 5
Sunday, May 24 – Game Broadcast on ESPN2
No. 3 North Carolina 14, No. 5 Clemson 4
Photo: Ryan Lynch threw four shutout innings in his first collegiate start as the North Carolina Tar Heels beat Clemson 14-4 in the ACC championship game. (Photo Courtesy of the ACC)
