The ACC Tournament presents a wealth of opportunity, is great baseball and remains a competitive environment. But ultimately, it’s a stepping stone to the NCAA Tournament that lies just after it.
That’s the lens most teams are looking at it through, not least No. 7 seed Virginia Tech baseball. The Hokies play the winner of No. 10 seed Notre Dame and No. 15 seed Clemson (Tuesday, 5 p.m. ET) on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Truist Field, the home of White Sox Triple-A affiliate Charlotte Knights. If Tech wins, No. 2 seed North Carolina awaits in the quarterfinals on Friday at 3 p.m.
“We’ll attack the way we normally attack,” Hokies head coach John Szefc said of the ACC Tournament. “We’re also relatively healthy, which is not the case with some other teams in the league, so I think we’re in a good place going into the postseason.”
Before Saturday’s 10-8 loss to Clemson, the second-round matchup against a weaker ACC team could’ve been — and may still be — the sort of game the Hokies treat like a midweek, using Tuesday starter Madden Clement to save Brett Renfrow for the double-bye team in the following round.
But dropping 10 spots to No. 47 in the RPI after that loss may have thrown a wrench in those plans, even though D1Baseball and Baseball America both still have Tech firmly in the NCAA Tournament field as of Monday.
Tech’s .500 in a top-two conference (and earned a bye in Charlotte), 25th in Diamond Sports Rating and 14th in strength of schedule with four straight ACC series wins to close the regular season. Its RPI is still that of a tournament team, even after taking the biggest hit in the country on Saturday.
The Hokies aren’t in much danger at the moment, but a winless trip to the Queen City would inject more doubt into Selection Monday. A single victory, however, would put them in a very comfortable position and repair much of that RPI blow. Therefore, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Renfrow start on Wednesday.
Last year is the only reference point for how the Hokies might handle a bracket-style conference tournament since the league moved away from pool play in 2025. But because they were in a win-or-go-home position then, it doesn’t say much about this go-round. They used Jake Marciano — now third in the SEC in ERA at Auburn — in the team’s first-round win against Stanford before starting Renfrow in their second-round loss to Clemson.
The Cardinal could lend Tech a hand again this year — this time from the other side of the bracket.
The Hokies have five Quadrant 4 losses, the most of any Power 4 team in the RPI’s top 50. It’s the biggest blight on their regional case, and two of those losses are to the Cardinal, which beat Tech at home and swept No. 11 Florida State. Stanford is a poor No. 103 in the RPI, though, ranking last of all ACC teams despite an OK 13-17 conference record.
The good news for the Hokies is that Stanford is just one ACC Tournament win away — it plays Cal at 1 p.m. on Tuesday — from likely crossing the No. 100 threshold that would turn their two defeats to the Cardinal into Quadrant 3 losses. Tech would then have just three Quadrant 4 losses, which is more in line with other top-50 RPI teams.
There’s no clear answer for which team the Hokies should want to face Wednesday. No. 15-seeded Clemson saw them last weekend and proved they could win in Game 3, and only lost Game 2 by a walk-off ninth inning.
Don’t trust the seeding here — the Tigers have been just as good, if not better, than Notre Dame as of late, playing Tech and Florida State close over the last two weekends before beating then-ranked Boston College in a series and then-No. 8 Coastal Carolina in a midweek game.
However, at No. 45 in RPI, the Tigers would also be the less harmful loss in the metrics if they beat Tech. The Fighting Irish are No. 70 in RPI but enter the tournament off series victories over Pitt (2-1) and Stanford (3-0) while winning 11 of their last 12 games. While they’re hot — they finished their season by scoring 21 runs on the Panthers on Saturday — the Tigers have just played better teams.
Both Clemson and Notre Dame have opted to start aces Michael Sharman and Jack Radel, respectively, in Round 1, meaning Tech will avoid two of the better arms in the ACC. Radel, a right-handed junior, even made First Team All-ACC when the teams were announced on Monday. Sharman blew through the Hokies in last Friday’s first inning.
If Notre Dame wins on Tuesday, look for it to start DJ Helwig or Ty Uber, who have alternated Saturday and Sunday starts, against Tech.
Both are right-handers with 5.68 ERAs. However, Uber has been the team’s season-long second option (52 innings pitched), while Helwig returned from an injury on April 28 and has been ramping up since. His final start against Pitt lasted 2 ⅔ innings — two hits allowed, one earned run — to put his season total at just 6 ⅓ frames.
The Fighting Irish hold a 6.03 team ERA and would likely own the worst mark in the league if not for Radel.
A Clemson Round 1 win would result in Tech seeing one of right-handers Dane Moehler or Aidan Knaak, who combined for just three innings against the Hokies last weekend, resting in preparation for the ACC Tournament.
Moehler allowed one earned run over two innings in Game 1 before Knaak surrendered four in just one frame on Saturday. It may help the Hokies that they have already seen both pitchers last weekend — and a whopping 14 Clemson bullpen arms — but that works both ways, and the Tigers dealt with Tech’s starters for far longer.
Clemson finished 10th in ACC batting average (.276) while Notre Dame — which hasn’t seen Tech’s arms — ended up sixth (.284). However, the Fighting Irish are second in the ACC in slugging (.497), while the Tigers are third to last (.419).
Notre Dame utility player Bino Watters earned First Team All-ACC honors after posting a 1.020 OPS in conference play, while outfielder Drew Berkland added a 1.081 OPS and ranked fourth in ACC-play homers with 10. Catcher Mark Quatrini was selected to the all-conference second team with a .320 average, .964 OPS and eight homers.
For reference, only two Tech players were selected to All-ACC teams: Brett Renfrow (second) and Ethan Ball (freshman).
Henry Cooke was not selected despite leading the league’s catchers — outside of Georgia Tech phenom Vahn Lackey — in conference-play batting average (.358) and OPS (1.063) while catching 20 baserunners stealing across the season. The next-closest ACC catcher is Louisville’s Jimmy Nugent with 13, while Quatrini is third with 12. Four catchers made All-ACC teams over Cooke, whose severely slow start to the season hurt his overall numbers. He finished slashing .290/.408/.494.
Regardless, Notre Dame has a better offense than Clemson, but the Tigers played 12 of their 30 ACC games without star second baseman Jarren Purify, who went 3-for-11 with a home run against the Hokies last weekend.
Right fielder Jack Crighton (6-for-13 against Tech) and first baseman Luke Gaffney (3-for-12) also homered while shortstop Tyler Lichtenberger hit 4-for-11. The Tigers scored twice all weekend before jumping on Griffin Stieg for six earned runs en route to a 10-run Game 3.
Notre Dame and Clemson face off in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET before the winner plays Virginia Tech at the same time on Wednesday. The winner gets a one-day break before playing No. 2 North Carolina on Friday at 3 p.m.
The ACC Tournament will be on the ACC Network outside of the championship game, which will be on ESPN2 on Sunday at noon.
“I think we’re capable of a lot this postseason,” Tech infielder Ethan Gibson said. “Down to the guys that come in to pinch hit or aren’t in the lineup every day. Everybody’s so talented and everybody works so hard. I think we can make something special happen.”