By Brian Murphy, WRAL

Top-seeded North Carolina, led by ACC Coach of the Year Scott Forbes and Defensive Player of the Year Vance Honeycutt, and No. 3 seed NC State begin play in the ACC Baseball Championships on Wednesday.

The Tar Heels are expected to be a top-eight seed in the NCAA Tournament, which means they’ll host a regional and, if they advance, a super regional. NC State is expected to be among the 16 teams to host a regional and could play its way into the top eight with a strong performance this week.

The six-day event begins with pool play on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with a four-team single-elimination tournament among pool winners on Saturday and Sunday.

The games are at Charlotte’s Truist Field.

On Monday, the ACC named Forbes as coach of the year, joining Mike Fox (2018) and Mike Roberts (1989) in taking home the award. UNC outfielder Vance Honeycutt was tabbed as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.

Voting is done by the league’s 14 head coaches.

Wake Forest pitcher Chase Burns was named pitcher of the year. He is 10-1 with a 2.63 ERA and 196 strikeouts on the season.

Florida State’s James Tibbs III was the player of the year. He hit .385 in 53 games and led the ACC in home runs (24) and RBIs (78) as well as slugging percentage (.840) and total bases (168).

UNC had eight players on the All-ACC first, second or third teams, including Honeycutt and outfielder Casey Cook on the first team.

Duke had six players earn all-ACC honors, including four on the first team: starting pitchers Aidan Knaak and Jonathan Santucci, third baseman Ben Miller and second baseman Zac Morris. NC State catcher Jacob Cozart was the lone Wolfpack player on the first team.

2024 ACC Baseball Championship Seeds and Pools

Truist Field; Charlotte, N.C.

POOL A: No. 1 North Carolina, No. 8 Wake Forest, No. 12 Pitt

POOL B: No. 2 Clemson, No. 7 Louisville, No. 11 Miami

POOL C: No. 3 NC State, No. 6 Duke, No. 10 Virginia Tech

POOL D: No. 4 Virginia, No. 5 Florida State, No. 9 Georgia Tech

Note: The top seed in each pod, by virtue of the tiebreaker, needs to beat only the winner of the game between the two lower seeds to advance to the semifinals.

2024 ACC Baseball Championship Schedule

Tuesday, May 21

Pool B: No. 11 Miami vs. No. 7 Louisville, 11 a.m. (ACC Network, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Pool D: No. 9 Georgia Tech vs. No. 5 Florida State, 3 p.m. (ACC Network, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Pool C: No. 10 Virginia Tech vs. No. 6 Duke, 7 p.m. (ACC Network, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Wednesday, May 22

Pool D: No. 4 Virginia vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech, 11 a.m. (ACC Network, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Pool A: No. 12 Pitt vs. No. 8 Wake Forest, 3 p.m. (ACC Network, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Pool C: No. 3 NC State vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech, 7 p.m. (ACC Network, 99.9FM The Fan, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Thursday, May 23

Pool B: No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 11 Miami, 11 a.m. (ACC Network, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Pool A: No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 12 Pitt, 3 p.m. (ACC Network, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Pool C: No. 6 Duke vs. No. 3 NC State, 7 p.m. (ACC Network, 99.9FM The Fan, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Friday, May 24

Pool D: No. 5 Florida State vs. No. 4 Virginia, 11 a.m. (ACC Network, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Pool B: No. 7 Louisville vs. No. 2 Clemson, 3 p.m. (ACC Network, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Pool A: No. 8 Wake Forest vs. No. 1 North Carolina, 7 p.m. (ACC Network, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Saturday, May 25

Pool A Winner vs. Pool D Winner, 1 p.m. (ACC Network, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Pool B Winner vs. Pool C Winner, 5 p.m. (ACC Network, Sirius XM ACC Radio Channel 371)

Sunday, May 26

ACC Championship Game, Noon (ESPN2)

Source: wralsportsfan.com