Carolina Wins Dogfight With Florida State, 7-5, Books Spot In ACC Title Game

Saturday, May 24

Durham, N.C.

5 PM

North Carolina

41-12

Florida State

38-14

North Carolina

Florida State

Carolina Wins Dogfight With Florida State, 7-5, Books Spot In ACC Title Game

May 25, 2025 | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: William Soulé

DURHAM, N.C. - The Diamond Heels needed some ninth inning heroics but came out on top of a back-and-forth affair with Florida State 7-5 on Saturday night in the 2025 ACC Championship semifinals. The win advances the program to its 14^th title game as it chases tournament trophy number nine.

The Tar Heels (41-12) traded the lead with the Seminoles five different times, eventually getting a two RBI single from Kane Kepley in the top of the ninth to take their third win over the Noles in the last 10 days. UNC got big contributions from top to bottom in its lineup, with eight players recording hits and five logging RBIs.

No sequence better demonstrated the full team effort than the Carolina half of the ninth. Veteran Alex Madera reached on a hard-hit ball that was ruled an error to leadoff. True freshman Perry Hargett followed him, laying down an immaculate bunt for a single to put two runners on with nobody out against All-ACC Second Team pitcher Joey Volini.

Hargett earned the start after his crucial pinch-hit walk started the Carolina rally against Boston College in the quarterfinals. Prior to that, he had not had an at-bat three weeks. He made the most of his opportunity.

Junior Carter French followed Hargett with a well-executed bunt of his own that moved the runners into scoring position. Then up stepped Kane Kepley, who two innings earlier had failed the score the go-ahead runner on third with one out. This time the speedster came through, lacing a line driver right past the FSU pitcher and into center field. Madera and Hargett came around to score easily and that would be enough to win the day.

Walker McDuffie came in to close it out in the bottom half of the ninth, having just picked up a save on 2.0 IP the day before. Against the meat of the Florida State order, the true freshman worked around the minor inconvenience of a two-out walk to slam the door on the Seminoles. He has yet to give allow a hit to the 10 batters he's faced this tournament.

The bulk of the work out of the bullpen came from Aidan Haugh. A regular starter for the Heels, the senior made his first relief appearance since exactly one year ago to the day in the 2024 tourney. The big righty picked up the win thanks to 3.2 innings where he allowed just one hit and one run.

Outside of the ninth, the biggest swing of the bat for Carolina came from catcher Luke Stevenson. Coming off of Florida State's biggest offensive inning of the day, the standout sophomore swung momentum back to the blue side of the field with a towering 386 foot two-run home run that put UNC in the lead once again. It was his 18^th long ball of the year and his second straight day with a two-run shot.

Carolina starter Jason Decaro went 4.1 innings, only allowing two earned runs to the best statistical offense in the ACC after having faced them just nine days prior.

Sunday will be the Tar Heels' first trip to the ACC title game since they won it in head coach Scott Forbes' second season in 2022. This time it is the No. 5 seed Clemson that stands in their way. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET with live coverage coming on ACC Network.