ACC Baseball: Clemson, FSU the Atlantic series winners on opening weekend

All six ACC series went into Sunday with the possibility of a sweep, but only No. 1 UNC, at Wake Forest, and No. 12 FSU, hosting Boston College, finished the job.

Tar Heels lefty Kent Emanuel threw a complete-game shutout in game one (4-0 win) and third baseman Colin Moran drove in six runs in a 20-6 Deacs drubbing the next game as UNC moved to 14-0. The Seminoles (15-0) are out to the second-best start in school history, with a strong lefty performance of their own from Brandon Leibrandt (eight shutout innings to improve to 4-0 on the season).

In the only top-25 clash of the weekend, No. 9 Georgia Tech (14-2) took two of three at Virginia Tech (12-4), with righty Buck Farmer allowing his first and only earned run of the season (27 innings pitched) – moving to 3-0.

Next week’s opponent, No. 22 Virginia (14-1), swept a home doubleheader against Maryland Saturday, but dropped its first game of the season on Sunday, 4-2.

Rounding out ACC play, Miami (13-4) lost 2-of-3 for a second-straight series loss, and at home, to Duke (8-7).

FSU and Clemson were the only two to win a series in the Atlantic, facing divisional teams. The Wolfpack not only lost the series, but also the ACC’s hottest hitter for 4-to-6 weeks, shortstop Trea Turner, with a sprained ankle.

NC State dropped to No. 18 in Baseball America's rankings.

Top-5 ACC Batting Leaders Individual

1. N.C. State SS Trea Turner – .464 BA/18 RBI/5 HR/26 R/8 SB

2. Georgia Tech RF Daniel Palka – .443 BA/4 HR/26 RBI

3. Georgia Tech C Zane Evans – .377 BA/6 HR/21 RBI

4. FSU LF Marcus Davis – .750 Slug/.375 BA/4 HR/19 RBI

5. Maryland OF Charlie White – 18 SB/.408 BA/11 RBI/3 HR

Top-5 ACC Starting Pitching Leaders Individual

1. GT RHP Buck Farmer – 3-0/.177 opp. BA/1 ER/37 K/4 BB

2. UNC LHP Kent Emanuel – 3-0/.193 opp. BA/0.39 ERA/25 K/2 CG SO

3. FSU RHP Scott Sitz – 3-0/.200 opp. BA/1 ER/24 K

4. UVa RHP Nick Howard – 2-1/0.81 ERA/22 K/1 BB

5. Virginia Tech LHP Devin Burke – 4-0/1.65 ERA/12 K/5 BB

Top-5 ACC Team Batting Leaders

1. Georgia Tech .345 BA/36 2B/144 RBI/80 BB/14 HR

2. Virginia – .315 BA/11 HR/129 RBI/86 BB/15 3B

3. UNC – .316 BA/12 HR/115 RBI/.441 OBpct

4. Virginia Tech .310 BA/12 HR/103 RBI

5. Florida State – .446 OBpct/120 RBI/.299 BA/11 HR

(Clemson – .254 BA/64 RBI/20 SB/98 K)

Top-5 ACC Team Pitching Leaders

1. Florida State – 1.73 ERA/.193 opp. BA/132 K/50 BB/26 ER/4 saves

2. UNC – 2.03 ERA/.196 opp. BA/116 K/28 ER/2 CG

3. Virginia – 1.87 ERA/132 K/34 BB/28 ER

4. Clemson – 2.36 ERA/100 K/33 ER/4 saves

5. Miami – 2.56 ERA/111 K/3 HR allowed