DURHAM, N.C. – Third-ranked North Carolina scored eight runs in the fifth inning in its 14-4 victory over No. 12 Clemson in the ACC Tournament championship game at Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Tar Heels, who were 3-0 in the tournament, improved to 42-12 on the season. The Tigers, who saw their six-game winning streak snapped and were 3-1 in the tourney, dropped to 44-16 in 2025.

“Congratulations to North Carolina,” Clemson head coach Erik Bakich said after the game. “They were the better team today. It’s a very good team, as they showed, a very good pitching staff, very good everything. They outplayed us, and we obviously had some miscues and some mishaps, and you can’t give a quality opponent like that extra outs or a lot of free passes. We didn’t have an answer in the bullpen when they got the eight-spot obviously.

“Just got behind, a huge deficit that we couldn’t get out of, so today, that was the story of the day. Big picture, we’re still in great shape moving on to another tournament, and excited about that one.”

Watch Bakich and Clemson infielder Andrew Ciufo discuss the ACC Championship loss to UNC: