DURHAM, N.C. — Clemson’s hope of winning a second ACC Championship in three years came crashing down on Sunday.

No. 3 seed North Carolina scored runs in five of the first six innings, including pushing across eight in the fifth, en route to a 14-4 win over No. 5 seed Clemson in the conference championship game.

The Tigers came in on a six-game winning streak, but for whatever reason, just didn’t play as well on Sunday as they had during the first three games of the ACC Tournament. Clemson made two errors that led to three unearned runs, including a rare miscue by Cam Cannarella in the bottom of the first that directly led to North Carolina’s first run.

“They outplayed us,” head coach Erik Bakich said. “Obviously, had some miscues and mishaps. Can’t give a quality opponent like that extra outs or free passes.”

Starting pitcher BJ Bailey retired the first two hitters he saw, but after the Cannarella error, things quickly started to unravel. After retiring the first batter in the second, Bailey hit back-to-back hitters before issuing a walk to load the bases, ending his day in the process. Two of those runners would come across to score off reliever Nathan Dvorsky, putting UNC up 3-0 early. Dvorksy would allow a run in the third, then hold North Carolina scoreless in the fourth.

However, in the fifth, Dvorsky issued a leadoff walk. After getting the next hitter, he then gave up a long two-run homer, which started the eight-run explosion for the Tar Heels in the inning. Hudson Lee then came on out of the bullpen, quickly surrendering a double, before allowing his first homer of the season. After hitting the next batter, his day was done, with the Tigers turning to Chance Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald allowed three consecutive hits, including a three-run bomb, putting the Tigers in a 12-0 hole.

On the day, North Carolina hitters roughed up five Clemson relievers to the tune of 11 runs on 12 hits. Clemson pitchers also issued five walks and hit three more batters, totaling eight free passes.

“We didn’t have an answer in the bullpen when they got the eight-spot obviously,” Bakich added. “Just got behind in a huge deficit that we could not get out of.”

Despite the lopsided result on Sunday, the Tigers did do enough over the past week to ensure they will be hosting when regional play starts next week, and Bakich chooses to focus on the end goal, rather than one bad result.

“Big picture, we are still in great shape, moving on to another tournament,” Bakich said.

“Something like this puts a little steel in the spine and callouses the mind a bit. We’ve had enough adversity at the tail end of the season, so our guys will be in a great mindset. Playing with that chip on their shoulder. You want to play well at home, and a lot of them have the experience from doing it last year and the year before. Great opportunity for us to get back on the positive side of things.”