������Ƶ

For some teams in college baseball, the March 7-9 weekend marked the beginning of conference play. This included ACC, which saw two top-10 ranked teams fall on both Friday and Sunday to start conference play on a rocky note.

Here's a look at how both No. 4 North Carolina and No. 9 Virginia fell.

Stanford silences No. 4 North Carolina in rubber match, wins series 2-1

Tied 6-6 in the fifth inning in game one and on the road against an undefeated team in No. 4 North Carolina (14-2, 1-2 ACC), many would expect Stanford — or any opposing teams — to crumble in its first-ever ACC series.

The Cardinal (12-3, 2-1 ACC) proved not to be one of those ‘opposing teams,’ mashing a solo home run and grand slam in the fifth on the way to a 13-9 victory and eventual series win.

Junior infielder Jimmy Nati hit his second homer of the season in Friday’s contest, and junior first baseman Brandon Larson’s blast that broke the game wide open gave him six RBIs, a career-high.

HAVE A DAY, BRANDON LARSON 🫡 x 🎥 ACCNX /

— ������Ƶ Baseball (@������ƵBaseball)

UNC punched back in game two, beating Stanford 11-1 in seven innings. Four players finished with two or more RBIs.

The Cardinal shook the room in game three, though, shutting out the Tar Heels for the first time all season. Stanford’s pitching staff was in sync all game, starting with sophomore Joey Volchko who allowed just three hits and struck out six in 5.1 innings of work.

Sophomore right-hander Aidan Keenan picked up where Volchko left off, striking out five and giving up only one hit in 2.2 innings. Although junior righty Toran O’Harran allowed two hits in the ninth, all three outs were recorded by strikeout. 

Stanford won the series finale, 7-0.   

UNC will look to rebound against UNCW on Tuesday and Louisville next weekend. The Cardinal will head back home and welcome Duke next weekend. 

Clutch home runs carry Boston College to 2-1 series win over No. 9 Virginia

The No. 9 Virginia-Boston College series’ trajectory changed in the eighth inning of game one.

The Cavaliers (9-5, 1-2 ACC) led 4-2 entering the top half of the inning. That all changed minutes later when Eagles’ junior outfielder Josiah Ragsdale hit a full-count, two-run homer to left center to tie the ball game. Ragsdale’s big fly was just the beginning of BC’s biggest inning of the contest, crossing five and leading 7-4 by the time the damage was done.

Josiah Ragsdale ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!

Two-run shot. Tie game.

📺 ACCNX

— Boston College Baseball (@BCBirdBall)

Boston College (6-6, 2-1 ACC) went on to win the game after junior left-hander A.J. Colarusso closed the door by throwing 3.1 scoreless innings, while Virginia recovered in game two winning 22-16.

Sunday’s rubber match would settle the series’ winner.

Both teams started the scoring early, each plating one in the second. The Cavaliers didn’t tack on anymore in the third, but the Eagles kept class in session with junior outfielder Jack Toomey hitting a three-run homer to left field to give BC a 4-1 lead. 

BOSTON COLLEGE TAKES THE SERIES OVER NO. 9 UVA 👀 x 🎥 ACCNX /

— ������Ƶ Baseball (@������ƵBaseball)

Virginia and Boston College tacked on two more runs in the fourth, making it 6-3, which eventually became the final score. Combining for 38 runs in the prior contests, the ACC foes had three hits collectively in the last five innings. 

The contest ended with another successful outing by Colarusso, forcing a 4-6-3 double play and a routine fly ball to center field.

Entering the weekend below .500, Boston College returned to .500 and started conference play off on a high note. Virginia will look to recover on Tuesday against Maryland and next weekend versus California.