ACC teams dominate CWS field

OMAHA, Neb. – The Atlantic Coast Conference is poised to end a 51-year national championship drought in baseball.

Four ACC teams, including No. 1 national seed Clemson, make up half the field in the College World Series. That matches the record by the Southeastern Conference, which sent four teams to the CWS in 1997 and 2004.

The ACC had never done better than two teams in a CWS.

ACC teams Clemson, Georgia Tech and North Carolina are joined in Bracket 1 by Cal State Fullerton.

The other ACC team, Miami, is in Bracket 2.

The Tigers, Yellow Jackets, Tar Heels and Hurricanes breezed through regionals and super regionals with a combined record of 19-1.

If an ACC team wins the national title, it will be the league’s first since Wake Forest won it in 1955.

Miami coach Jim Morris said the league is much stronger than it was when he was in the ACC as a head coach at Georgia Tech from 1982-93. Miami joined the ACC last year.

Bracket 1 double-elimination play opens today with Clemson (52-14) playing No. 8 national seed Georgia Tech (50-16) and No. 5 Fullerton (48-13) playing North Carolina (50-13).

First-round games Saturday in Bracket 2 match No. 2 Rice (55-11) against No. 7 Georgia (47-21) and Oregon State (44-14) against Miami (41-22).

Bracket winners meet in a best-of-3 championship series starting June 24.

Oregon State is making its second straight CWS appearance and third overall. The Beavers are 0-4 and have been outscored 35-12 all-time at the CWS.