ACC Coastal Title on the Line for Virginia Baseball in Final ACC Series

UVA could clinch the ACC Coastal title and the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament this weekend at Georgia Tech

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

The Virginia baseball team managed to get a hand back on the steering wheel of its season this past weekend, securing a much-needed three-game sweep over Louisville to get the Cavaliers back in the driver's seat in the ACC Coastal Division. Now sitting at 16-11 in conference play, UVA is tied for first place in the division with Miami and a half-game ahead of Duke (15-11), giving the Hoos the inside track at securing their third-ever ACC Coastal title and first since 2011. 

At 20-6 in ACC play, Wake Forest has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament as the overall ACC regular season Champion, but Virginia could lock up the No. 2 seed this weekend, giving the Cavaliers a top two seed in the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2011 and for just the fifth time in program history. 

Being one of the top four seeds in the ACC Tournament is especially important given the tournament's tiebreaker rules. In the event of a tiebreaker in pool play, the higher seeded team advances, giving the top seed in each pod a massive advantage right from the outset of the tournament. The champions of the Coastal and Atlantic divisions are given the top two seeds in the ACC Tournament and then the remaining 10 spots in the field are seeded 3-12 based on overall conference winning percentage regardless of division. 

Here are the current ACC Baseball standings heading into the final weekend of the regular season: 

Atlantic
Wake Forest: 20-6
Clemson: 17-10
Boston College: 14-13
Notre Dame: 14-13
NC State: 10-16
Louisville: 9-18
Florida State: 7-20

Coastal
Virginia: 16-11
Miami: 16-11
Duke: 15-11
North Carolina: 14-11
Georgia Tech: 12-15
Virginia Tech: 11-15
Pittsburgh: 10-15

The ACC Coastal is a pretty tight race and could go several different directions based on what happens in the weekend. The good news for the Cavaliers is that their top two competitors for the ACC Coastal title are facing each other this weekend, with Miami hosting Duke. 

Virginia can make things nice and simple by sweeping Georgia Tech this weekend in Atlanta, an outcome which would mean the Cavaliers clinch the ACC Coastal title and the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament. Things get a little more complicated if UVA wins only two out of three, or even loses the series against the Yellow Jackets. Then, it will depend on what happens in the Duke-Miami series and could even bring the result of North Carolina's final series against Clemson into play. Virginia wins at least a share of the ACC Coastal with a sweep over Georgia Tech OR by winning two out of three games against Georgia Tech combined with a Duke loss to Miami. 

Duke owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with Virginia as the Blue Devils took two out of three games off the Cavaliers in Charlottesville. But, Duke will end up playing one fewer conference game due to a canceled game against Virginia Tech earlier in the season. That could end up working in UVA's favor in the event that the two teams end up with the same number of losses, but with the Cavaliers having one more win, which would give them the edge in terms of overall conference winning percentage. 

Meanwhile, Virginia owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Miami as the Hoos swept the Hurricanes in early April. The Cavaliers also own the tiebreaker over UNC as they won two out of three in Chapel Hill back in the first ACC series of the season. 

Winners of six-consecutive games, Virginia enters the final weekend of the regular season with a 41-11 overall record, a 16-11 mark in ACC play, and plenty to play for as the Cavaliers have a chance to win just their third ACC Coastal title. 

Here's the weekend schedule for the final ACC series of the regular season between Virginia and Georgia Tech at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta. 

Game 1: Thursday at 6pm on ACC Network Extra

Game 2: Friday at 6pm on ACC Network Extra

Game 3: Saturday at 12pm on ACC Network Extra

To stay up to date on all Virginia Cavaliers sports news, follow CavaliersNow on social media:

Facebook: @CavaliersNow
Twitter: @CavaliersNowFN

See more Virginia baseball news and content: Virginia Baseball on Sports Illustrated

See more Virginia sports news and content: Virginia Cavaliers on Sports Illustrated