Last week, Georgia Tech stated its case as the best team in the ACC — and arguably in the country — with a sweep over Florida State by a combined score of 29-9.

This week, it is North Carolina’s turn. The surging Tar Heels took two of three from Georgia Tech in Chapel Hill to improve to 33-7-1 overall and 15-6 in the ACC. UNC opened its ACC slate by losing two straight to Virginia at home, but is 15-4 since, with series wins over Cal, Louisville, Notre Dame, Boston College, Clemson and Georgia Tech.

The Heels limited the powerful Jackets, who lead the nation in batting average, OPS and runs scored, to a combined 11 runs in the three games. Tech entered the weekend averaging 9.7 runs in ACC play.

Around the horn

Nebraska’s hopes of hosting a Regional for the first time since 2008 received a significant boost with an emphatic sweep over USC in Lincoln. After winning Friday’s game 8-7 in 10 innings, thanks to a two-base throwing error on a sac bunt, the Huskers run-ruled the Trojans on both Saturday (12-2) and Sunday (16-6).

NEBRASKA WALKS IT OFF ON MUFFED BUNT 🔥🔥🔥

HUSKERS TAKE GAME 1 OVER USC. 6 UNANSWERED RUNS pic.twitter.com/US1RLyUlZA

— 11Point7 College Baseball (@11point7) April 18, 2026

It was a nice bounce back for Will Bolt’s team after it lost three of four last week, a midweek game at home to Kansas and two of three in a Big Ten series at Oregon.

Nebraska is 31-9 overall and 15-3 in the Big Ten with an RPI of 14. The RPI figures to take a hit down the stretch since none of Nebraska’s final four weekend series comes against a team currently in the top 75 of the RPI.

The Huskers do not play top-ranked UCLA in the regular season.

Georgia remains in first place in the SEC after securing a series win in Fayetteville with a 26-14 victory on Saturday that featured a league-record nine home runs by the Bulldogs.

Catcher Daniel Jackson tied a school record with three home runs, and three other Georgia players — Michael O’Shaugnessy, Ryan Winn and Brennan Hudson — had two homers apiece. The Bulldogs now have 113 home runs, 27 more than any other team in the nation.

The 26 runs were the most ever allowed by Arkansas in a home game.

Georgia is 32-9 overall and 13-5 in the SEC, a half-game up on Texas A&M. Arkansas, which dropped to 26-15 and 9-9, has lost two SEC home series in a season for the first time since 2017 and consecutive home series for the first time since 2016.

Bethune-Cookman is 2-0 against SEC teams in 2026, with a 10-7 win at LSU on April 7 and a 13-7 win at Florida on April 14. And there was nothing fluky about either game; the Wildcats outhit LSU 12 to 11 and Florida 13 to 11.

It was Bethune-Cookman’s second-ever win over Florida (in 40 games) and the first time since 2009 that it recorded two wins over ranked opponents in the same season.

The Wildcats reached the NCAA Tournament last year as a No. 4 seed in the Tallahassee Regional to end a five-year postseason drought. Previously, they played in the NCAAs 16 times from 1998 to 2017.

B-CU is 29-11 overall and 15-3 in the SWAC after sweeping Alabama A&M.

Lehigh set an NCAA record by scoring 20 first-inning runs in Tuesday’s 38-6 win over Coppin State.  Twenty of Lehigh’s first 21 batters reached base — 11 walked, six were hit by a pitch and three got a hit, including a grand slam that capped the scoring.

The previous record for runs in the first inning, 18, was set by Princeton in 1974. The record for runs in any inning, 23, was set by George Mason last year in a 26-6 win over Holy Cross.

Kentucky freshman outfielder/DH Braxton Van Cleave was 1 for 23 (.044) on the season when he came to bat with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth with the Wildcats trailing Vanderbilt 2-1. And then this happened …

ARE. YOU. KIDDING?!?! 🙀🔥

It’s a WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM for the Wildcats! #NCAABaseball x 🎥 SEC+ / @UKBaseball pic.twitter.com/ozYNRmM14W

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) April 18, 2026

It was the third time a Vanderbilt-Kentucky game was won by a walk-off home run — with the home team trailing each time — in the last four meetings between the two teams. Last April, the Commodores walked off the Cats in consecutive games in Nashville, the first on a Braden Holcomb three-run blast with two outs and the second on a Jonathan Vastine two-run homer with one out.

Vanderbilt bounced back to win the series with wins on Saturday and Sunday.

LSU coach Jay Johnson had some pretty honest things to say about his team — and the construction of its roster — following Friday night’s 10-4 loss at home to Texas A&M that dropped the Tigers to 6-10 in the SEC.

“It’s a deep-rooted thing, we’re off and this will never happen again”

Blunt honesty from Jay Johnson about some of the things plaguing the #LSU offense this year.

Says he made mistakes in roster construction with his team this year. pic.twitter.com/SgTDhiptdH

— John Eads WAFB-TV (@JohnEadsWAFB) April 18, 2026

The Tigers did nothing in the final two games of the series to change their coach’s opinion, losing 7-2 on Saturday and 5-2 on Sunday to fall to 23-18 overall and 6-12 in the SEC. With an RPI of 65 and series remaining against Mississippi State, Georgia and Florida, LSU is in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.

Texas A&M, meanwhile, is one of the hottest teams in the country. The Aggies have won 11 of their last 12 SEC games and, at 12-5, are in sole possession of second place, a half-game behind Georgia.

An already-potent Texas A&M lineup is getting an unexpected spark from Jorian Wilson, a freshman outfielder who started only three of the Aggies’ first 23 games. Wilson hit two home runs in Friday night’s win and is now slugging .763 with nine home runs in 76 at-bats.

Northern Colorado beat St. Thomas 8-7 in 21 innings on Saturday in the longest game in Summit League history. The game ended when St. Thomas pitcher Nolan Kemp was called for a controversial balk with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 21st.

“And that’s the way the longest game in Summit League history ends- on a controversial balk.”

21 college baseball innings played, all for a walk-off balk. pic.twitter.com/NLJrVRYCxZ

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 18, 2026

The longest game, by innings played, in Division I history occurred in the 2009 NCAA Tournament when Texas outlasted Boston College in 25 innings. There have been two 23-inning games, four 22-inning games and now, with North Colorado and St. Thomas joining the list, four 21-inning games.

Boston College ran its way into the record books on Friday afternoon, tying an ACC record (and setting a school record) with 14 stolen bases in an 11-1 win over Duke in seven innings. The Eagles tied an NCAA record with eight stolen bases in the second inning.

Boston College followed up with wins of 4-2 and 14-6 in a doubleheader on Saturday to complete the three-game sweep to improve to 31-12 overall and 14-7 in the ACC. The Eagles need two more wins to clinch a winning record in the ACC for just the second time since joining the league in 2006. They have series remaining at Notre Dame and at Clemson before closing the season with a potentially huge series at home against Georgia Tech.

And finally

• UCLA’s 27-game winning streak, the longest in school history, was snapped on Tuesday night with a 4-0 loss to UCSB. The top-ranked Bruins started a new streak over the weekend with a three-game sweep over Minnesota at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

• Missouri State beat Western Kentucky 8-6 in 12 innings on Saturday, its program-record 17th consecutive win at home. The streak ended on Sunday with a 10-5 loss to the Hilltoppers.

• Wake Forest flexed its offensive muscles last week, scoring 10 runs in a midweek win over Coastal Carolina and then a combined 40 runs in wins over NC State on Friday and Saturday.

• Tennessee’s Blake Grimmer and Louisville’s Tague Davis each hit three home runs on Sunday, Grimmer in a win over Ole Miss and Davis in a win at Cal. Davis, who also hit two homers on Friday, leads the nation with 24.

• Cade Townsend was once again sharp in Ole Miss’ 8-1 win at Tennessee on Saturday. The sophomore right-hander allowed only one hit while striking out seven and walking two in six scoreless innings. Townsend is 4-1 with a 1.73 ERA and 0.912 WHIP.

• Kansas bounced back from a loss Friday night to take the series at Oklahoma State to remain in first place in the Big 12. The Jayhawks are 29-11 overall and 14-4 in the league, two games up on West Virginia.

• Western Michigan outfielder Tanner Malley continues to lead the nation in hitting at .480. The junior is hitting .405 in his three seasons with the Broncos but is still without a home run in his collegiate career.