GRANVILLE — The ACC and the SEC were the two best conferences in baseball this season. Just look at the NCAA tournament field. The SEC has the most teams in the tournament with 12, and the ACC is right behind with nine. The SEC has the No. 3 overall seed in Georgia, and the ACC has the No. 2 seed in Georgia Tech. The last six National Champions have all been from the SEC.
It might look like the Big Ten might win it this year, with UCLA being the No. 1 overall seed, but a majority of teams come from the SEC and ACC.
In the Morgantown Regional, the SEC and ACC will be on full display in the first game on Friday at noon when No. 2 seed Wake Forest takes on No. 3 Kentucky. The winner will advance in the winners’ bracket on Saturday to play either No. 1 West Virginia or No. 4 Binghamton, and also give the edge for which conference is slightly better.
However, the players on each team don’t feel like there’s a rivalry between the two conferences.
“I don’t think it really makes a difference to us,” Wake Forest’s Dalton Wentz said. “Good teams are good teams. Whether you’re in the Power Four, or a mid-major, there’s good teams all over the place. When we show up to the yard, we like to talk about we’re just playing the game. We’re playing the game inside the game and trying to win certain parts of the game to be on the final outcome.”
With two power conference teams on display, Kentucky-Wake Forest is one of the best games on the opening day of the NCAA tournament, and it’s why it’s scheduled on ESPN2, rather than ESPN+ like most of the projected blowouts.
The Demon Deacons have the edge in seeding and have the better record at 38-19, whereas Kentucky is 31-21. Wake Forest finished sixth in the conference, and Kentucky finished 13th. With Wake Forest’s star power, it is the better team on paper.
Luke Costello is the Demon Deacons’ power bat. He’s hit 17 home runs on the year, tallied 61 RBIs and had a .320 batting average. Kade Lewis is also a name to know, leading the team in batting average, .362.
Kentucky has some talented hitters, too. Jayce Tharnish, Tyler Bell and Luke Lawrence all hit around .350. The Wildcats don’t hit a lot of home runs and instead use situational hitting.
Wake Forest’s pitching is also better, especially its starter. The Demon Deacons are throwing their No. 1 pitcher, sophomore Chris Levonas, who is a top 10 projected 2027 MLB Draft prospect, according to Baseball America, on Friday afternoon. Gavin Kelly is also on that list as the top prospect. Levonas has a 2.90 ERA and has a 10-3 record with 110 strikeouts.
“We are going to throw our No. 1 first,” Wake Forest head coach Tom Walter said. “That’s always a big debate in these whether you try to save him for the second game. Kentucky’s No. 1 is really good. We’re going to line the two No. 1s up.”
That’s what Walter thinks. Kentucky’s No. 1 pitcher is Jaxon Jelkin, who has an 8-3 record, striking out 98 batters. But Kentucky’s head coach, Nick Mingione, hadn’t made up his mind on who he’d go with.
“We haven’t decided on our starter yet,” Mingione said. “So we are continuing to watch video, and we’ll make a decision in the morning.”
If the team loses Game 1, it is put in the losers’ bracket, meaning it’ll play an elimination game the rest of the regional. It’s hard to win the first game and win the region. So, it makes sense if both teams pitch their No. 1 to secure a spot in the winners’ bracket.
If both the No. 1s do go, it’ll make the ACC-SEC battle even more worth watching. Even if the players don’t think there is a rivalry between the two conferences.
“We’re just going out again and just playing our game,” Bell said. “We’re ready to go.”
