2026 College Baseball Preview: ACC

We’ll start with Boston College, the team that went 11-19 in ACC play and finished near the bottom of the conference standings.

This will be a very different-looking team, as the Eagles lost several notable hitters in the winter. Patrick Roche is gone, as is Adam Magpoc, the latter of whom is now at San Diego State after returning to California. Additionally, Josiah Ragsdale, arguably the best player on the Eagles last season, turned a great run in the Cape into a Day 2 selection by the Brewers.

The good news is that the pitching staff will look very much the same. Senior Brady Miller is on the roster. Meanwhile, sophomores AJ Colarusso and Gavin Soares, the latter of whom was a great strikeout pitcher for the Eagles out of the bullpen, return for 2026.

California

Speaking of rough seasons, the California Golden Bears finished last in the ACC last season, in what was a very difficult first year in the conference. And unfortunately, things didn’t get better in the summer.

Jarren Advincula, who hit .342 last season and finished as the team leader in total bases, transferred out of the school. And to make matters even more difficult, Advincula transferred to an in-conference rival (we’ll get to that in a minute).

The Bears did bring back Jacob French, the former junior transfer who hit .390 with an OPS over 1.000 last season. Carl Schmidt, Ethan Foley, and Austin Turkington also return for the 2026 campaign.

Clemson

The Clemson Tigers head into 2026 with returning pieces and some fresh faces.

Clemson, ranked #17 in the preseason coaches’ poll, is headlined by junior pitcher Aidan Knaak. Knaak, on the Golden Spikes preseason watch list, primarily sat in the low-90s with his fastball but can turn it up at times. Additionally, Knaak has a fleshed-out arsenal, which includes a slower changeup and breaking balls.

Aside from Knaak, the Tigers have a deep group of hitters and pitchers.  However, what will Clemson get from the offense, which returned Luke Gaffney and Collin Priest but lost sparkplug Cam Cannarella.

Duke

It’s a brand new era in Durham.

One year after the Duke Blue Devils missed out on the College World Series, the school had to undergo a major rebuild. New head coach Corey Muscara lost many players to Virginia, as Chris Pollard moved north to take over the Cavaliers’ baseball program.

New faces include Nolan Johnson and Michael DiMartini, the former Dayton Flyer who was one of the best hitters in Division I last season.

Florida State

Florida State has experienced significant success over the past few years. Can that success carry over into 2026?

It’ll help that after FSU lost Joey Volini and Jamie Arnold, the Seminoles were able to land ex-FAU ace Trey Beard. The left-hander gets a lot of carry off that fastball and has some of the best fastball-changeup separation one will find in the collegiate (and professional) circuit.

Beard will be joined by hard-throwing righty Cole Stokes and left-hander Wes Mendes. As for the offense, Chase Williams, Cal Fisher, and Myles Bailey are among the heavy hitters on a deep lineup.

Georgia Tech

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets come into the 2026 season with championship expectations.

New head coach James Ramsey heads into the year with multiple Golden Spikes preseason watch list players, including the newcomer Jarren Advincula, Vahn Lackey, and Drew Burress. Parker Brosius and Alex Hernandex round out a deep lineup.

Tate McKee and Rutgers transfer Justin Shadek are among the notable pitchers on the Jackets’ 2026 roster.

Louisville

The Louisville Cardinals went to Omaha last season, part of what was a renaissance season for the college baseball powerhouse.

Yet again, the offense will be headlined by Zion Rose, who hit 13 home runs and stole 31 bases last season for what was a very good offensive group for the Cards. Lucas Moore and Alex Alicea are also back for 2026.

As for the pitching staff, notable returnees include Colton Hartman, Parker Detmers, and Wyatt Danilowicz.

Miami (FL)

Miami (FL) failed to topple the Louisville Cardinals last season, costing the Hurricanes a shot at a College World Series spot. However, not all is lost.

Daniel Cuvet, one of the best collegiate hitters over the last two years, is back for his junior year. Cuvet will be joined by newcomers Alex Sosa & TJ Coats, and some returning pitchers from last year’s team.

It also helped that the Miami Hurricanes also had a very good recruiting class, headlined by Mario Magana and Dylan Dubrovik.

NC State

Pitching will be the thing to watch with the 2026 NC State Wolfpack.

Ryan Marohn was one of the best pitchers in the ACC last season, and he headlines a lengthy list of notable 2026 MLB Draft pitchers to watch after he struck out 91 batters as a sophomore. He doesn’t throw hard but Marohn, a left-hander, was able to give hitters different looks.

Anderson Nance, a reliever for NC State, can throw hard.

North Carolina

Yes, expect UNC to be back in the mix for a College World Series berth.

The Tar Heels’ pitching staff is incredibly deep. And, it’s headlined by two of the best pitchers in the country, Ryan Lynch and Jason DeCaro. Lynch mowed down opposing hitters with regularity last season, while DeCaro  – a sinkerballer – has helped carry the pitching staff over the last two seasons.

Offensively, Gavin Gallaher leads a deep lineup that will tentatively include newcomers Erik Paulsen and Owen Hull.

Notre Dame

Like several schools in the ACC, the summer was a turbulent one for the Fighting Irish.

Catcher Carson Tinney was one of the best at this position last season for the Irish. However, after the young gun hit a team-best 17 home runs for the school last season, Tinney is now a Texas Longhorn.

In better news, sophomore Bino Watters, one of the school’s best hitters from 2025, returned to the roster for 2026.

Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Panthers have been one of those schools that have struggled to gain traction in the ACC over the last few years.

Pittsburgh finished with a 10-20 record in the ACC last season, second-worst and sandwiched between Boston College and California.

Noah Czajkowski, Caden Dulin, and AJ Nessler, three of the school’s best contributors from 2025, are back on the roster for 2026.

Stanford

Stanford took a steep hit in the summer transfer portal. The Cardinal lost two key pitchers to Georgia, continuing what has been a steep rebuild for the program.

The good news is that the Cardinal have hitters. Tatum Marsh was one of the best players on Stanford last season. There’s also Rintaro Sasaki, although his stock took a hit after what was a difficult first season in the United States.

Also, can Brock Sell make an impact in 2026?

Virginia Tech

The Virginia Tech Hokies will look to improve after what was a tough past couple of years.

VaTech’s pitching staff includes Brett Renfrow and Aiden Robertson, the latter of whom came over from Walters State CC. Robertson was a 13th-round pick by the Texas Rangers last season. However, Texas’ loss is the Hokies’ gain.

Henry Cooke and Anderson French are among the notable hitters on Virginia Tech.

Wake Forest

Last – but certainly not least – is Wake Forest.

Between Matt Conte, Ryan Costello, Dalton Wentz, and Kade Lewis, the Demon Deacons have one of the deepest offenses in the ACC. Many eyes will be on Lewis, who performed extremely well in Wake Forest last season after he came over from Butler, and is a major name to watch this coming July.

The pitching staff is also deep, as Chris Levonas, Blake Morningstar, and UNC Wilmington transfer Cam Bagwell are among the notables to watch.