news-record.com

GREENSBORO — On the last day of the baseball season, with a berth in the ACC tournament on the line, Boston College beat No. 6 Georgia Tech 6-3 on Saturday before a season-high home crowd of 2,348.

Good for the Eagles.

Bad for Greensboro.

Boston College's victory locked up the final spot in this week's tournament for the Eagles (29-26, 14-16 ACC), but it came at the expense of North Carolina.

The Tar Heels (36-20, 14-16) lost a tie-breaker for the last spot, and Greensboro lost the biggest draw from last year's tournament.

North Carolina, which has reached the College World Series in Omaha the last four years, dominated the attendance figures during last year's ACC tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

The Heels drew 18,651 in three games last year, an average of 6,217 and 47 percent of the total for the five-day, 13-game event.

The other 10 games drew 21,018. The biggest non-Carolina crowd was for the championship game: 3,695 saw Virginia beat Florida State.

"I won't kid you: It was huge having North Carolina here," Durham Bulls general manager Mike Birling said. "It's a pretty sizable difference in the crowds when they're playing."

During the regular season, North Carolina averaged 1,401 at its home games in Chapel Hill.

In Chestnut Hill, meanwhile, Boston College drew more than 1,401 at home just twice: 1,432 for a Sunday doubleheader against Florida State and the season finale against Georgia Tech. The Eagles drew fewer than 700 in 16 of their 24 home games; 48 fans turned out at their game against nearby Northeastern on March 31.

Even so, tournament host Donald Moore is optimistic.

Moore, the president and general manager of the South Atlantic League's Greensboro Grasshoppers, said the box office at NewBridge Bank Park was busy Monday.

"We've sold about 1,600 tournament books so far," Moore said. "I'm told that's more than any other host site so far."

And that's without three of the Big Four: Carolina (103,614 total attendance), Wake Forest (38,180) and Duke (34,782).

"We've got three schools within an hour's drive of here, and none of them made it," Moore said. "That's just the way it goes. ... We'd love to have them here, obviously, but it's the first time we've ever hosted and there's still a lot of excitement. We're looking at the glass as half-full and not half-empty."

N.C. State, which missed the tournament last year, drew 82,247 (1,495 per game) this season, and the Wolfpack will almost certainly be the top draw this week.

"We didn't have State," Birling said. "It was a similar situation as this year, when it came down to the last weekend (of the regular season). We had Duke in, we had Carolina in, and we were hoping to get all three. We didn't get State, and I would assume they would draw similar to what Carolina drew."

Maybe. But the Heels will still be missed at the turnstiles.

"I'm a State grad," Moore said, "and I was still pulling like crazy for North Carolina this weekend."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com