And just like that: Is UVA baseball about to punch its NCAA Tournament ticket?

Two wins in Chapel Hill have a UVA baseball team that has been on the brink of a postseason-less 2015 on a different brink now.

Friday’s 6-2 win over UNC clinched a spot in next week’s ACC Tournament, and likely puts the Cavs into lock territory as far as NCAA Tournament considerations are concerned.

The W puts Virginia’s RPI rating at 22, fourth-highest among ACC schools (Miami is 2, Florida State is 9, Louisville is 13), and obviously ahead of the rest of the pack of the bubble teams from the conference (UNC is 24, Georgia Tech 28, Notre Dame 32, N.C. State 34).

UVA can’t do any better than the seven seed in the ACC Tournament, which means the ‘Hoos will be in a play-in game for a shot to advance to the main tournament bracket. Which, when you think about where Virginia is right now, might not be the best thing to have happen, the part about advancing to the main tournament bracket.

The ‘Hoos still haven’t named a #3 starter, four weeks out from losing All-American lefty ace Nathan Kirby to a strained lat. A team without a #3 guy clearly then doesn’t have a #4. It doesn’t take much to figure that four games in Durham will tax the hell out of a pitching staff that could just as well use the week to rest up for the opening weekend of NCAA Tournament play.

A win Saturday at Carolina would seem to solidify Virginia as a #2 seed somewhere, even with a loss early next week in the ACC Tourney. There’s still little margin for error for the Cavs in the NCAAs, but there is a blueprint for the team to somehow advance through to a Super Regional.

It involves Connor Jones and Brandon Waddell not slipping up, Josh Sborz channeling his inner Artie Lewicki, Alec Bettinger summoning up his best Kevin Arrico, and the offense producing a ton of runs.

Big win Friday in Chapel Hill. Win Saturday, lay down in the play-in game, spit and tape together a regional, and UVA baseball is back in business with a healthy Nathan Kirby in a Super Regional.

Brian O’Connor won’t get many coach of the year votes, but this is easily his best coaching job in his 12 years at the helm in Charlottesville, willing this year’s team through its historic run of injuries to this spot.

I wrote last week how the 2015 UVA baseball team is not an NCAA Tournament team, and it’s not, and yet, here it is.

– Column by Chris Graham