OK then. So for a few weeks (at least) I’ve been dreading this series, as well as having to write this particular preview. I haven’t exactly kept my good natured digs at BC and their prowess on the diamond to myself up until now and as such I’ve probably set it up such that karma will come back to bite the Pack big time this weekend.
And we all know how easily NCStateSh!t can work its way into places where it has no business anyway, so this weekend has me a bit nervous to be honest.
But since I believe in calling it like I see it, I won’t now go into the “Hey, BC isn’t all that bad after all” mode just to curry favor with the baseball Gods. That would be disingenuous. Plus there’s really no way to put perfume on this particular pig. If that jinxes us and we drop 2 out of 3 in Chestnut Hill because of it, then so be it.
The Pack is playing pretty good ball right now having won seven straight and nine of their last ten. Incidentally, this ten game stretch just happens to coincide with Trea Turner’s return from his ankle injury.
During that stretch, State has won two straight conference series, including last weekend’s sweep of VT to up their record to 25-10, 8-7 in conference, and move within striking distance of 1st place FSU (2gb) and 2nd place Clemson (1gb) in the Atlantic Division as the second half of the conference season comes into view.
Maryland and Wake are both still tied for 4th, and are both also fading fast, now six games behind division leader FSU, and four back of the 3rd place Wolfpack.
And then there’s BC. So let’s do this I guess.
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Boston College Eagles
6-26 (0-14 ACC; 6th ACC Atlantic)
2012: 21-34 (10-20; 6th ACC Atlantic)
Please let me preface the rest of this by saying I’m really kinda tired of piling on BC and I’ll be glad when this preview, and this weekend for that matter, is overwith. I actually feel for BC and their players. There’s not much that’s less fun than trudging through a season as badly as they have thus far, and knowing how bad you are. After this weekend I’ll be pulling hard for BC to turn things around.
But this weekend they must be destroyed.
So, here goes nothing (Don’t worry, this won’t take long)….
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At The Plate
The Eagles are indisputably bad at the plate, both for average and power. They’re batting only .207 as a team and have hit only 8 HRs all season. They strike out a lot and don’t steal bases well.
They’re averaging only 3.22 runs per game.
BC has no hitters in the .300+ range (seriously…none are even close) so let’s take a look at a couple of their “highlight” guys I suppose.
John Hennesy (#10, Jr, 3B/2B) leads the Eagles in avg. (.268) and runs scored (13) and is second in RBIs (11).
Chris Shaw (#3, Frosh, OF/1B) leads the team in HRs (4) and RBIs (13) but bats only .147.
BC’s biggest basestealing threats are Tom Bourdon (#7, Jr, CF) with 4 in 4 attempts; and Gabriel Hernandez (#23, Frosh, 3B) with 5 out of 5.
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In The Field
As if BC’s offense wasn’t depressing enough, they have pitching to match. Their team ERA is 6.69 and they’re giving up an average of 7.03 runs per game. Opponents are batting .303 against them. The semi-bright spots for BC’s staff are that they’ve not yielded as many HRs as one might think, having given up only 16 on the year; and they don’t hurt themselves (at least not too much) with an inordinate number of BBs.
BC’s scheduled starters for the weekend are:
Hunter Gordon (#26, Sr, RHP) – 0-3, ERA 3.52, 23 IP, 13 Ks, 5 BBs, 0 HRs, .281 against avg.
Eric Stevens (#22, Jr, RHP) – 0-7, ERA 5.76, 45.1 IP, 11 Ks, 20 BBs, 3 HRs, .351 against avg.
Andrew Chin (#28, Frosh, LHP) – 1-7, ERA 4.95, 36.1 IP, 28 Ks, 20 BBs, 1 HR, .303 against avg.
BC is a bit below average defensively with a .956 team fldpct.
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Links
No. 19 Wolfpack Travels to Boston College (GoPack.com)
Boston College Baseball Home (BCEagles.com)
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Games Schedule – Pitching Probables
- 4/12 Friday 2:30pm – Carlos Rodon vs Hunter Gordon
- 4/13 Saturday 1:30pm – Ryan Wilkins vs Eric Stevens
- 4/14 Sunday 12pm – Brad Stone vs Andrew Chin
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Standings
| (As Of April 10) | ||||
| ATLANTIC DIVISION | ||||
| School | Conference | Pct. | Overall | Pct. |
| Florida State | 10-5 | .667 | 27-6-0 | .818 |
| Clemson | 9-6 | .600 | 23-11-0 | .676 |
| NC State | 8-7 | .533 | 25-10-0 | .714 |
| Maryland | 4-11 | .267 | 18-15-0 | .545 |
| Wake Forest | 4-11 | .267 | 19-17-0 | .528 |
| Boston College | 0-14 | .000 | 6-26-0 | .188 |
| COASTAL DIVISION | ||||
| School | Conference | Pct. | Overall | Pct. |
| North Carolina | 12-2 | .857 | 31-2-0 | .939 |
| Virginia | 12-3 | .800 | 30-4-0 | .882 |
| Georgia Tech | 9-6 | .600 | 24-9-0 | .727 |
| Duke | 8-7 | .533 | 21-14-0 | .600 |
| Virginia Tech | 7-8 | .467 | 22-12-0 | .647 |
| Miami | 6-9 | .400 | 22-14-0 | .611 |
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As I mentioned a few days ago, the Pack will be trying to avoid becoming the first conference team this season to NOT sweep BC. This is at least slightly misleading as BC has played all but one conference series on the road this year (Clemson swept them in Chestnut Hill last weekend).
Nonetheless, anything short of a series win would be a huge disappointment this weekend, even on the road. Losing 2 out of 3 (or God forbid worse) would be very difficult to stomach and might make for some broken household items that I’ll have to replace.
That being said, despite how weak BC has been up to this point, it’s still baseball and anything can happen. I just hope it doesn’t happen this weekend. With Duke visiting FSU and Wake at Clemson this weekend, the Pack just needs to try to avoid losing any ground in a weekend when they are facing the league’s weakest opponent.
Anything else is gravy.
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