Weekend Preview: Eagles Host the Hokies

MATCHUP: Virginia Tech (9-10, 3-3 ACC) at Boston College (7-11, 2-4 ACC)
WHERE: Brighton Baseball Field in Brighton, Mass.
WHEN: Friday, March 23 at 2:30 p.m. | Saturday, March 24 at 2 p.m. | Sunday, March 25 at noon
RECORD vs. VT: Virginia Tech holds the advantage, 24-17

HOW TO FOLLOW
Live Stats
Radio: WZBC
Twitter: @BCBirdball

THE MATCHUP

Pitching Matchups
FRIDAY: RHP Jacob Stevens (3-2, 2.63 ERA) vs. RHP Connor Coward (1-2, 3.24 ERA)
SATURDAY: LHP Dan Metzdorf (0-3, 7.85 ERA) vs. LHP Ian Seymour (2-1, 4.08 ERA)
SUNDAY: RHP Brian Rapp (2-1, 3.54 ERA) vs. TBA

Scouting the Hokies

The Hokies come to The Heights 9-10, 3-3 in ACC play under first-year head coach John Szefc.
Szefc coached Maryland from 2013-17, including Maryland's final two seasons in the ACC. The Eagles are 4-2 against Szefc from when both teams were in the ACC. The Eagles swept the Terps in 2014.
Virginia Tech took two of three from Pitt to start ACC play, winning the first two games before the Panthers earned the series finale victory.
At Georgia Tech, the Hokies collected a Saturday, 10-8 win while the Ramblin' Wreck won, 16-9, on Friday and took the rubber match, 10-6.
The Hokies are led by Tom Stoffel, who is batting .354 with 29 hits and 13 RBIs. Jack Owens is tied for seventh in the ACC with eight stolen bases, which leads VT.
Friday starter RHP Connor Coward is third in the league with 33.1 innings pitched and his 40 strikeouts are tied for fourth. He is 1-2 with a 3.24 ERA in five starts. In the loss to Georgia Tech, he threw 5.1 innings, allowed 11 hits, 10 runs – six earned – two walks and struck out four.
Saturday's starter is lefty Ian Seymour, who is tied for ninth in the ACC with 36 Ks. He has a 4.08 ERA and a 2-1 record in six appearances, including five starts. Last weekend, he threw 4.1 innings, allowed four hits, two runs, two walks and struck out six in a no decision in Atlanta.

THE SERIES

The Eagles host the Hokies for the first ACC series on the new Brighton Baseball Field. The longtime series dates back to the two teams' days in the BIG EAST. The Hokies have a 24-17 advantage.
Since joining the ACC in 2006, the Eagles are 11-17 against the Hokies, although the 2008 victory was a non-conference matchup.
When the Eagles joined the conference, they won the first two series and three of the first four against the Hokies.
BC actually won the first four meetings against VT and six of the first seven contests. Tech then rattled off six straight wins.
The Hokies have won four of the last five series meetings, sweeping three of them.
The last time Tech came to The Heights, BC took two of three to earn a series win. After dropping the Friday game, the Eagles rallied to win the next two.
The Hokies collected a sweep at English Field in last year's meeting. BC scored a run in the top of the ninth to break a 2-2 tie, but VT matched it in the bottom of the frame and Jack Owens walked off in the 10th.
In four games, junior Jake Alu is batting .600 against the Hokies with two RBIs while senior Jake Palomaki has five runs, five hits and three walks in six games.
BC head coach Mike Gambino was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech for four years (2007-10) under then skipper Pete Hughes. Hughes led the Eagles from 1999 to 2006.

WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE EAGLES

The Boston College baseball team played its first-ever game in its new Brighton ballpark on Tuesday, falling after 18 innings to crosstown rival Northeastern, 7-4. The game started at 2:30 p.m. but lasted just under five and a half hours, allowing the lights to come on for the first time in BC history.
It marked the second-longest game in BC history, next to only the 25-inning contest against Texas in the 2009 Austin Regional that set the NCAA record (Texas won, 3-2).
The Eagles are looking to turn things around against the Hokies as they are on a three-game losing streak, tying for the longest of 2018.
After opening the series at No. 21 Virginia with a 6-2 victory, BC dropped the next two games to the Cavaliers. Junior RHP Jacob Stevens allowed just one run and one walk over six innings, while striking out five on Friday.
Senior Jake Palomaki is third in the ACC with a .432 batting average, which ranks 19th in the nation. His 35 hits are tied for second in the league while his 10 doubles are tied for first and 10th nationally. His .500 on-base percentage is tied second in the ACC and his 1.94 hits/game is sixth in the nation.
Freshman Chris Galland is right behind Palomaki with the fourth-best batting average in the ACC with a .429 clip. That is 21st in the nation. He is perfect on the stolen-base path, stealing 13 bases, which leads the league and his tied for ninth in the country.
Senior RHP Brian Rapp's 38 strikeouts ties for seventh in the ACC. He has recorded 10 strikeouts twice this season and allowed three runs and three walks with six Ks in 5.2 innings at No. 21 Virginia in his last outing.
Junior RHP Jacob Stevens has two starts without allowing a run. He pitched his first career complete game, an eight-inning start at No. 22 NC State on March 9, striking out eight in a 2-1 loss. In the win at No. 21 Virginia on March 16, he allowed just one run and one walk over six innings, striking out five.
Sophomore Brian Dempsey has a hit in 13 of the Eagles' 18 games this season, tallying at least one in 27 of the last 28 games played. He also reached base safely in the 17 of the 18 games. His .371 batting average is fifth in the ACC.
Junior RHP Sean Hughes leads the BC bullpen with a 0.90 ERA. In nine appearances, he has struck out 11 with just one earned run and seven hits.
Sophomore Jack Cunningham has a hit in 14 of the Eagles' first 18 games and recorded a career-long, seven-game hit streak. He notched a career-high three RBIs at NC State on March 10.
Sophomore Dante Baldelli is riding a career-high, six-game hit streak that began on March 10. He has recorded 12 hits, three RBIs, three runs, six walks and five stolen bases in that span.

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Players Mentioned

Jake Alu

Dante Baldelli

Jack Cunningham

Brian Dempsey

Sean Hughes

Dan Metzdorf

Jake Palomaki

Brian Rapp

Jacob Stevens