Boston College Athletics
Baseball Begins BIG EAST Schedule With Rutgers
March 22, 2002 | Baseball
March 22, 2002
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The Boston College baseball team (9-8) will look to kick the 2002 BIG EAST portion of its schedule off in winning fashion on Saturday when it takes on No. 21-ranked Rutgers University (9-6) in double-header Saturday and a single game on Sunday, both at Shea Field. The first game on Saturday will begin at 12 p.m. with the second contest to follow 30 minutes following the first. The two teams will conclude the series at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
With Rutgers coming into town this weekend, it will be the second ranked opponent BC has played this season. Back on March 3, while the Eagles were in Homestead, Fla. for their Spring Break games, they defeated then No. 24-ranked Florida International, 10-3. FIU is one opponent the Eagles and Scarlet Knights have in common. Rutgers dropped a heartbreaker to Florida International, 8-6, on March 18.
Boston College was scheduled to take on the University of Rhode Island back on Tuesday in Kingston, R.I., but due to inclement weather conditions, the game was postponed to Thursday. On Thursday, the Rams rallied in there half of seventh and eighth innings with five runs to win the game, 9-6. Junior first baseman Vinny Scavone tallied four of the Eagles' 15 hits on the afternoon. Designated hitter Brian Durkin knocked his second home run of the season in the second inning.
The Eagles enter this weekend's series having won six of their last 11 games, but have lost three consecutive contests. Head coach Pete Hughes will be looking for his 100th coaching victory as skipper of the Eagles this weekend. Rutgers just concluded its Spring Break trip in Miami and Boca Raton, Fla. The Scarlet Knights went 3-3 over their week stint, but two of their wins came against NCAA defending national champion Miami.
Breaking Down The Opponent
The greatest strength of Rutgers lineup falls in its pitching staff, and the leader of the staff is preseason BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year Bobby Brownlie. Brownlie, who is one of the top collegiate prospects in the country, is off to a fast start this season, as he owns a 3-1 record with an ERA of 1.95 in 32.1 innings of work. He has struck out 28 batters, while only allowing the opposition to bat a mere .205. Tom Wheeler and Tom Crohan have provided head coach Fred Hill a formidable two-three punch in the weekend rotation. Wheeler is off to a strong start for the Scarlet Knights, as he has a 3-0 record with a 4.34 ERA in 29 innings of work. Crohan is second on the team, only behind Brownlie, in strikeouts with 17. Ryan Molchan has given Rutgers a strong closer, as he has already recorded six saves in the Scarlet Knights' eight wins.
From a hitting standpoint, 2001 third-team All-American (Baseball America) Val Majewski has provided a great deal of pop in the lineup this season. Majewski is second on the team with a .367 batting average and leads the team in home runs (five), RBI (11) and slugging percentage (.683). Left fielder Jeff Frazier and first baseman Steve Normane are first and third, respectively, in batting averages. Frazier is batting .417, with a team leading 25 hits and a slugging percentage of .533. Normane has recorded 20 hits, nine RBI, is batting .364 and has a slugging percentage of .418.
Rutgers Game Notes
,,,, The Scarlet Knights lead the all-time series with the Eagles, 12-2. The Eagles ended a 10-game losing streak to the Scarlet Knights last season when they won the second game of a double-header, 4-2 (April 21, 2001). The only other win for Boston College over Rutgers came back on April 27, 1996, when the Eagles won 10-8.
,,,, Boston College head coach Pete Hughes will look for his 100th career win at the Heights this weekend against Rutgers. His coaching record at Boston College, since taking over the reigns back in 1999, is 99-70-1 (.581).
,,,, The last time the Eagles won their BIG EAST opener was back on March 19, 2000, when they defeated Connecticut at Shea Field, 10-1. In the 2001 BIG EAST opener, Boston College fell to Virginia Tech, 10-4, in Blacksburg, Va.
,,,, Rutgers enters Saturday's tilt ranked No. 21 in the country by Baseball America Online. The Scarlet Knights took two of three games against defending national champion the University of Miami last weekend. They concluded their Spring Break trip to Florida with a 3-3 record.
,,,, Boston College ranks second in the conference in team batting with an average of .313. Pittsburgh is the only team in front of the Eagles, as it has a batting average of .324.
,,,, The Eagles are 1-0 this season against ranked opponents. Their win came against No. 24-ranked Florida International back on March 3 in Homestead, Fla., 10-3.
,,,, Boston College freshman pitcher Chris Lambert is off to a fast start as one of the Eagles' top relief pitchers. In seven appearances this season, he has a 3-0 record and 0.61 ERA. In 14.2 innings of work, Lambert has struck out 20 batters.
,,,, The Scarlet Knights showcase one of the top college prospects in the country in junior pitcher Bobby Brownlie. He pitched for Team USA during the summer of 2001, finishing with an incredible 8-0 record and a 0.84 ERA. He allowed just 32 hits (30 singles), 11 walks and struck out 63 batters in 53.2 innings of work. Brownlie was named the top college prospect in the country at the end of the 2001 summer by Prospects Plus and Baseball America. Brownlie was also named by Collegiate Baseball newspaper as its pick for preseason National Player of the Year.
Probable Pitching Rotation
Game One Mark Sullivan (3-1) - Boston College vs. Tom Crohan (1-2) - Rutgers - Seven Inning Game
Game Two Chris Lambert (3-1) - Boston College vs. Bobby Brownlie (3-1) - Rutgers - Nine Inning Game
Game Three Kevin Shepard (2-1) - Boston College vs. Tom Wheeler (3-0) - Rutgers - Nine Inning Game
