Boston College Athletics
Baseball Kicks Off Home Stretch Against St. John's
April 26, 2002 | Baseball
April 26, 2002
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - With the Boston College baseball team (22-16, 11-6 BIG EAST) tied for first place in the BIG EAST standings and nine conference games remaining, this weekend's three-game series with St. John's (22-17, 9-8 BIG EAST) is the start of a new season for the Eagles. Following this weekend's series, Boston College has Virginia Tech and Notre Dame left on its conference slate, both teams of which are tied with the Eagles for the top spot in the conference.
Boston College and St. John's will play a doubleheader at 12 p.m. Saturday at Shea Field. The series will conclude at 12 p.m. Sunday when the two teams tangle in a single game.
The Red Storm of St. John's are still in the hunt for regular season title, as they enter action on Saturday with a 9-8 mark in the conference. The Red Storm are coming off of a sweep at the hands of Connecticut last weekend, which was their first sweep by a BIG EAST opponent this season. On the other hand, St. John's has swept two conference teams this season (Villanova and Georgetown).
The Eagles are looking to get revenge on the Red Storm, as last season in Jamaica, N.Y., St. John's took two of three games against Boston College. The Eagles took game one, 10-6, but dropped games two and three, 6-3 and 6-2.
With the Red Storm coming to town, the Eagles will be looking to end a three-game losing streak. Their most recent loss came to cross-town rival Northeastern, 7-3, in the championship game of the 13th-annual Beanpot tournament at historic Fenway Park. Prior to losing to the Huskies, Boston College fell to BIG EAST foe Villanova in games two and three of the series. Before falling to the Wildcats in the second game, the Eagles had won seven-consecutive games, which was their longest winning streak since 2001 when they won nine games in a row.
BC head coach Pete Hughes will look for solid performances from his three starting pitchers - Chris Lambert, Mark Sullivan and Kevin Shepard. These three pitchers have combined for a 17-4 record. Lambert has been unstoppable this season, as he has a 7-0 record with a 1.93 ERA. Opponents are batting a mere .173 against the freshman, while also striking out times against the right-hander 58 times. While Sullivan's ERA has been a little high, he still is 7-2 on the season with a team leading 67 strikeouts. Shepard has been solid in his last two starts as he is 1-1. In his last outing, which was against Villanova, he pitched a complete game giving up only five hits and three runs while striking out eight batters in BC's 3-2 loss.
While trying to end their three-game losing streak, the Eagles will look to get back on track in the hitting department. In its last two games, Boston College has only been able to muster up 12 hits. In the first two games against Villanova, BC slugged out 32 hits but since then the bats have done sour. Freshmen Drew Locke and Jason Delaney are leading the charge for the Eagles, as they are batting .456 and .367, respectively. The two have combined for 83 hits and a .560 slugging percentage.
Quick Game Facts
 St. John's leads the all-time series with Boston College, 46-19-1. The Eagles look to improve their home record against the Red Storm, as St. John's has a 23-8-1 all-time record in Chestnut Hill.
 Of the 19 wins by Boston College, the Eagles have only two or more games in a row on three separate occasions. Three is the longest winning streak for Boston College during the series.
 After losing 11-consecutive games to the Red Storm (1995-98), the Eagles have gone 4-3-1 in the last eight meetings.
 Boston College is a solid 7-1 at the friendly confines of Shea Field. Its only loss was to non-conference foe Brown, 4-1, back on April 3.
Probable Pitching Rotation
Game One Chris Lambert (7-0) - Boston College vs. Jim Wladyka (1-4) - St. John's - Seven Inning Game
Game Two Mark Sullivan (7-2) - Boston College vs. Greg Holmes (5-2) - St. John's - Nine Inning Game
Game Three Kevin Shepard (3-2) - Boston College vs. Brian Dorsey (5-2) - St. John's - Nine Inning Game
