Boston College Athletics
Baseball Hosts NC State For ACC Series This Weekend
April 02, 2009 | Baseball
April 2, 2009
Series Notes
Friday ACC Select
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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The Boston College baseball team will look to eclipse the .500 mark once again in the ACC when it hosts NC State for a three-game set this weekend at Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at Commander Shea Field.
BC (17-9, 5-5 ACC) sits in third place in the Atlantic Division entering the weekend while the Wolfpack (15-13, 5-7 ACC) is in fourth right behind the Eagles.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH UPS (BC listed first)
Friday: RHP JB MacDonald (3-2, 2.16) vs. LHP Jimmy Gillheeney (3-1, 4.05)
Saturday: RHP John Leonard (1-1, 7.20) vs. RHP Jake Buchanan (2-2, 4.87)
Sunday: RHP Mike Dennhardt (2-0, 6.65) vs. TBD
EAGLES AND PACK MEET FOR THREE
• Boston College will host NC State at Pellagrini Diamond at Shea Field for a three-game set between two ACC Atlantic Division programs.
• BC currently stands in third place in the Atlantic Division at 5-5 while NC State is in fourth with a record of 5-7.
• The Eagles are coming off of a pair of non-conference wins during the week against Northeastern and UConn - beating the Huskies in come-from-behind fashion in the ninth inning.
• NC State, which was nationally ranked at the time, swept the three-game series between the two teams last season in Raleigh.
POWER SURGE
• Boston College has hit 11 of its 26 home runs this season in the last five games.
• In four of the five games, the Eagles hit more than one bomb which had happened just three times in the first 21 outings.
• BC has hit nine round-trippers in its first four home games. In all of 2008, the Eagles hit just eight out of Shea Field in 21 games.
• BC's 28 home runs this year is already more than they hit in the entire seasons of 2007, 2006 and 2005. The Eagles hit 43 homers all of last year.
• Juniors Mike Belfiore and Tony Sanchez have almost single-handedly led the sudden charge of power.
• Belfiore started the momentum with a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning last weekend against Clemson and then belted a three-run job in the second.
• He has five of the 11 home runs in the last five games.
• Sanchez has five of his own in the last five games, including two against Connecticut on Wednesday.
• Junior John Spatola provided the 11th dinger of the last five games, a pinch-hit solo home run against Clemson on Friday.
20 WINS MARK
• BC has the chance to reach 20 wins this weekend.
• In 2008, the Eagles didn't reach the 20-win mark until April 22.
• It took until May 2, 2007 for that year's team to reach 20 triumphs.
• In the last 10 seasons, the earliest a Boston College team has reached 20 wins is April 9 which came in 2005.
EARLY BIRDS
• The Eagles have made a habit of getting ahead early in the ball game this year.
• BC has scored first in 19 of its first 26 games this season and has scored in the first inning 14 times.
• A run crossed the plate in the opening frame in five-straight games from February 22 to March 3.
• The Eagles have scored three or more runs in eight of the 14 times they have scored in the first inning.
• Boston College is 15-4 when it crosses the plate first.
CLUTCH HITTING
• BC has driven in 77 RBI with two outs so far this season. Junior Mike Belfiore has 22 of those RBI - he has 35 total on the year.
• Freshman Brad Zapenas has the second-most two-out RBI on the team with 11.
• A total of 43 percent of the RBI that BC has recorded has come with two outs.
SMALL BALL
• BC has forced the action this season with sacrifices and stolen bases.
• The Eagles have a total of 47 sacrifice hits this year which leads the nation. On the other hand, their opponents have recorded just 11.
• Entering this week, No. 1 Cal State Fullerton was 11 sacrifices behind and ranked second nationally behind BC.
• Ten different players have successfully moved runners along.
• Entering the week, BC had five different players rank in the top 20 nationally in sac bunts. Sophomore Garret Smith and freshman Brad Zapenas were tied for fifth in the country with eight while junior Barry Butera, sophomore Matt Hamlet and redshirt freshman Andrew Lawrence all ranked 17th with six apiece.
• The Eagles are also 16-for-33 when attempting to steal this season while opponents are 5-for-15.
• Junior Robbie Anston leads the team with five stolen bases on seven attempts.
• Eight other players have stolen one bag.
MacDONALD OFF TO SOLID START
• Senior captain JB MacDonald has been strong in his first six outings of the season.
• He started the season-opener at Stetson on February 20 but got a no decision. He went 5.2 innings and allowed one run on four hits. He struck out four.
• The Danvers, Mass., native then shut down USF over the course of 7.1 innings and got his first win of the season.
• He allowed just one unearned run and gave up three hits. He struck out eight while walking just one.
• MacDonald opened the series at No. 6 Florida State and tossed 6.0 innings, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out seven.
• At No. 6 Georgia Tech on March 13, he threw 7.0 innings and allowed five hits and five runs but only two of them were earned. He struck out six in his outing and retired 15 of the first 18 batters he faced.
• MacDonald picked up his second win of the season at Maryland on March 20, throwing 7.2 innings and allowing two runs on eight hits. He struck out seven on the evening.
• For the season, MacDonald has a 2.16 ERA. Through 41.2 innings, he has allowed 31 hits and 14 runs - 10 earned - and has 36 Ks compared to 16 walks.
SANCHEZ SHINES BEHIND THE PLATE
• Junior Tony Sanchez had a stellar sophomore season behind the plate in 2008 and has started this season the same way.
• Baseball America lists Sanchez as the No. 48 prospect for the class of 2009 and as the No. 42 junior prospect in the country. The publication also predicts he will be the top catcher in the ACC.
• He was named a member of the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List for the second-straight season and is also a member of the Johnny Bench Award Watch List.
• The Miami, Fla., native led BC in batting average (.313), hits (66), home runs (9), RBI (45) and total bases (109) last season.
• His nine homers in 2008 is the sixth-best single season total in BC history.
• Sanchez continued his impressive play in the Cape Cod League during the summer. As a member of the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, he ranked ninth in the league in batting average at .326.
• The catcher registered six doubles, three home runs and 18 RBI. He led the Red Sox in both slugging percentage (.489) and on-base percentage (.462).
• Sanchez was selected as the starting catcher for the East squad in the Under Armour-Cape Cod Baseball All-Star Game.
• Entering the weekend, Sanchez ranked first in the ACC in home runs (10), second in slugging (.782) and total bases (79), fourth in OBP (.504) and runs (32), fifth in RBI (32), seventh in batting (.406) and ninth in hits (41).
SANCHEZ NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Junior Tony Sanchez was named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week on March 9.
• Sanchez paced the Boston College offense that scored 26 runs in the last two games of a series win at No. 6 Florida State.
• Sanchez led the Eagles to a series win at Dick Howser Stadium and in doing so, BC became the first team to ever take an ACC opening weekend series from the Seminoles.
• The Miami, Fla., product went 7-for-9 in the final two games of the series. For the entire week, he batted .526 with three doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI and seven runs.
• He batted .833 (5-for-6) with runners on third and less than two outs.
• Sanchez's on-base percentage was .640 while his slugging percentage was 1.000.
LEADING OFF
• Junior Robbie Anston has been invaluable as a leadoff man this year.
• The Odessa, Fla., product has reached base on 30 of 52 opportunities leading off an inning. That is a .577 average.
• Entering the weekend, Anston ranked third in the ACC in doubles (12), fifth in OBP (.500), sixth in batting average (.410) and hits (43) and eighth in runs (31).
BELFIORE BIG ON BOTH SIDES
• Junior Mike Belfiore has come up big for the Eagles both in the box and on the mound.
• The Commack, N.Y., product has driven in 35 RBI this season and 22 of them have come with two outs in the inning.
• On the mound as the Eagles' closer, Belfiore has picked up five saves already this season which is fourth in the ACC. He had eight in all of 2008.
• In the preseason, he was one of 40 players to be named to the watch list for the fifth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball.
• Belfiore picked up his first win of the season at Northeastern on March 17. He worked a career-high 3.2 innings of two-hit baseball and struck out seven of the 11 outs he recorded which was also a personal best.
• Belfiore has a 3.71 ERA. He has thrown 17.0 innings and allowed seven runs on 18 hits. He has struck out 22 and walked six.
RESERVATION FOR THREE, BUTERA
• Junior RF Barry Butera has become somewhat of a triples machine.
• The Covington, La., product has knocked two triples already this season - in consecutive games against Towson (February 28) and Samford (March 1).
• That number ranks fourth in the conference.
• Last season, he led the Eagles with three triples.
A ZAP OF ENERGY
• Freshman 2B Brad Zapenas is the only newcomer to have a starting spot in the lineup and he has proven why.
• The Nashua, N.H., star is batting .412 (14-for-34) with runners in scoring position and .405 (15-for-37) with two outs in the inning.
• Entering the week, he ranked fifth in the country with eight sacrifice bunts this season.
KILLER KOWALSKI
• Junior RHP Chris Kowalski is one of the most reliable arms that comes out of the BC bullpen.
• The Boston native leads the team with 17 appearances and has worked 18.1 innings out of the pen. He has an ERA of 3.93 and has allowed eight runs on 16 hits. He has struck out 16 while walking seven.
• He has picked up three wins on the year which leads the team - in the season opener at Stetson, at Florida State (March 8) and at Hartford (March 24).
• In the game against the Seminoles, Kowalski was awarded the win after throwing 3.1 innings and allowing just one hit. He also struck out the side in the sixth inning.
YUK'IN IT UP
• Sophomore LHP Nate Bayuk has come out of nowhere to become a key component of the Boston College bullpen early in the season.
• The Foxboro, Mass., native has the second most appearances this year with 15. He has thrown a total of 462 innings and has allowed six hits.
• In his first four appearances, none of the six runners he inherited scored. For the season, he has allowed three of 18 inherited runners to score.
• He has struck out seven and walked two on the year.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT
• The BC offense had been playing well through the first six games of the season, but the Eagles came alive in the last two games of the FGCU Classic in Fort Myers.
• Boston College scored a total of 35 runs, had 45 hits, seven doubles, two triples and three homers in a 17-16 loss to Towson - its first loss of the season - and a 19-13 win vs. Samford.
• The Eagles had two innings when they scored six runs and one when they scored seven.
• BC's 19 runs were the most since they beat Harvard 24-6 on April 15, 2003.
• It was also the most runs by an Eagle team in a two-game span since April 29-30, 2000 when BC beat Georgetown 21-5 and 16-3.
• Sophomore Mickey Wiswall exploded in the two games and had a .727 batting average - getting eight hits on 11 at-bats. Two of those knocks were doubles.
• Sophomore Mike Sudol recorded a slugging percentage of 1.143 as he had a home run and a double on 4 of 7 batting.
• In total, nine BC players hit .400 or better with seven hitting a .500 clip or better.
• As a team, the Eagles hit .484 in the two games.
SUCCESS ON THE ROAD
• Boston College started the season with five-straight road wins.
• The Eagles swept a four-game series at Stetson then won their first game of a two-game set at Florida Gulf Coast.
• It was the first time since the opening of the 2006 season that BC won five-straight on the road.
• As the designated visiting team (including neutral site games), Boston College is 15-6.
DEAN EARNS NATIONAL RECOGNITION
• Sophomore LHP Pat Dean was recognized as one of Recruiting Closer's Pitchers of the Week on February 23.
• Dean tossed a complete game, four-hit shutout in just his second-career start at Stetson on February 21.
• He struck out eight and walked just one, throwing a total of 103 pitches - 77 strikes.
• Dean retired 15 of the last 16 batters in the game including 10 in a row at one point.
• He was one of four pitchers in the nation that threw complete game shutouts in the opening weekend.
DENNHARDT SHINES IN BC DEBUT
• Freshman RHP Mike Dennhardt made his collegiate debut against Stetson on February 22 and he impressed.
• After allowing two runs in the first inning, he settled in and dominated the next five.
• He retired nine in a row at one point and 16 out of 17. He finished with seven strikeouts and two walks.
• Dennhardt is listed as he No. 5 top newcomer to the ACC according to Baseball America.
• He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 17th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft.
• He earned All-State first-team honors as senior pitcher at Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey and was a two-time All-North Jersey first-team selection.
• Dennhardt served as team captain as a senior for the 33-0 state champions and had a 10-0 record on the mound, finishing with a 0.56 earned-run average.
2009 CAPTAINS
• Fifth-year senior C Harry Darling and senior RHP JB MacDonald will serve as the captains for BC during the 2009 season.
• Darling, a catcher who was also captain in 2008, played in 26 games and started 14 last year. He batted .244 on the year.
• MacDonald has more experience on the mound than anyone else. He started 11 games last year and went 4-7 with a 7.64 ERA.
• He is the Eagles No. 1 starter on the mound and he is 3-2 with a 2.16 ERA. He has allowed 31 hits and nine earned runs in 41.2 innings of work, striking out 36 and walking 16.
BC SHOCKS FLORIDA STATE IN TALLAHASSEE
• After losing to No. 6 Florida State in the series opener, 4-1, behind a strong outing from Sean Gilmartin, the BC offense exploded and the Eagles took the next two games of the series.
• The Eagles are the first team to ever defeat Florida State in an ACC opening series.
• Since 1992, Florida State had been 43-5 in games during the conference's opening weekend before the Eagles took two of three from them.
• The Seminoles had swept their opening ACC series in six-straight years. FSU had not even lost a game in an ACC opening series since 2002 and hadn't faltered at home since 1997.
• BC also did it at Dick Howser Stadium, one of the toughest places to play in the country. Entering the series, the Seminoles had a winning percentage of .835 (829-163-1) all-time in their home park.
• It was the most runs allowed by Florida State in a two-game losing stretch since 1992.
• BC was 0-9 all-time against the Seminoles entering the weekend.
HOME SWEET HOME
• BC traveled a total of 9,095 miles prior to its first home game this weekend.
• That number is almost equivalent to traveling from campus in Chestnut Hill to the Italian region of Sicily and back.
• It is about a 1,000 miles less than a trip to the western portion of Australia and about 400 miles short of Indonesia.
• After the Eagles swept the four-game series at Stetson, they returned to BC for class on February 23-24 before leaving for Fort Myers the afternoon of the 24th.
• BC played seven games in Fort Myers including an exhibition with the Boston Red Sox. The Eagles went 4-2 during their trip down south to improve to 8-2 on the year.
• The Eagles then went north to Tallahassee and took two of three from No. 6 Florida State at Dick Howser Stadium. BC became the first team to ever win an ACC opening weekend series vs. the Seminoles.
• BC lost its only game at No. 6 Georgia Tech two weeks ago - the other two games were rained out - and then took two of three at Maryland.
• Boston College finished its extended road trip with a 14-7 record and went 4-3 in the ACC.
EAGLES FALL TO RED SOX
• Boston College was leading the Boston Red Sox after four and a half innings (of a seven inning game), but the Red Sox scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth and eventually won, 7-1, in front of 5,707 at Boston's spring training facility, City of Palms Park on February 25.
• Junior Mike Belfiore went 2-for-2 in the game and drove in the Eagles' only run.
• BC's pitching staff shined in the first half of the game, allowing just one hit through the first four innings. Sophomore Geoff Oxley got the start and walked a batter. Senior Matt O'Brien pitched the second inning and allowed a hit, sophomore Dane Clemens threw a perfect third and freshman Tim O'Keefe issued a walk before inducing George Kottaras into a 4-3 double play in the fourth.
• Freshman Rob Moir, senior Mike Augustine and junior Tony Sanchez recorded the other hits for the Eagles.
• Prior to the game, the Eagles gathered around the cage during the Red Sox batting practice to watch stars such as David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, J.D. Drew and Jason Varitek at work. BC student-athletes got to interact with, take pictures and get autographs from players of the seven-time World Series champs.
• Senior Harry Darling was the first Eagle to get on base when he forced a walk in the top of the fourth off Kris Johnson and Augustine notched the first hit when he took a 1-2 pitch through the left side to put runners on first and second. Junior John Spatola drove a ball to left that Baldelli caught on the warning track, and then Belfiore snuck one inside the right field line for a single to drive home the first run of the game.
LAMBERT SUITS UP FOR DETROIT TIGERS
• Former Boston College pitcher Chris Lambert made his Major League Baseball debut when he took the hill August 26 for the Detroit Tigers. Lambert, the 19th overall pick in the 2004 draft, faced Cleveland's Cliff Lee who was 18-2 on the year entering the game.
• Lambert is the first BC baseball alum to reach the majors since Brian Looney, who pitched in seven games with Montreal and Boston from 1993-95.
• In total, Lambert appeared in eight games for the Tigers and started three. He ended with a 1-2 record and an ERA of 5.66 in 20.2 innings pitched. He struck out 15 batters and walked seven.
• His first Major League win came on September 7 at Minnesota. He allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings of work.
EAGLES IN THE PROS
• Four BC players from the 2008 team signed professional contracts when the season ended.
• Dan Houston was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the seventh round and Eric Campbell was selected in the eighth by the New York Mets.
• Terry Doyle was picked up by the Chicago White Sox in the 37th round. Nick Asselin signed a free agent contract with the New York Yankees a week after the draft.
• Houston spent the season with Casper in the rookie level Pioneer League where he went 6-4 with a 4.17 ERA.
• Campell played for Brooklyn in the New York-Penn League (A), hitting .260 with nine doubles, four homers, 28 RBI, and 41 stolen bases.
• Asselin started in the rookie league then moved up to single A where he played for two teams. His last stint was with Charleston in the South Atlantic League and for the year he went 1-1 with a 4.06 ERA.
• There are a total of 15 former BC baseball players currently playing in the professional ranks.
