Weekend Preview: Baseball Travels to Chapel Hill

April 23, 2015

Game Notes | ACC Release

THE FACTS
MATCHUP: Boston College (22-18, 9-11 ACC) at No. 23 North Carolina (26-15, 10-10 ACC)
WHERE: Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
WHEN: Friday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m. | Saturday April 25 at 10:30 a.m. (moved up due to rain) | Sunday, April 26 at noon
RECORD vs. OPPONENT: North Carolina leads the series, 2-18

HOW TO FOLLOW
Twitter: @BCBirdball
ESPN3: Friday| Saturday | Sunday
Live Stats: Available here at game time each day

THE MATCHUP
Pitching Matchups
Friday: RHP Mike King (1-2, 2.03 ERA) vs. RHP Zac Gallen (2-3, 3.31 ERA)
Saturday: RHP John Gorman (4-2, 5.13 ERA) vs. RHP J.B. Bukauskas (3-1, 3.88 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Benton Moss (5-0, 3.32 ERA)

Scouting the Tar Heels

The Heels enter the series on a three-game win streak, taking two midweeks against Campbell, 8-3, and UNC Wilmington, 6-5, in 12 innings and the second game of the series against Virginia Tech, 11-10. The Hokies earned an 8-3 victory in game one and the final game of the series was canceled.
In ACC action, UNC has won series against NC State (2-of-3), at Georgia Tech (2-of-3), against Duke (2-of-3). The Heels dropped sets in Pittsburgh (2-of-3), against Miami (2-of-3) and at Clemson (2-of-3).
North Carolina is eighth in the ACC in batting average with a .271 clip and ranks eighth with a 3.66 team ERA.
Outfielder Tyler Ramirez is tied for third in the league with 15 stolen bases and tied for seventh with 31 walks.
Designated hitter Brian Miller leads the Heels with a .349 batting average. The other UNC batter to have an average over .300 is catcher Korey Dunbar, batting .301.
Three players -- Dunbar, Ramirez and outfielder Skye Bolt have five home runs apiece to lead the Tar Heels and Ramirez leads the way with 32 RBIs.
Righty Tevor Kelley is fifth in the ACC with a 2.25 ERA right-hander Trent Thorton is eighth with 61 strikeouts and sixth with six saves. He has a 4.12 ERA and a 3-4 record.

THE SERIES

The Eagles leave the friendly confides of Shea Field, where they went 6-2 on the eight-game home stand, to travel to Chapel Hill, where they have never beaten the Tar Heels.
BC has won two games in the all-time series, which dates back to 2006, when the Eagles joined the ACC. They did not play in 2010 and 2011.
The Heels won the first nine games, sweeping at home in 2006 and 2008 and once in Chestnut Hill in 2007, before the Eagles took game one at The Heights, 3-1, in 2009. UNC went on to win the next two to take the series.
Last year, BC won the second game of the series, 10-9, at Pellagrini Diamond.
This is the second time the Eagles will play the Heels when UNC is not ranked in the top 10. They are No. 23 in Baseball America's current poll. Last year, they were tabbed No. 30 in the NCBWA Poll.
In 2013, the series was scheduled to be played in Chestnut Hill, but a late-March snow stormed forced the games to be played at Boshamer Stadium. The top-ranked Heels took two games and the final game was rained out.

WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE EAGLES

Boston College started the season 5-12 but since coming off a three-game sweep at then 13th-ranked Louisville, BC has gone 17-6 with two ACC series sweeps (Duke, Georgia Tech) and a five-game and six-game winning streaks.
The Eagles are on a six-game win streak, tying for the longest streak under fifth-year head coach Mike Gambino. The other came in 2014.
In the last four games, the Eagles pitchers have thrown three shutouts, allowed just one run, 15 total hits and have not walked a batter.
The Eagles' 22 wins tie for the most under Gambino's reign. BC also recorded 22 win last season. The most conference wins under Gambino was 10 and came in 2012 and 2014
Freshman Jake Palomaki has reached base at least once in the last 23 games, which is the fourth-longest streak in the ACC. He has a hit in seven of the last nine games and has drawn at least one walk in nine on the last 13.
Sophomore Michael Strem continues to be a doubles machine with 15 on the season, which is tied for third in the ACC.
Junior Logan Hoggarth has tallied a hit in eight of the last 11 games. He was 7-for-10 in the series against Clemson.
Sophomore Johnny Adams has tallied a hit in six of the last eight games, raising his batting average 32 points, hitting .364 with seven RBIs. He has reached base safely in the last six games.
Sophomore RHP Justin Dunn leads the Eagles with five saves, which is tied for seventh on BC's single-season list. It is also seventh in the ACC, while his three saves in the conference are tied for sixth.
Senior RHP John Gorman has 180 career strikeouts, which ranks eighth in BC record books.
Sophomore Nick Sciortino is tied for second in the league with 14 runners caught stealing. He is first in the league with 11 in ACC action. He has also picked off four runners, which is tied for fourth in the league and has only made one error in 290 chances for a .997 fielding percentage.
Senior Blake Butera has drawn 106 career walks, which is now the Eagles' all-time record. Butera's 723 career at bats ranks fourth all-time, while his 191 starts is second and 193 games played in fourth. He has also been hit by a pitch 24 times his career, tied for sixth all-time.

Boston College Athletics

Weekend Preview: Baseball Travels to Chapel Hill

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