Weekend Preview: Baseball Hosts Notre Dame

May 13, 2015

Game Notes | ACC Release
 
THE FACTS
 
MATCHUP: Boston College (26-25, 9-17 ACC) vs. No. 24 Notre Dame (33-18, 15-12 ACC)
WHERE: Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at Commander Shea Field in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
WHEN: Thursday, May 14 at 2:30 p.m. | Friday, May 15 at 1:20 p.m. | Saturday, May 16 at 11:30 a.m. (Senior Day ceremonies at 11 a.m.)
RECORD vs. OPPONENT: Notre Dame leads the series, 24-9
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
 
Twitter:  @BCBirdball
Live Stats: Thursday | Friday | Saturday
 
THE MATCHUP
Pitching Matchups
Thursday: RHP Mike King (1-4, 2.17 ERA) vs. LHP Scott Tully (4-4, 2.83 ERA)
Friday: RHP John Gorman (5-3, 4.69 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Smoyer (7-0, 2.30 ERA)
Saturday: TBA vs. RHP Scott Kerrigan (3-4, 3.57 ERA)
 
Scouting the Fighting Irish

Notre Dame enters the final regular-season series with the third-best conference record in the ACC after sweeping North Carolina last week in South Bend.
The Irish are 13^th in the conference in hitting with a .248 batting average, but rank third overall for a 3.03 team ERA. They are also the only team with a better fielding percentage (.978) than the Eagles.
Friday's starter Ryan Smoyer is 7-0 on the season and is sixth in the league with a 2.30 ERA. He is the only ACC starting pitcher with a perfect record and along, with sophomore RHP Mike King, one of six ACC pitchers to record a complete game shutout this season.
Outfielder and left-handed pitcher Robert Youngdahl leads the Irish batters with a .300 average and 61 hits, including 19 doubles, which is tied with sophomore Michael Strem for second in the ACC.

THE SERIES

The Eagles and Fighting Irish renewed the Holy War rivalry last season when Notre Dame joined the ACC.
In the first conference matchup, BC took game one in extras but the Irish came back to win both games of the a doubleheader and take the series.
In the old Big East rivalry, Notre Dame got the better of BC, holding a 22-8 series record.
The only time the two teams met outside conference play was in 2008, when BC defeated Notre Dame, 7-2, in Lantanta, Fla. Current Notre Dame head coach Mik Aoki was the BC skipper at the time.
The Irish notched the first seven wins of the series before the Eagles earned a 10-7 win to start the 1999 series.
BC has never won a series against ND, while the Irish have earned eight series wins, including four sweeps.
The only two BC wins at home came in 2001 and 2005.
BC head coach Mike Gambino and Aoki were members of the same BC coaching staff under Pete Hughes in 2004 and 2005 when the Eagles went a combined 69-47, 32-17 in the Big East. The 37 wins in 2005 stand as the most in program history.

WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE EAGLES

On Saturday, the Eagles will honor the eight graduating members of the program prior to the start of the contest.
Freshman Jake Palomaki has reached base at least once in the last 34 games. His 43 walks are a single-season record in BC recook books. He has drawn at least one walk in 16 on the last 24 games and his 0.91 walks per game is ninth nationally. He is currently riding a career-long, eight-game hit streak and as the mainstay at the lead-off position, he is batting .535 when up first.
Junior Chris Shaw returned 18 days after having hand surgery to remove a fractured hamate bone. He pinch hit in two games at Virginia Tech on May 1 and 2, recording a single in each to extend his career-long hit streak to 17 games, which ranks third in BC record books. He sat out the final game against the Hokies but returned to the lineup against Hartford on May 9. He did not get a hit in four at bats, but drove in a run. Over the 17 games, Shaw recorded 30 hits, including seven doubles and seven home runs, 15 runs, 22 RBIs and nine walks. He leads the Eagles with 42 RBIs and 11 home runs.
King has thrown two complete games in the ACC and pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout against No. 24 Georgia Tech in BC's 1-0 victory on April 17. He was the first BC pitcher to pitch a one-hitter since 2003. He is fourth in the ACC in ERA (1.88), one of six players to pitch a shutout and one of two to throw a complete game.
In his last four starts, junior LHP Jesse Adams has recorded 19 strikeouts, walked just seven, given up seven runs - four earned - and allowed 14 hits. In Blacksburg on May 3, he threw 6.2 scoreless innings, walked one and struck out four. On April 19, he threw 6.2 perfect innings against Georgia Tech, retiring 20 straight batters.
Redshirt junior RHP Geoffrey Murphy returned to the mound this season after having Tommy John surgery in 2013. A two-way player, he had not pitched since 2012. In his last three outings, he has not allowed a run or walk, given up just one hit and struck out four over 6.1 innings. In his last five appearances, he has allowed just two runs, one walk, three hits and has struck out seven over the eight innings.
Sophomore Nick Sciortino is tied for third in the league with 15 runners caught stealing. He is first in the league with 12 in ACC action. He has also picked off four runners, which is tied for sixth and has only made one error in 361 chances for a .997 fielding percentage.

Record Watch

Senior Blake Butera has drawn 112 career walks, which is now the Eagles' all-time record.  He will also break the record for career at bats, as he is currently tied for first with Jason Delaney (2002-05) with 762. He has reached base 340 times, second only to Delaney (371) and he has been hit by a pitch 27 times, fifth in BC record books. His 201 career hits is 10th while he is second for games played and started at The Heights.
Senior RHP John Gorman has 201 career strikeouts, which ranks sixth in BC record books.
Gorman has also racked up six saves in his career at BC, which is tied for seventh all-time. His 31 career starts is 10th all-time and his 70 appearances is eighth. He has thrown 231.0 innings in his BC career, which is sixth all-time.
Strem's 19 doubles are tied for seventh in BC record books with Tony Sanchez's mark set in 2009.
Junior RHP John Nicklas' seven career saves is sixth in BC record books.
Sophomore RHP Justin Dunn's five saves in 2015 is tied for with four other Eagles seventh in BC's record books.
Shaw's 23 career home runs is ninth on BC's career list while his 11 homers this season is tied with Mike Belfiore (2007-09) in the ninth spot.
The Eagles are setting some marks on the team side of things. They have drawn 222 walks, good for fourth all-time.
The BC pitching staff is one K away from breaking into the top five with 408 strikeouts this season and the current .252 opposing batting average is second. The Eagles' 12 saves in 2015 is tied for second with the 2008 record standing at 14 saves.
The Eagles' current .975 fielding  percentage is third all-time as it stands.

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Weekend Preview: Baseball Hosts Notre Dame

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