Weekend Preview: Eagles Travel to South Bend

THE FACTS
MATCHUP: Boston College (18-11, 5-8 ACC) at Notre Dame (18-12, 6-7 ACC)
WHERE: Frank Eck Stadium in South Bend, Ind.
WHEN: Friday, April 15 at 6:05 p.m. | Saturday, April 16 at 3 p.m. | Sunday, April 17 at 1:05 p.m.
RECORD vs. Notre Dame: Notre Dame leads the series, 26-10

HOW TO FOLLOW
Live Stats: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
ESPN3 (Video): Friday | Saturday | Sunday

THE MATCHUP
Pitching Matchups
Friday: RHP Jacob Stevens (2-1, 0.45 ERA) vs. RHP Peter Solomon (2-3, 4.40 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Justin Dunn (1-0, 1.47 ERA) vs. LHP Sean Guenther (2-3, 4.22 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Mike King (4-2, 2.52 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Smoyer (3-3, 3.04 ERA)

Scouting the Fighting Irish

Notre Dame enters the weekend after falling to then-No. 2 Miami (now No. 1) on Sunday, 10-2, in its last ACC contest. The other two games of the series were canceled due to weather. During the week, the Fighting Irish defeated Chicago State, 6-3, and Valparaiso, 3-1.
Ricky Sanchez leads the Irish with a .342 batting average while Zak Kutsulis has a team-high 40 hits, 20 RBIs and eight doubles.
Cavan Biggio ranks sixth in the ACC with a .493 on-base percentage and second with 36 walks.
In his last start, Peter Solomon only got through 3.1 innings against Miami, allowing five hits, four runs - three earned - two walks and five strikeouts. His last win came against Wake Forest when he threw all six innings in a shortened game on the backend of a doubleheader. He allowed five hits, two runs, three walks and struck out eight in ND's 10-2 victory.
Sean Guenther picked up a loss in his last start, going 5.2 innings against Wake and allowing eight hits, eight runs - all earned - two walks and five strikeouts. The Irish fell, 15-13.
Sunday starter Ryan Smoyer earned his third win of the season on Tuesday against Chicago State, throwing three scoreless innings against Chicago State. He walked four and struck out four without giving up a hit.

THE SERIES

BC makes the trip to South Bend, Ind., for the first time in 12 years, as they last were on Notre Dame's campus in 2004.
The first time the Eagles and Irish met since ND joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014, they faced off in Chicago. BC earned the series-opening win, but Notre Dame took the next two games.
Last season, the Irish also earned the series victory, winning the first two games before BC closed out the 2015 season with a 6-5, 10th-inning walk-off victory as Nick Colucci hit the game-winning RBI single.
The Eagles won three of the 14 games played in South Bend when both teams were members of the Big East
They were 5-19 overall as Big East foes in the regular season and 2-3 in the conference tournament.
BC has never taken a series against Notre Dame.
Former BC head coach Mik Aoki (2007-10) now leads the Irish. He was 114-108-1 overall at BC and 48-69 in the ACC. Current BC head coach Mike Gambino and Aoki were assistants together in 2004-05 under then skipper Pete Hughes (1999-06), who now leads Oklahoma.

WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE EAGLES

Boston is on a four-game win streak after taking the series against defending National Champions Virginia at home over the weekend and earning two midweek wins over Harvard and Massachusetts. It is the longest win streak of the year since the Eagles started the season 7-0.
After mixing up the rotation, BC started the weekend with a loss to then 16th-ranked Cavaliers on Friday even though freshman RHP Jacob Stevens was stellar, allowing just one hit over six innings.
BC rallied behind as junior RHP Justin Dunn, who moved from a closing role to a starting, allowed two hits over five innings and tied career high with five Ks, to walk-off with a 3-2 win on Saturday. Senior LHP Jesse Adams, who came out of the pen instead of starting, picked up the win, throwing the final 2.1 innings.
On Sunday, it took 13 innings and a 10th-inning rally, but the Eagles earned the series victory with a bases-loaded, two-out single by sophomore OF Scott Braren, who was a replacement for classmate Donovan Casey who broke his hand sliding into second earlier in the game.
The victories marked the first series win for BC over UVA and improved the Eagles' record over top-35 teams to 4-6.
Stevens threw the first 29 innings of his career without giving up an earned run. He finally allowed one at No. 19 Clemson on March 20 and then did so again at Pittsburgh on March 26. In 40 career innings, he has allowed just two earned runs, making his 0.45 ERA best in the NCAA. His 4.05 hits per nine innings is fourth nationally.
Redshirt sophomore RHP Bobby Skogsbergh returned to action for the first time on Feb. 21 since March 24, 2015 as an injury sidelined him after only three appearances last season. In three of his first four outings, he retired the side in order. In 20 innings of relief work this season, he has allowed just six walks while striking out 12. In his 12 appearances, he has given up runs (five) three times and earned runs (three) just twice.
Sophomore Jake Palomaki did not reach base in the first game of the 2016 season, ending his 37-game on-base streak and an 11-game hit streak. He has recorded at least one hit in the 19 of the 29 games this season, bringing his two-year total to at least one hit in 51 of the 79 games played at BC. He has also reached base in 63 career contests, including 24 in 2016. He also stole three bases in the win against UMass, the first Eagle to do so since 2013.
Junior Michael Strem has recorded at least one hit in 20 of the Eagles' 29 games this season and at least two hits in 11 games. In the last three games, he is 8-for-13 with three runs, two doubles and 10 RBIs. He drove in a career-high six RBIs and tied a career high with four hits on a 4-for-5 day in the victory over Harvard on Tuesday.
Senior Joe Cronin drove in the winning run to send the Eagles to the Beanpot Championship on Wednesday. With the score knotted at one against Massachusetts, he plated Strem, who singled, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch - all with two outs - in the eighth inning. In the first meeting against UMass, Cronin reached base every time he stepped to the plate on March 30. He was 2-for-2 with a team season-high four walks and recorded his third triple of the season. His six career triples is tied for seventh in BC record books while his 96 career walks is tied for fourth and his 44 career doubles is tied for eighth.

OF NOTE
Notre Dame will host its fourth annual ALS Game to benefit the Pete Frates #3 Fund. Frates played for current ND head coach Mik Aoki at Boston College from 2004-07. Frates' father, John, and brother, Andrew, will be in attendance in South Bend. For more information about Pete and his story, visit www.petefrates.com.

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Players Mentioned

Jesse Adams

Scott Braren

Donovan Casey

Nick Colucci

Joe Cronin

Justin Dunn

Mike King

Jake Palomaki

Bobby Skogsbergh

Jacob Stevens

Michael Strem