Weekend Preview: BC Welcomes No. 4 Louisville to The Heights for First Time

THE FACTS
MATCHUP: No. 4 Louisville (30-7, 13-5 ACC) at Boston College (19-14, 5-11 ACC)
WHERE: Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at Commander Shea Field in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
WHEN: Friday, April 22 at 2:30 p.m. | Saturday, April 23 at 1:30 p.m. | Sunday, April 24 at noon
RECORD vs. Louisville: Louisville leads the all-time series, 3-0

THE MATCHUP
Pitching Matchups
Friday: RHP Jacob Stevens (2-2, 1.17 ERA) vs. LHP Brendan McKay (7-1, 2.15 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Justin Dunn (1-1, 1.59 ERA) vs. LHP Drew Harrington (8-1, 1.40 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Mike King (4-2, 2.95 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Funkhouser (3-3, 5.19 ERA)

Scouting the Cardinals

Louisville leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with a .335 team batting average while the Cardinals' 2.98 ERA is second and .977 fielding percentage is third.
The Cardinals are coming off a weekend sweep of No. 16 Clemson in Louisville. BC lost all three games to the Tigers in South Carolina the second weekend of ACC play. Louisville also took its midweek against instate rival Kentucky, 7-6, and is on a six-game win streak.
Davin Hariston leads the Cardinals and is fifth in the league with a .388 batting average. His 57 hits ranks third and his 37 runs are tied for fourth. Corey Ray is tied for second with 11 home runs and 46 RBIs. He leads the league with 102 total bases.
Saturday starter Drew Harrington's 1.40 ERA sits third in the ACC, right behind the Eagles' Stevens. He went 6.1 innings in his last start against Clemson, allowing 11 hits, just two runs and one walk with three Ks.
Friday starter lefty Brendan McKay is close behind in sixth. In his last start against the Tigers, he went seven, allowed just two hits, two runs and four walks whiling striking out eight.
The Tigers scored five off RHP Funkhouser – who pitched seven against the Eagles last year, allowing three hits, two runs, four walks and six Ks – but just one earned. He allowed four hits, four walks and four strikeouts to Clemson in the Cardinals' 9-8 win to complete the sweep.

THE SERIES

BC hosts No. 4 Louisville for the first time in program history.
The Cardinals joined the ACC for the 2015 baseball season.
In the first meeting between the two squads, Louisville came away with a three-game sweep in Kentucky in 2015.
The series marks the third time in 2016 the Eagles will face a top-10 opponent and the fifth time they will go up against a top-25 team. All have been ACC opponents. BC is 2-2 against top-10 teams and 4-6 against top-25 teams.

WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE EAGLES

Boston College went to South Bend on a four-game win streak, but the Irish stopped the Eagles in their tracks as BC lost all three games to Notre Dame. In the first two contests, the pitching was kept BC in the game but the Eagles could not get the offense going, scoring just one run in each contests.
On Sunday, the bats came alive, as the Eagles scored nine runs on 10 hits - including four for extra bases - but the pitching faltered as BC lost a five-run lead in the seventh and allowed the game-winning runs in the eighth to fall, 11-9.
BC rebounded with an 8-2 victory over crosstown-rival Northeastern on Wednesday to capture their 12th Beanpot title. That is the most of any of the school participating schools and the fourth time the Eagles took home back-to-back Beanpots. In the victory, the Eagles scored five of their runs on three home runs - the most bombs since April 1, 2015 - and the BC pitching staff shut out the Huskies for the first eight innings.
In the last two games, the BC offense has come alive, scoring 17 runs on 24 hits, including four doubles, a triple and three home runs.
Freshman RHP Jacob 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. He had his worst outing at Notre Dame on April 15, allowing four runs - all earned. He still struck out seven and did not walk a batter. In 46 career innings, he has allowed just six earned runs, making his 1.17 ERA ninth-best in the NCAA and second in the ACC. His 4.89 hits per nine innings is seventh 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 23.2 innings of relief work this season, he has allowed just eight walks while striking out 14. In his 14 appearances, he has given up runs (nine) five times and earned runs (six) just four times.
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 20 of the 33 games this season, bringing his two-year total to at least one hit in 52 of the 83 games played at BC. He has also reached base in 66 career contests. His 46 walks drawn in 2015 is a BC single-season record and his 11-game hit streak ranks 12th in BC record books. 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 23 of the Eagles' 32 games this season and at least two hits in 11 games. 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 April 12.
Junior Nick Sciortino was moved to the second spot in the batting order for the Notre Dame series. It has seemed to pay off as he is 5-for-11 in the last three games with five runs, three RBIs, two doubles, two home runs and three walks.
Junior Johnny Adams heats up midway through the season. In the last 22 games of 2015, he was 23-for-70 (.329) with 10 runs and 13 RBIs. After 27 games played in 2016, Adams is 11-for-27 (.407) with five runs. He tied a career high with four hits and four RBIs against Notre Dame on April 17, marks he set in 2015.

WHAT'S GOING ON AT THE HEIGHTS
Saturday is Public Safety Day and Sunday is Youth Baseball Day with a post-game autograph session with the Eagles.
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Players Mentioned

Johnny Adams

Justin Dunn

Mike King

Jake Palomaki

Nick Sciortino

Bobby Skogsbergh

Jacob Stevens

Michael Strem

Weekend Preview: BC Welcomes No. 4 Louisville to The Heights for First Time

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