Eagles Open ACC Play at Georgia Tech

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The Boston College softball team opens up ACC play on the road at Georgia Tech for a three-game series from March 6-8 in Atlanta.

Leading off...
Boston College is back at Georgia Tech for the second time this season. The first time, BC was playing in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, where they faced off against Iowa State and Nebraska. The Eagles went 1-3 that weekend. Last weekend, the Eagles went 3-2, defeating both Western Carolina and Eastern Illinois, but falling to No. 14 Georgia twice.

Scouting Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech enters the weekend 9-10, with a 7-7 record at home. They have close losses to ranked teams like Washington (2-1) and Kentucky (10-9).

Offensively, they have no one batting over .300, while Emma Kauf leads the team with five home runs. They are hitting .244 as a team, while boasting a .340 on base percentage,

On the mound, Blake Neleman and Morgan Bruce are the Yellow Jackets' 1-2 punch, both appearing in 10 or more games this season. Neleman has thrown 45.1 innings with 56 strikeouts and a 1.70 ERA, whole Bruce has a 3.90 ERA in 41.1 innings and 24 strikeouts.

Alatorre on a Tear
AJ Alatorre has been one of BC's hottest hitters as of late. At the Bulldog Classic, she hit a home run, two doubles and had seven RBIs. She closed the weekend with a 3-4 day, hitting two doubles and four RBIs. Alatorre now leads BC with a .300 batting average and 12 RBIs.

Going, Going, Going. Gone!
Jenna Ergle displayed her power while in Columbia, South Carolina, hitting three home runs on the weekend. She now leads the team with four home runs this year. Each home ruun in Columbia were solo shots.

An Ace on the Mound
Susannah Anderson has been stellar to start the season for the Eagles. She has appeared in 14 games with a 7-6 record, but has an ERA of 1.49, WHIP of 1.08 and 67 strikeouts. She currently sits fourth in the ACC in ERA, innings pitched (58.1) and strikeouts. She also leads the ACC with four shutouts this season.

Anderson closed the FGCU Classic with her best performance of the year, a no-hitter against Georgetown. She completed the game with a 1-0 win and 10 total strikeouts, while hitting two batters.

Looks Like It's Going to be a Close One
Boston College has consistently played close games all season, with the largest margin of victory being three runs (against Liberty) and largest margin of loss being four runs (against Iowa).

The Eagles have played tough games against good teams, losing 3-2 in extra innings to then-No. 22 South Carolina and losing 5-4 to an Iowa State team that just beat a top-10 Michigan team. This past weekend the Eagles lost 6-2 and 4-0 to then No. 14 Georgia. In the game, BC had the bases loaded in the top of the seventh and a chance to tie.

BC played in its first run rule games of the year, both against Eastern Illinois. The Eagles won the first game on the back of a six-run second inning and four-run third inning, while they won the second game behind a seven-run sixth inning.

Winning with Pitching
BC has shown an M.O. to not give up a lot of runs this season. They team is tied for the ACC-lead with five shutouts this season and boasts the third-best team ERA in the conference at 1.89.

Last weekend was the first time BC had given up a home run, which is the lowest in the ACC, while BC is tied for the league-lead with only 92 hits against. The Eagles have also have an opponent batting average of .211, which is tied for the second-lowest in the conference.

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Players Mentioned

AJ Alatorre

Susannah Anderson

Jenna Ergle