ACC Play Begins Wednesday at NC State
February 16, 2021 | Softball
Eagles visit NC State and UNC for six games this week
ACC Play Begins This Week at NC State & UNC
• Boston College opens ACC softball play this week with six games against NC State and North Carolina. All six games will have live broadcast coverage on ACC Network Extra.
• The Eagles open conference play on Wednesday at NC State. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. from Dail Softball Stadium in Raleigh.
• Thursday BC heads to Chapel Hill to face the Tar Heels at 4 p.m. from Anderson Stadium.
• The Eagles and Tar Heels play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 11 a.m. from Anderson Stadium.
• BC closes out the six-game road trip with a doubleheader back at NC State on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Team 38
• This is the 38th season of Boston College softball. All-time, BC is 867-831-3.
• The Eagles have three NCAA appearances in program history.
• In ACC play, BC is 330-416 since joining the conference in the 2005-06 academic year.
Back on the Dirt
• BC returned to the diamond for the first time since March 8, 2020 with four games last weekend in Jacksonville against Jacksonville University and the University of North Florida.
• BC opened the season with a 4-0 loss last Friday at JU before picking up the first win of the year on Saturday at UNF. Susannah Anderson was dominant in the circle for the Eagles, going the distance with a two-hit shutout in the 2-0 win over the Ospreys on Saturday.
• UNF captured a 3-1 doubleheader split on Saturday before the Eagles came up just short, losing 3-2 to JU on Sunday. BC stranded 14 runners in the loss to the Dolphins.
Getting Started on the Right Note
• Sophomore shortstop Djhane Valido had a big weekend with the bat against Jacksonville and North Florida.
• Valido led BC with a .333 batting average, totaling three hits on the weekend, including a double and one RBI. She had a career-high three hits against UNF.
Leading Things Off
• Junior center fielder Ellie Mataya has led off for BC in all four games this year. She is one of two regulars hitting over .300 at .308 this season. She leads the team in total bases (6), doubles (2), RBI (2) and is second on the team in slugging percentage (.462).
What to Know
• This is the second season for head coach Amy Kvilhaug, who was hired on July 2, 2019. Kvilhaug led BC to a 9-12 record last season before COVID-19 ended the season. Prior to BC, Kvilhaug was the head coach at Radford and St. John's, where she won a combined 408 games.
• BC returns 17 letterwinners, including all nine position starters, along with three primary pitchers from last season's squad.
• Two-time All-ACC honoree Emme Martinez returns to help lead the BC offensive attack. A 2019 All-ACC second team selection as a sophomore, she played in all 53 games that season, starting 52 of them, while hitting .321 with 50 its and 24 RBI. Last season, she played in 17 games with 15 starts in the shortened season.
• Junior pitcher Susannah Anderson headlines the BC rotation in 2021. Last season, she led the staff with a 1.80 ERA in 85.2 innings of work. She finished the season 8-8 and totaled 76 strikeouts in 85.2 innings of work.
• The Eagles have five newcomers on the roster.
- BC was picked 13th in the preseason ACC poll, earning 22 total points.
Leading the Charge
• Amy Kvilhaug enters year two as the leader of the BC softball program.
• She has made head coaching stops at Radford and St. John's, amassing 418 wins throughout her career.
• She competed collegiately at Providence, where she holds seven PC career records, including starts (92), games won (72), complete games (84), earned run average (1.20) and shutouts (27).
• Kvilhaug is also a Hall of Famer at Providence.
Anderson Says "No-No"
• In BC's final game of the FGCU Kickoff Classic last season, junior Susannah Anderson pitched a gem for the Eagles. She threw her first-career complete-game no-hitter in BC's 1-0 win, totaling 10 strikeouts on no walks and two HBP.
• The no-hitter capped a 2-1 weekend for the Alexandria, Virginia native, who threw 21 total innings while striking out 25 batters.
• Anderson begins her junior season as BC's No. 1 starter. In 69 career appearances, including 48 starts, she has a 4.07 ERA in 274.1 innings of work. With a 15-29 career record, she has thrown 15 complete games, including eight shutouts.
• Anderson has totaled 189 career strikeouts. She is 11 strikeouts shy of becoming the 11th Eagle in school history with 200 career strikeouts.
All-ACC Emme
• Emme Martinez, who was an All-ACC Freshman team honoree in 2018, finished her sophomore campaign with a .321 average, along with 50 hits and a team-high 24 RBI en route to All-ACC second team honors in 2019.
• A native of Hemet, California, Martinez had 12 multiple-hit games and seven multiple-RBI games in 2019.
• For her career, Martinez is the active leader on the team in hits (97), doubles (18) and RBI (52).
Against This Week's Opponents
• BC is 16-24 all-time against NC State entering this week's three games against the Pack. BC has won five of the last seven meetings between the two schools, including a three-game sweep in Raleigh in 2018.
• North Carolina leads the all-time series against BC 36-3. The Tar Heels have won seven straight in the series. The last win for BC came in 2016 against UNC. Boston College has never won in Chapel Hill against Carolina.
Scouting This Week's Opponents
• The Wolfpack is coming off a highly successful 2020 season, despite it being shortened to just 25 games. In those games, NC State put together the best 15-game start in program history and was receiving votes in the final top-25 poll of the season. NC State ranked sixth nationally in home runs per game and led the ACC, while also being the only team in the country to rank top-15 in both home runs and stolen bases.
• The Pack returns every member of its starting lineup from the 2020 season, including three seniors who opted to use their extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, in addition to seven newcomers.
• North Carolina begins its 45th season in program history this week. Head coach Donna J. Papa enters her 36th season at the helm of the Tar Heels who were picked fifth in the preseason ACC coaches poll.
• Due to COVID-19, the Tar Heels 2021 schedule has been cut by 10 percent for a total of 50 regular season games. This includes four tournament weekends and eight four-game ACC series beginning March 12 vs. Notre Dame. Additionally, the COVID-19 waiver has allowed for the return of fifth-year seniors Brittany Pickett and Campbell Hutcherson, providing veteran experience for Carolina's infield.
• The Tar Heels return 16 letterwinners and welcome seven newcomers to the 2021 squad. Carolina returns four members of its pitching staff led by all-ACC preseason selection and three-time first-team All-ACC selection, Brittany Pickett, and 2019 ACC all-freshmen team honoree, Hannah George. Sophomores Gaby Katz and Alyssa Stanley complete Carolina's staff. Catchers Zoë Goodman, Taylor Puetz and Taylor Greene, transferring from Arkansas, round out the Tar Heels' battery. Carolina returns its entire infield, while adding significant speed from their newcomers.
• Prior to the shortened 2020 season, UNC broke its stolen base record for four consecutive seasons to 124. Junior Abby Settlemyre and sophomore Destiny Middleton led Carolina's efforts in 2020 both with double-digit bases. With a majority of lefty batters (14 of 23), the Tar Heels are expected to continue their speedy seasons.
