Boston College
North Carolina State
Gameday: ACC Home Opening Weekend
March 23, 2023 | Baseball
No. 17 Boston College hosts No. 24 NC State for its first home series in ACC play.
Match-Up: No. 17 Boston College (15-4, 4-2 ACC) vs. No. 24 North Carolina State (16-5, 2-4 ACC)
Dates: March 24-26 Times: 4 p.m. • Noon ET • 1 p.m.
Location: Brighton, Mass. Stadium: Harrington Athletics Village
TV/Stream: ACCNX
GAME NOTES
PITCHING MATCH-UPS
Friday, 4 p.m.: RHP-Henry Leake (2-1) vs. RHP-Logan Whitaker (2-1)
Watch | Live Stats
Saturday, Noon ET: RHP-Chris Flynn (5-0) vs. RHP-Matt Willadsen (2-2)
Watch | Live Stats
Saturday, 1 p.m.: TBA vs. LHP-Dominic Fritton (1-0)
Watch | Live Stats
About the Eagles
Boston College is 15-4 to start the season and 4-2 overall with back-to-back series wins in ACC play for the first time since joining the league. The Eagles are ranked in every poll this week, peaking at No. 16 in the D1Baseball.com poll. A pair of Division III graduate transfers headline the BC rotation on Friday and Saturday with second-year Eagle and right-hander Henry Leake getting the ball on Friday. Fellow RHP Chris Flynn then takes the ball on Saturday. Leake is 2-1 with a 3.63 earned run average in six appearances, including three starts. Flynn is first in the ACC and eighth in the country with a 0.91 ERA and is 5-0 in five starts with 41 strikeouts in 29.2 innings of work. Senior center fielder Barry Walsh is BC’s top hitter at .359; splitting time between leadoff and ninth in the order.
Home Openers
Boston College defeated Sacred Heart (3/22) to improve to 25-13 in home openers on record dating back to 1986. In 2015, BC defeated NC State, 3-1, in its home opener, which was played in Northborough. BC also defeated Wake Forest in its home opener in 2014, but the game was played at Northeastern. Prior to 2019’s home-opening win over Holy Cross, the last true home-opening win was 7-4 over Connecticut in 2013 at Shea Field. Prior to the opening of the Harrington Athletics Village in 2018, BC played six of its last 21 home openers away from its own home ballpark.
Against The Ranked
Boston College is 5-2 against ranked opponents to start the season. The Eagles defeated No. 2 Tennessee (3/7) in extra innings for its first highest win over a ranked foe since defeating No. 1 NC State in 2019. A series win at No. 10 Virginia Tech (3/10-11) was the first for BC since winning twice at No. 25 Auburn in 2021 and first ranked series win in conference play since defeating No. 11 Duke earlier that same season. The BC record for wins in a season against ranked opponents was set in 2016 with an 11-10 record.
PROJECTED LINEUP
Barry Walsh, Center Field
.359/.417/.531, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 4 SB
Travis Honeyman, Right Field
.313/.380/.500, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 5 SB
Joe Vetrano, First Base
.250/.371/.528, 6 HR, 14 RBI, 1 SB
Patrick Roche, Second Base (pictured)
.265/.350/.382, 1 HR, 17 RBI, 2 SB
Cameron Leary, Left Field
.250/.376/.544, 6 HR, 14 RBI, 7 SB
Nick Wang, Third Base
.203/.342/.281, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 1 SB
Peter Burns, Catcher
.310/.482/.429, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 1 SB
Vince Cimini, Shortstop
.273/.372/.273, 0 HR, 8 RBI, 2 SB
Cohl Mercado, Designated Hitter
.250/.348/.267, 0 HR, 8 RBI, 5 SB
LISTEN: TURNING TWO
The Podcast For Boston
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Turning Two ‘23 Episode 04: BC baseball and softball are rolling as we hit mid-March. Birdball is back in the top-25 and Team 40 is riding an eight-game win streak. Softball's Hannah Slike joins the show to discuss her career, California roots and the importance of athletes managing their mental health.
