ACC Weekend Preview for March 16th-18th

Virginia at North Carolina

The Virginia Cavaliers head to Chapel Hill to face off against the Number 1 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. The Cavaliers have a 17-3 record overall and a 1-2 record in the ACC. They are led by two-way player Sean Doolittle who has a .338 average at the plate and a 4-1 record with a 2.45 ERA. David Adams is leading the Cavaliers offense in average at .493. The Tar Heels enter with a perfect 3-0 record in the ACC and overall record of 17-1. Robert Woodard leads the staff with a 4-0 record and an ERA of 2.19. Dustin Ackley and Josh Horton are leading the Carolina offense by hitting over .400 through the first 18 games. The College Baseball Blog predicts UNC to take two out of three games.

Probable Pitchers
Friday: Robert Woodard (4-0, 2.19 ERA) vs. Jacob Thompson (5-0, 2.15 ERA)
Saturday: Alex White (3-0, 0.68 ERA) vs. Matt Packer (2-0, 2.67 ERA)
Sunday: Luke Putkonen (3-0, 3.48 ERA) vs. Sean Doolittle (4-1, 2.45 ERA)

UNC Game Notes
Virginia Season Stats
The Cavalier Daily Preview

Wake Forest at Florida State

The Demon Deacons head to Florida State after losing two midweek games to Ball State. Wake Forest enters the series with a 11-7 record overall but a 2-1 record in the ACC after taking two out of three from UVA last weekend. They are lead on offense by Willy Fox who is batting .357 with three homers on the season. Allan Dykstra is also a strong hitter with his .343 average and seven homers on the season. Brad Kledzik is the number one starter for the Deacons on the mound and he has a 2-1 record with a 4.57 ERA. The Seminoles have started the season 20-0 and open the ACC season this weekend. They are coming off a three game sweep of Indiana last weekend. The Seminoles are led by Friday starter Bryan Henry who has a 5-0 record with a minuscule ERA of 2.04. The Noles offense has been very good in this season as they are collectively hitting .401. The top hitter for the Noles is Tony Thomas Jr. who has an outstanding average of .537 (44-82). The College Baseball Blog predicts Wake Forest to take one of the games of the series to break up the undefeated season for the Seminoles.

Probable Pitchers
Friday: Brad Kledzik (2-1, 4.57 ERA) vs. Bryan Henry (5-0, 2.04 ERA)
Saturday: Eric Nielsen (2-1, 5.84 ERA) vs. Michael Hyde (6-0, 1.85 ERA)
Sunday: Garrett Bullock (1-0, 5.23 ERA) vs. Ryan Strauss (4-0, 1.97 ERA)

Florida State Game Notes
Tallahassee Democrat Preview
Wake Forest Game Notes

Duke at Clemson

The Clemson Tigers will welcome the Duke Blue Devils to Doug Kingsmore Stadium for the ACC opener for the Tigers. Clemson is coming into the series with an overall record of 11-4. They knocked off Georgia Southern on Wednesday to head into the series on a winning streak. The Clemson Tigers have been hitting the ball well with Brad Chaulk and Doug Hogan hitting over .400 on the season. The Blue Devils enter the series with a 17-4 record overall but a 0-3 mark in the ACC. The Devils are coming off a brief two game sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson in mid-week games. The Devils offense is led by Jimmy Gallagher who leads the team in average at .397. Tony Bajoczky is the top pitcher on the staff with a 3-1 record and a 1.47 ERA. The College Baseball Blog believes Clemson sweeps the Blue Devils.

Probable Pitchers
Friday: Tony Bajoczky (3-1, 1.47 ERA) vs. P.J. Zocchi (2-0, 2.70 ERA)
Saturday: Michael Ness (3-0, 1.69 ERA) vs. Ryan Hinson (0-0, 1.74 ERA)
Sunday: Alexander Hassan (2-0, 2.18 ERA) vs. Alan Farina (0-0, 3.48 ERA)

Clemson Game Notes
Duke Game Notes

Maryland at Miami (FL)

The Miami Hurricanes will be hoping to have a better weekend in Week 2 of ACC action. They were swept by the North Carolina Tar Heels last weekend but picked up wins this week on Tuesday over Maine and Wednesday over Rutgers. They enter with an overall record of 12-9 and 0-3 in the ACC. They are led by true freshman Mark Sobolewski who is hitting .379 on the year with 27 RBI. The Hurricane pitching has been atrocious on the weekends after Eric Erickson (2-2, 1.93 ERA) with Danny Gil with an ERA of 5.95 and Manny Miguelez at 0-1 with a 7.40 ERA in six starts. The Maryland Terps are coming in after splitting a pair of mid-week games with a loss to James Madison by a score of 13-6 and a blowout win over Coppin State 27-0. The Terps are led on the mound by All-American closer Brett Cecil who leads the team with five saves and has the second lowest ERA of 2.76. The top hitter for the Terps is AJ Casario who has an average of .344 on the season. The College Baseball Blog predicts Miami to win the series 2 games to 1.

Probable Pitchers
Friday: Eric Erickson (2-2, 1.93 ERA) vs. Casey Baron (3-0, 3.52 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Scott Maine (2-3, 5.57 ERA) vs. Ryan Moorer (2-0, 2.81 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Enrique Garcia (1-1, 3.38 ERA) vs. Kevin Biringer (1-3, 5.30 ERA)

Miami Game Notes
Maryland Game Notes

Boston College at Georgia Tech

The Boston College Eagles visit Russ Chandler Stadium on Friday for the first time in school history. They are coming off a three game sweep of the Duke Blue Devils last weekend where they outscored them 23-8 over the three games. The Eagles enter the series with a 5-6-1 record. They are led on offense by Johnny Ayers who is hitting .444 in the first twelve games of the season. Ayers is also the punter on the Eagle football team. Kevin Boggan is continuing his dominance on the mound with a 2-0 record and a 2.12 ERA. The Eagles are still trying to get back Terry Doyle who was named the CCBL Co-Pitcher of the Year this past summer. He ended up closing out two games in the Duke series and might start a game in the Georgia Tech series if possible. The Yellow Jackets enter with a 9-9 record after losing two out of three games last weekend to Virginia Tech. The Yellow Jackets also picked up a mid-week loss to Kennesaw State by a score of 6-4. The Yellow Jacket pitching has been a major concern as they have a staff ERA of 5.68. They still have on of the best pro prospects in Matt Wieters who has a batting average of .364 and five homers on the season. Danny Payne is the catalyst for the Jackets offense with his .574 on base percentage. The College Baseball Blog believes that the Eagles will get swept this week by the Yellow Jackets.

Probable Pitchers
Friday: David Duncan (3-2, 4.97) vs. Kevin Boggan (2-0, 2.12)
Saturday: John Goodman (0-0, 7.50) vs. TBA
Sunday: Ryan Turner (1-2, 4.55) vs. Nick Asselin (1-0, 5.50)

Georgia Tech Game Notes
BC Stats

Virginia Tech at NC State

The Virginia Tech Hokies head down to Raleigh to play each school’s second weekend of ACC action. Virginia Tech is coming off two mid-week victories over Marist and Liberty. They also took two out of three last weekend at Georgia Tech. The Hokies are led by pitcher David Cross (1-2, 2.89 ERA) who picked up a no decision his last time out against Georgia Tech. He pitched well over the 6.1 innings of work while only giving up two runs. The Hokie offense is led by Sean O’Brien who is hitting .343 on the season. The NC State Wolf Pack looks to bounce back with a strong weekend after dropping two games over the weekend to Maryland. They are led on offense by Ryan Pond who is hitting .350 on the season. Ramon Carona is struggling early in the season with a very poor average of .227. Andrew Brackman is the Friday starter for the Wolf Pack but has a 3-1 record and a 2.87 ERA. He gave up six runs in his last outing against Maryland in which he lasted all nine innings to get the complete game. The College Baseball Blog predicts the NC State Wolf Pack to bounce back with three victories this weekend.

Probable Pitchers
Friday: Andrew Brackman (3-1, 2.87 ERA) vs. Greg Fryman (2-1, 4.62 ERA)
Saturday: Eric Surkamp (2-1, 2.49 ERA) vs. Andrew Wells (1-1, 5.73 ERA)
Sunday: Jeff Stallings (2-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. David Cross (1-2, 2.89 ERA)

NC State Game Notes
NC State Scout.com Preview
Virginia Tech Game Notes