ACC Weekend Preview for March 30-April 1

Florida State at Duke

The Florida State Seminoles will leave the state of Florida for the first time this season when they head to Durham NC to take on the Duke Blue Devils. Florida State enters the series with a 27-1 overall record and a perfect 6-0 record through two weekends of the ACC portion of the schedule with sweeps over Wake Forest and Boston College. Tony Thomas Jr. is the leading hitter for the Noles with a .482 batting average on the season. Bryan Henry is the considered the ace of the staff and has a 6-0 record and a 2.37 ERA which is the highest of the weekend starters for the Seminoles. Ryan Strauss with a 1.57 ERA and Michael Hyde at 1.74 have both been dominant from their spots in the weekend rotation. Duke enters with a 19-9 overall record and 1-8 in the ACC. They picked up their first victory last Saturday when they beat Georgia Tech by a 3-0 score. Jimmy Gallagher leads the Blue Devils with a .356 batting average while Nate Frieman is right behind him at .351. Freshman Alexander Hassan leads the Duke pitching staff with a 2.10 ERA in his six appearances. The College Baseball Blog predicts that Florida State continues their undefeated ACC season with a sweep of Duke.

Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: Bryan Henry (6-0, 2.37 ERA) vs Alexander Hassan (2-0, 2.10 ERA)
Saturday: Michael Hyde (8-0, 1.74 ERA) vs Tony Bajoczky (4-2, 2.27 ERA)
Sunday: Ryan Strauss (6-0, 1.57 ERA) vs TBA

FSU Game Notes
Duke Game Notes

Wake Forest at UNC

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons will be taking a roadtrip this weekend when they visit the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Demon Deacons picked up a loss this week to Winthrop by a score of 15-9 to give the Deacons an overall record of 14-13 and 3-6 in the ACC. Wake Forest is led by Allan Dykstra who leads the team in average at .378 and homers with 12 on the season. The Wake Forest weekend pitching staff has been ineffective with Brad Kledzik leading them with a 4.91 ERA. UNC enters hitting the ball extremely well as they got 28 runs from their offense in a 28-3 drubbing over Davidson in their only mid-week game of the week. North Carolina's overall record is 23-4 and 6-3 in the ACC. They are lead by Dustin Ackley who is hitting an outstanding .495 on the season for the young freshman. Alex White has the lowest ERA out of the weekend starters at 1.91 but Robert Woodard is right there at 2.35 to provide a strong 1-2 punch. The College Baseball Blog predicts that UNC takes 2 out of 3 games on the weekend.

Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: Brad Kledzik (2-1, 4.91 ERA) vs Robert Woodard (5-0, 2.35 ERA)
Saturday: Garrett Bullock (2-1, 4.96 ERA) vs Alex White (3-1, 1.91 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs Luke Putkonen (5-0, 3.51 ERA)

Wake Forest Game Notes
UNC Game Notes

Virginia at Virginia Tech

The Virginia Cavaliers will travel across the state with their 24-5 overall record and ACC record of 5-4 to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies for a big weekend series. The Cavaliers are led by the .447 average of Brandon Guyer and Greg Miclat who is hitting a hefty .433 on the season also. The Cavaliers top pitcher has been Jacob Thompson who leads the weekend staff with an ERA of 1.83 and a 6-0 record. Sean Doolittle has gotten off to a slow start on the mound with a 4-2 record and a solid ERA of 3.20. Doolittle is also hitting .300 on the season which is down from the .324 he hit in 2006. The Hokies enter the series with a 15-11 overall record and 4-5 in the ACC. They picked up a loss to James Madison on Tuesday. They are led by first year head coach Peter Hughes who bolted out of Boston College after the 2006 season. The top weekend starter for the Hokies is Adam Redd who is 2-1 with an ERA of 3.68. The top hitter for the Hokies is Nate Parks who is hitting .336 with Sean O'Brien at .323 in the second spot on the team batting average list. The Hokies are a running team as they have attempted to steal 64 bases and successful on 43 of them while their opponents have attempted 31 and only been successful on 22 of them. The College Baseball Blog predicts that Virginia sweeps the Hokies.

Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: Jacob Thompson (6-0, 1.83 ERA) vs Greg Fryman (2-3, 7.79 ERA)
Saturday: Matt Packer (3-1, 2.97 ERA) vs Andrew Wells (2-1, 4.19 ERA)
Sunday: Sean Doolittle (4-2, 3.20 ERA) vs Adam Redd (2-1, 3.68 ERA)

UVA Game Notes
VT Game Notes

Miami at Clemson

The Miami Hurricanes enter this series against Clemson with an unheard of 15-12 overall record and 3-6 ACC record. The Hurricanes are entering the series after a week long break after losing two out of three games to Virginia last weekend. The Hurricanes are led by Yonder Alonso who leads the team in hitting with his .374 average. Freshman Eric Erickson has been the most consistent weekend starter for the Canes with a 3-3 record but a very good ERA of 1.58. Clemson enters the series coming off a 15-6 victory on Wednesday over Western Carolina and a 14-2 victory on Tuesday over Gardner-Webb to bring their overall record to 17-7 and ACC record stands at 4-2 after a weekend sweep over Duke and losing two out of three up at Maryland. Clemson is led by a strong offensive attack which is hitting on the season as a unit at a strong .293 batting average. Brad Chaulk is the leading hitter at .425. The top weekend starter has been P.J. Zocchi who is 3-0 on the season with a 2.70 ERA. The College Baseball Blog predicts that Clemson sweeps the Hurricanes out of South Carolina.

Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: Eric Erickson (3-3, 1.58 ERA) vs P.J. Zocchi (3-0, 2.70 ERA)
Saturday: Scott Maine (2-4, 4.68 ERA) vs Ryan Hinson (1-1, 2.14 ERA)
Sunday: Enrique Garcia (2-2, 2.43 ERA) vs David Kopp (3-2, 3.58 ERA)

Miami Game Notes
Clemson Game Notes

Maryland at Georgia Tech

The Maryland Terps will travel down to Final Four country this weekend for a three game set against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Maryland is coming off two midweek victories in which they beat William & Mary on Tuesday by a score of 15-3 and then followed that on Wednesday with a no-hitter in which they beat Coppin State 12-0. The Terps have an overall record of 18-8 and 5-4 in the ACC. They are led by Freshman A.J. Casario who leads the team in batting average at .371. The top weekend starter has been Ryan Moorer who is 3-0 with a 2.29 ERA. The Yellow Jackets swept Georgia Southern in a quick two game mid-week series by scores of 10-2 and 6-2. They are led by All-American candidates Matt Wieters who leads the team with 28 RBI and Danny Payne who leads the team in batting average at .412. John Goodman has become the most consistent weekend starter for the Jackets as he enters the weekend with a 1-1 record and an ERA of 2.84. The College Baseball Blog predicts that Maryland continues their hot streak by taking two out of the three games on the weekend.

Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: David Duncan (4-2, 3.40) vs. Casey Baron (3-1, 3.59)
Saturday: John Goodman (1-1, 2.84) vs. Ryan Moorer (3-0, 2.29)
Sunday: Ryan Turner (2-3, 3.89) vs. Kevin Biringer (2-4, 4.65)

Maryland Game Notes
GT Game Notes

NC State at Boston College

The NC State Wolfpack will head to Boston College this weekend for a key ACC showdown. The Wolfpack enter with a 19-8 overall record but 5-4 in the ACC. They are led on offense by Joe Florio who is hitting .345 on the season. Ramon Corona is continuing to struggle at the plate with a .223 average. He struggled in teh Cape Cod League in 2006 with the Hyannis Mets where he hit .236 for the summer. The top pitcher for the Wolfpack weekend rotation has been Freshman Jimmy Gilheeney who is 2-1 with a very healthy 1.84 ERA. The biggest prospect of the season in terms of height and hype was Andrew Brackman who enters the series with a record of 4-2 and an ERA of 3.79. Brackman has been roughed up over his last four starts as he has a 1-2 record and an ERA of 6.26 over that period. Some people were talking about Brackman's fastball hitting 99 MPH this summer on the cape. Boston College enters the series coming off a 10-7 victory over Holy Cross on Thursday and a 6-5 victory over Hartford on Tuesday. Boston College has an overall record of 8-11-1 and 4-5 in the ACC. The Eagles are led by two sport athlete Johnny Ayers who leads the team with a .369 batting average. Tony Sanchez is second on the team with a .365 batting average. Kevin Boggan leads the pitching staff with a 2-2 record and an ERA of 2.57 on the season. The College Baseball Blog predicts BC to take 2 out of 3 games this weekend.

The College Baseball Blog will have staff at both Saturday's and Sunday's games. So stay tuned for full coverage of the series.

Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: Kevin Boggan (2-2, 2.57 ERA) vs Eric Surkamp (2-1, 3.00 ERA)
Saturday: Nick Asslein (1-1, 5.85 ERA) vs Andrew Brackman (4-2, 3.79 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs Jimmy Gillheeney (2-1, 1.84 ERA)

NC State Game Notes
BC Stats
Interview with Peter Frates (BC)