ACC Weekend Preview for April 13th-15th

Duke at UNC

The Duke Blue Devils head down the road to visit the Tar Heels for a Coastal Division showdown. The Tar Heels are leading the Division with an 11-4 record in the conference while Duke is pulling up the rear with a paltry 3-12. The Tar Heels swept Boston College last weekend in a fairly easy fashion behind strong pitching and solid hitting. UNC knocked off the Charlotte 49ers on Tuesday by a score of 6-3 and had their Wednesday game with Elon postponed due to rain. The Tar Heels are led by Freshman All-American candidate Dustin Ackley who is hitting an outstanding .489 on the season. Robert Woodard has continued his dominance on the mound despite last week's poor performance with his 6-0 record. Duke took one game last weekend from Virginia and had a mid-week game with Davidson postponed by rain. Duke is led by Jimmy Gallagher who is hitting .368 on the season. Tony Bajoczky has become the ace of the staff with victories over Virginia and Florida State the last two weekends. The CBB predicts that UNC takes all three games on the weekend.

Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: Robert Woodard (6-0, 2.34 ERA) vs Alexander Hassan (2-2, 2.88 ERA)
Saturday Game 1: Alex White (4-1, 2.13 ERA) vs Tony Bajoczky (6-2, 3.04 ERA)
Saturday Game 2: Luke Putkonen (5-1, 3.43 ERA) vs TBA

UNC Game Notes
Duke Game Notes

Virginia Tech at Florida State

Peter Hughes leads his Virginia Tech Hokies into Dick Howser Stadium for an ACC series this weekend. Va Tech has an overall record of 17-17 but 4-11 in the ACC. The Hokies were swept last weekend by Clemson but picked up a victory over Richmond on Tuesday. The Hokies have been led by Sean O'Brien who has continued his strong start with a .349 average. Florida State enters with a very good record of 32-4 and 10-2 in the ACC. Florida State picked up a non-conference win over Jacksonville 7-2 on Tuesday and are coming off taking two out of three with NC State last weekend. Tony Thomas Jr. has continued hitting the ball well at a .493 average as he has become the toughest out in the ACC. The Seminoles weekend starters have only lost two games this season. The CBB predicts that FSU sweeps the Hokies.

Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: Bryan Henry (8-0, 2.60 ERA) vs Greg Fryman (2-5, 6.84 ERA)
Saturday: Michael Hyde (8-2, 2.82 ERA) vs Andrew Wells (2-3, 5.32 ERA)
Sunday: Ryan Strauss (7-0, 2.59 ERA) vs Adam Redd (2-2-1, 2.72 ERA)

FSU Game Notes
VT Game Notes
Brandon Reichert Article in Tallahassee Democrat

Georgia Tech at Virginia

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head to Virginia to take on the Cavaliers this weekend. This will be one of the big ACC Matchups on the season because both teams are expected to make the NCAA tournament this season. Georgia Tech has an overall record of 21-13 and 9-6 in the ACC while Virginia enters with a 30-7 overall record and 10-5 in the ACC. Georgia Tech is led by MLB prospects Matt Wieters and Danny Payne. Both players have seen time in the field and on the mound this year. Payne ended up getting his first loss of the season last Saturday against Miami by giving up a three run homer to Mark Sobolewski. Payne has an ERA of 2.79 in eight appearances this year. Payne is also leading the team in hitting at a .381 clip. Matt Wieters enters the weekend with a .336 average with seven homers. He has struggled out of the bullpen where he is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA. Virginia has been playing good baseball with tons of excellent pitching coming from Jacob Thompson who has an earned run average of 1.49 in his nine starts. The Cavaliers offense has been led by the two headed monster of Brandon Guyer who is hitting .435 and Greg Miclat who is hitting an even .400. The CBB predicts that UVA takes two out of three games.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Friday: Jacob Thompson (8-0, 1.49 ERA) vs David Duncan (5-2, 3.53 ERA)
Saturday: Matt Packer (3-2, 3.27 ERA) vs Eddie Burns (3-1, 2.33 ERA)
Sunday: Sean Doolittle (6-2, 2.42 ERA) vs Ryan Turner (3-3, 3.88 ERA)

GT Game Notes
UVA Game Notes

Clemson at Wake Forest

The Clemson Tigers take their 23-9 overall record and 8-4 record in the ACC up to Winston Salem to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons who have been struggling this season with an overall record of 20-16 and 7-8 in the ACC. The Tigers are led by Brad Chaulk who is hitting .393 on the season. Daniel Moskos is going to be making his second start of the season and his career this weekend as he is making the transition from Closer to Starter in the middle of the season. He lasted only four innings against Va Tech last weekend but the game was suspended due to snow on the field until Saturday. Wake Forest is led by All-American candidate Allan Dykstra who leads the team with 13 homers and an average of .349. The CBB predicts that Clemson Tigers will sweep the series.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Friday: Brad Kledzik (3-2, 5.24) vs Daniel Moskos (2-2, 2.45)
Saturday: Garrett Bullock (3-1, 5.17) vs David Kopp (4-2, 3.22)
Sunday: Charlie Mellies (1-0, 0.00) vs Ryan Hinson (2-1, 2.23)

Clemson Game Notes
Wake Forest Game Notes

NC State at Miami

The NC State Wolfpack head down to Coral Gables to take on the Miami Hurricanes in a weekend series. The Wolfpack carry a record of 24-10 and 9-6 in the ACC. NC State lost two out of three games against FSU last weekend. They are led by Mike Roskopf who is hitting .436 in his last ten games. Caleb Mangum leads the team in hitting with a .333 average. Jimmy Gilheeney has been a pleasant surprise for the Wolfpack with his 3-1 record and 2.45 ERA in his freshman campaign. The Hurricanes have been playing better baseball lately as their record has gone up to 21-14 and 7-8 in the conference. Yonder Alonso leads the Canes offense with his solid .367 average. Eric Erickson is not scheduled to pitch this weekend as he got injured in warm-ups last weekend and his status is still up in the air. The CBB predicts that Miami takes 2 out of 3 games.

Friday: Scott Maine (2-5, 4.03 ERA) vs Eric Surkamp (3-1, 2.84 ERA)
Saturday: Enrique Garcia (2-2, 3.08 ERA) vs Andrew Brackman (6-2, 3.31 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs Jimmy Gilheeney (3-1, 2.45 ERA)

NC State Game Notes
Miami Game Notes

Boston College at Maryland

Both schools are looking to pick up some big ACC wins in their hunts to get to the ACC Tournament. BC enters the series with an overall record of 10-20-1 and 4-11 in the ACC. Boston College currently is on a nine game losing streak in the ACC but picked up a non-conference win over Harvard on Wednesday. Maryland has a 19-16 record and 5-10 record. Boston College has been led by freshman Tony Sanchez who is hitting at a .336 clip. Johnny Ayers is still questionable after hurting his shoulder a few weeks ago. Maryland is currently on a five game losing streak after losing a non-conference contest on Wednesday to Old Dominion 4-2. Maryland freshman AJ Casario leads the team in batting average at .333. Maryland closer Brett Cecil has seven saves on the season with a 3.50 ERA. The CBB predicts that BC takes 2 out of 3 games in the series.

UPDATE: BOSTON COLLEGE AND MARYLAND HAVE CHANGED THE SCHEDULE TO A DOUBLEHEADER ON FRIDAY AND A SINGLE GAME ON SATURDAY.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Friday Game 1: Casey Baron (3-2, 3.86 ERA) vs Kevin Boggan (2-4, 4.89 ERA)
Friday Game 2: Ryan Moorer (3-2, 4.18 ERA) vs Nate Jeanes (0-3, 5.67 ERA)
Saturday: Kevin Biringer (2-6, 5.87 ERA) vs TBA

Maryland Game Notes