Boston College Eagles (12-14, 4-7 ACC) @ Wake Forest Demon Deacons (19-12, 6-6 ACC)
- Last weekend Boston College swept Duke outscoring the Blue Devils 17-8 in the process. The Eagles hit .309 as a team and were led by junior Chris Shaw who hit .364 (4-for-11) with one home run and four RBI. In game two of the series, Shaw hit a walk-off, three-run home run to clinch the series win for Boston College. The Eagles’ pitching staff held Duke to just a .235 batting average and posted a 2.00 ERA in the series.
- Last weekend Wake Forest took two out of three from Clemson outscoring the Tigers 17-11. The Demon Deacons hit .262 as a team and were led by Nate Mondou who hit .385 (5-for-13) with four RBI.
- The Eagles have been red-hot for the past week winning five straight games before losing 8-7 to UCONN at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Mass. on Tuesday. Shaw was named the ACC Player of the Week for his performance. He led Boston College with nine hits and 11 RBI helping the Eagles to a perfect 5-0 record last week. Shaw has now brought his average up to .274 on the year with eight home runs and a team-leading 34 RBI. He’s hitting .225 with two home runs and seven RBI in ACC play.
- The Demon Deacons have been playing some great baseball as well despite losing two straight. Preceding the Deacons current two game losing skid, Wake was riding a five-game winning streak during which they hit .318 as a team.
- Series Prediction: The Eagles have been hot as of late winning seven of their last nine games. Wake Forest however has been playing good ball all season long and I see them winning two of three at home against Boston College.
#7 Louisville Cardinals (22-7, 11-1 ACC) @ #9 Virginia Cavaliers (19-9, 6-6 ACC)
- Virginia is coming off of a three game sweep of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. outscoring the Irish 18-7. The Cavaliers hit .301 as a team and shut down Notre Dame hitters holding them to a .202 average and posting a 2.00 ERA for the series.
- Louisville continues to steamroll through ACC competition sweeping defending ACC Tournament champion Georgia Tech by outscoring the Yellow Jackets 16-5. Cardinal pitchers held Georgia Tech to a .194 batting average over the weekend and posted a 1.93 ERA for the series.
- Matt Thaiss leads the ‘Hoos this season with a .346 average, seven home runs and is second on the team with 27 RBI. Kenny Towns leads the team with 30 RBI. Nathan Kirby has been an absolute stud on the mound posting a 4-1 record with a 1.01 ERA and holding opponents to a .215 batting average.
- Louisville is hitting .284 as a team in ACC play and are lead by Corey Ray who is hitting .302 with one home run and 10 RBI in conference games. The pitching staff has been fantastic in conference play posting a 2.21 team ERA and holding opponents to just a .195 batting average. Josh Rogers is 3-0 in conference games with a 1.46 ERA.
- Series Prediction: The Cardinals will continue their domination of the ACC by taking two out of three from Virginia this weekend.
#8 Florida State Seminoles (24-7, 10-3 ACC) @ NC State Wolfpack (18-10, 6-6 ACC)
- The Seminoles took two out of three from Virginia Tech last weekend but outscored the Hokies just 28-22 in the series. Florida State hit .291 as a team last weekend and were lead by John Sansone who hit .455 (5-for-11) with two RBI in the series.
- The Wolfpack are coming off of a three-game sweep of Pitt outscoring the Panthers 30-8 last weekend. NC State hit .368 as a team in the series and were lead by Andrew Knizner who hit .643 (9-for-14) with four RBI over the weekend. The NC State pitching staff limited Pitt hitters to just a .177 average and posted a 2.00 ERA in the series.
- NC State’s seven-game win streak came to an end Thursday night in a 3-2 defeat to the Seminoles. The Wolfpack have scored an average of more than 11 runs per game during the streak. Knizner has brought his average up to .350 on the year and has hit two home runs and has driven in 23 runs this season overall.
- Dylan Busby is second on the team in average hitting .305 on they year and is tied for second with five home runs with a team-leading 31 RBI. DJ Stewart has hit a team-high nine home runs and is second with 29 RBI this season for the Seminoles.
- Series Prediction: Despite NC State entering the series on a hot streak, I believe that the Seminoles will come away this weekend with a three-game series sweep of the Wolfpack.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (19-10, 5-7 ACC) @ Virginia Tech Hokies (16-14, 6-6 ACC)
- After taking the first game from the Seminoles last weekend, Florida State came back to take two of three from the Hokies last weekend.
- The Yellow Jackets were just the latest team to fall victim to the barnstorming Louisville Cardinals getting swept last weekend by the ACC’s newest member. Georgia Tech hit just .193 as a team and could only muster to score just five runs in the series.
- The Hokies are hitting .271 as a team in ACC play and are lead by Brendan Hayden who is hitting .325 on the year with a team-leading six home runs and 28 RBI overall. Saige Jenco is creating havoc on the base paths posting a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen base attempts.
- Georgia Tech is hitting .287 overall as a team this season and are lead by Kel Johnson who is hitting a team-high .379, seven home runs and 25 RBI this season. Brandon Gold has also been fantastic for the Yellow Jackets on the mound in ACC play posting a 2-1 record and a 2.77 ERA in 26 innings pitched.
- Series Prediction: Despite being a game back of Virginia Tech in the ACC standings, the Yellow Jackets are the better and more talented team. Georgia Tech will take two out of three from the Hokies and will win the “Tech” Series.
#26 North Carolina Tar Heels (17-11, 6-6 ACC) @ Clemson Tigers (14-14, 5-7 ACC)
- The Tar Heels are coming off of a tough three-game series against Miami where they lost two of three to the Hurricanes despite outscoring the Canes 16-11 in the series. The Heels hit .280 as a team in the series with Tyler Ramirez leading the way with a .357 (5-for-14) average two RBI.
- The Tigers are coming off of a series in which they lost two of three to Wake Forest getting outscored 16-11 over the weekend. Clemson hit .216 as a team and were paced by Eli White who hit .300 with three RBI.
- Series Prediction: While both teams have been inconsistent at times this season, the Tar Heels are the more talented team and will come away this weekend with a sweep of Clemson.
Duke Blue Devils (19-10, 4-8 ACC) @ #15 Miami Hurricanes (21-9, 8-4 ACC)
- The Hurricanes are coming off of a series with North Carolina where they took two out of three from the Tar Heels. The Canes hit just .222 as a team despite the efforts of David Thompson who hit .364 (4-for-11) in the series.
- Duke is coming off of a brutal weekend in Delaware where they were swept by Boston College getting outscored 17-8 in the series. The Blue Devils hit .235 as a team and were lead by Kenny Koplove who hit .455 (5-for-11) in the series.
- Series Prediction: Getting swept by Boston College was a bad series for Duke and facing Miami in the next series doesn’t make it any easier. The Blue Devils are in a midst of a slump and it won’t end this weekend. The Hurricanes will sweep the Blue Devils this weekend, extending Duke’s losing streak to seven games.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (17-10, 3-9 ACC) @ Pittsburgh Panthers (11-16, 4-8 ACC)
- After a hot start to the season the Irish have come back down to earth after suffering their second straight series sweep at the hands of Virginia.
- Pittsburgh is currently enduring a four-game losing streak and was swept by NC State last weekend getting outscored by the Wolfpack 30-8 in the series.
- Series Prediction: Both teams have been struggling as of late but the Irish have been playing better baseball overall this season and should take two of three from Pittsburgh this weekend.
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