ACC Baseball Roundup

I know it’s been a while but with the final three weekends of the regular season upon us, it’s time to get back at it as teams prepare for the final stretch run leading up to the ACC Tournament.

#3 Louisville Cardinals (35-10, 19-2 ACC) @ Clemson Tigers (23-21, 12-11 ACC)

  • Since our last weekend series preview, Louisville lost its second ACC game of the year surprisingly to the inconsistent Duke Blue Devils. The Cardinals took two out of three outscoring Duke 13-3.
  • Louisville then swept Wake Forest at home outscoring the Deacons 22-11 and then swept Bethune-Cookman last weekend in a non-conference weekend series.
  • Overall the Cardinals went 10-3 in their last 13 games with mid-week game wins over in-state rivals Kentucky and Cincinnati. Louisville also dropped mid-week games to Ohio State and Western Kentucky.
  • Clemson meanwhile has gone 9-7 since our last weekend series preview.
  • The Tigers surprisingly took two out of three from UNC outscoring the Tar Heels 17-14 over the weekend. Clemson then won its second series in a row taking two out of three from Boston College and then swept Duke in a brief two game series before dropping two out of three to Georgia Tech last weekend.
  • The Tigers won non-conference games against Western Carolina and Gardner-Webb by a combined score of 21-7. Clemson also dropped non-conference games against Georgia and Charleston Southern.
  • Corey Ray leads the Cardinals in hitting with five home runs and 21 RBI in conference play while batting .330 against ACC opponents. He has stolen 20 of 22 bases in Conference play including a steal of home to walk-off in the bottom of the ninth to finish off a three-game sweep of Wake Forest on April 18.
  • Series Prediction: Louisville continues to steamroll the ACC as they begin to get ready for the ACC Tournament with a sweep of the inconsistent Clemson Tigers this weekend.

Boston College Eagles (23-21, 9-14 ACC) @ Virginia Tech Hokies (21-24, 9-14 ACC)

Photo Credit: Ethan Winter
Photo Credit: Ethan Winter
  • Since our last series preview the Eagles have gone 12-7 including a three-game series sweep of Georgia Tech (4/17-19) where Boston College outscored the Yellow Jackets 11-1 in the series. BC went 5-7 overall in conference play during this span despite being without star outfielder Chris Shaw (.339/.686/.432, 11 HR, 41 RBI), who is out with an injury. The Eagles’ 23 wins this year are the most in a season for Boston College under Coach Gambino
  • The Hokies meanwhile have struggled a bit the last three weeks going 6-10 over that span getting swept by Miami, and losing two out of three to Georgia Tech and Duke. Virginia Tech also split a two-game series with UNC after the series finale was cancelled April 19. The Hokies went 3-8 in ACC play over the last four weekend series.
  • Logan Hoggarth has stepped up offensively for the Eagles while Shaw has been out. Hoggarth is hitting .344 with three doubles and four RBI in conference games.
  • Brendan Haywood has been leading the Virginia Tech offense with a .315 average that includes 10 home runs and 47 RBI. He has six home runs and 25 RBI in ACC play alone.
  • Series Prediction: This past month has been an interesting one for Boston College. Despite getting swept by North Carolina last weekend the Eagles have played some good baseball. This is a key series for these teams as both are only a half game out for the fiACC Tournament behind Virginia. The only downside for BC is that they’re playing on the road where the Eagles are 6-16. Virginia Tech is  12-8 (6-5 vs. ACC opponents) in Blacksburg. The Hokies will take two of three from the Eagles at home.

#16 Miami Hurricanes (31-18, 16-8 ACC) @ Pittsburgh Panthers (16-25, 6-15 ACC)

  • Pittsburgh has gone 5-10 since the last time we did a series preview, getting swept by Notre Dame and #13 Florida State. The Panthers were able to win two out of three from Wake Forest and Fairfield.
  • Miami has gone 10-4 over the month of April but have struggled a bit recently. The Canes have lost their last two series against Florida State and Virginia and have gone 2-4 in their last six games.
  • David Thompson is mashing the ball for the Hurricanes hitting .321 with 11 home runs and 54 RBI. Seven of those 11 home runs have come against ACC opponents as well as 30 of his 54 RBI this season.
  • Series Prediction: Despite losing four out of their last six games, the Hurricanes still scored 24 runs in the last series with Florida State. The Miami bats are still mashing and will have no problem with Pitt and should easily sweep the Panthers this weekend.

Non-Conference Series

#25 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (31-13, 14-4 Big South) @ #11 Florida State Seminoles (33-13, 16-8 ACC)

  • Florida State has gone 10-6 in the month of April, sweeping Pittsburgh and taking two out of three from Miami and NC State. The Seminoles were surprisingly swept by Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. back on April 10-12.
  • DJ Stewart leads the team in hitting with a .324 average, 10 home runs and 38 RBI.  Dylan Busby has driven in a team-high 41 RBI while hitting .270 with eight home runs.
  • Coastal has won four games in a row and is coming off of a sweep of Presbyterian last weekend. Casey Schroeder, while only hitting .231 leads the team with 11 home runs. David Parrett leads the team with 35 RBI along with 10 home runs and a .259 average as well.
  • Series Prediction: Coastal Carolina is a team out of the Big South Conference and is a perennial powerhouse. This should be a very good and competitive series with the Seminoles taking two out of three at home.

Northwestern State Demons (24-18, 16-7 Southland) @ Notre Dame Fighting Irish (29-16, 12-12 ACC)

  • The Irish are 12-6 in their last 18 games including sweeps over Florida State and Pittsburgh. Notre Dame also took two of three from NC State and lost their series to Wake Forest losing two out of three to the Demon Deacons.
  • Cavan Biggio is leading the Irish with six home runs, with 19 RBI and a .265 average. Ryan Lidge is hitting a team-high .300 with a high of 28 RBI as well.
  • Series Prediction: The Irish are having a phenomenal season and continue to surprise punctuated by their sweep of Florida State. Notre Dame will sweep Northwestern State this weekend.

Longwood Lancers (19-23, 7-11 Big South) @ NC State Wolfpack (23-18, 11-12 ACC)

  • NC State is 5-9 in their last 14 games coming off of taking two out of three from Virginia. The Wolfpack have lost three of their last four ACC series losing two out of three to Notre Dame, North Carolina and Florida State.
  • Preston Palmeiro is leading the Wolfpack bats this season with a .349 average and a team high six home runs and 41 RBI. Logan Ratledge also has a team high six home runs with 24 RBI and a team best .366 batting average.
  • Series Prediction: Longwood has been at the bottom of the Big South Conference all season long and should get swept by NC State easily.

Presbyterian Blue Hose (10-23, 4-14 Big South) @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (26-17, 11-13 ACC)

Photo Credit: Ethan Winter
Photo Credit: Ethan Winter
  • Georgia Tech is 8-7 in the month of April but is just 2-5 in the last seven games including getting swept by Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Besides getting swept by the Eagles, the Yellow Jackets have won their three other series in the last month taking two out of three from Clemson last weekend, Virginia and Virginia Tech.
  • AJ Murray leads the Yellow Jackets with 10 home runs and 40 RBI while posting a .274 average this season.
  • Series Prediction: Yellow Jackets take care of business and sweep Presbyterian.

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