ACC Baseball: The ITA Atlantic Division Catch, Volume One

By: Ethan Winter |

Boston College Eagles (5-6, 0-0 ACC)

  • The Eagles opened up the season splitting the first four games in Spartanburg, SC defeating Xavier and USC Upstate 14-7 and 5-4 respectively. They bookended the weekend with losses to Wofford, 8-4 and Xavier, 9-4 to finish the first weekend of the season 2-2.
  • The Eagles then faced their biggest test of the season the second weekend as they took on the Tigers of LSU in Baton Rouge. The Eagles were swept by the Tigers losing 8-4, 7-4 and 16-2 to fall to 2-5 on the season.
  • BC then traveled to Port Charlotte, Fla. for the Snowbird Classic where the Eagles took three out of four from the weekend. BC dropped the first game against Nebraska-Omaha 5-1 but then went on to win three in a row defeating North Dakota State 12-2, Kansas 6-4 and Villanova 10-2.
  • Junior Chris Shaw has struggled a bit this season hitting just .256 on the season but still leads the Eagles in home runs (3) and RBI (17). Senior second baseman, Blake Butera leads the team in hitting, batting .372 and second on the team in RBI with 10. Sophomore utility man Michael Strem is second on the team with a .348 average.
  • Junior southpaw Jesse Adams is the “Ace” of the staff posting a 1-0 record with a 2.92 ERA. Sophomore right hander Mike King also leads the team in saves with 2 saves and a 1.35 ERA.
  • The Eagles open up ACC play with a three game series at Florida State.

Louisville Cardinals (8-4, 0-0 ACC)

  • Louisville started the season winning two of three in the Opening Weekend Challenge at Brighthouse Field in Clearwater, Fla. defeating Alabama State 2-1 and South Florida 7-3 while dropping the final game of the weekend to 17th ranked Cal State Fullerton 8-6 to finish the opening weekend 2-1.
  • After the Cardinals’ home opener was postponed on February 18th, Louisville then dropped two of three to Arkansas State in Emerson, Ga. losing games 8-2 and 4-1. The Cardinals won the final game of the three game series 14-8 to avoid the sweep.
  • Louisville then returned home to Jim Patterson Stadium defeating Butler, 10-1 in the home opener to improve to 4-3 on the year. They would then go 4-1 over the week Eastern Kentucky twice, 5-2 and 7-6. They also would take two out of three from Xavier dropping the first game 2-1 and then winning the next two 6-3 and 2-0.
  • Senior infielder Sutton Whiting leads the Cardinals in average this season hitting .390 with one double and six RBI. Both sophomore outfielder Corey Ray and freshman 3B/1B Blake Tiberi lead the teams in home runs with two each. Ray is second on the team in RBI as well with 10 ribbies behind freshman shortstop Devin Hairston with 11 RBI.
  • Junior right hander Kyle Funkhouser has a 1-2 record with a 1.83 ERA in three starts so far this season while freshman lefty, Brendan McKay leads the pen with three saves and has not allowed a run in five appearances this year while posting a 1-0 record.
  • The Cardinals will host No. 10 Miami this weekend to open up ACC play.

Florida State Seminoles (9-3, 0-0 ACC)

  • The Seminoles opened up the season as the 12th ranked team in the country and started off with an opening weekend sweep of Oakland University (Michigan), winning games 7-3, 15-2 and 5-1.
  • After a 5-3 midweek defeat to Jacksonville, the Seminoles dropped two of three to Georgia losing games 4-1 and 10-5 after winning the opening game of the series 7-5 to finish 4-3 after the second weekend.
  • After dropping two of three at the hands of the Bulldogs, the Seminoles have won five in a row defeating Jacksonville 10-7 and South Florida 24-1 in addition to a three-game sweep of UNC Wilmington on the third weekend of the season winning games 4-3, 5-3 and 9-8.
  • Junior outfielder DJ Stewart is leading the Seminoles in hitting with five home runs and a .361 average and nine RBI. Junior second baseman John Sansone is second on the team in home runs with three and leads the team with 15 RBI.
  • Senior southpaw Billy Strode leads the bullpen with five saves and has yet to give up a run in 6 appearances and 5.2 innings pitched. Boomer Biegalski leads the team with 18.2 innings pitched and a 1-1 record with a 3.38 ERA in three starts.
  • The Seminoles host Boston College for their first conference series of the season.

    • Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-4, 0-0 ACC)

  •  The Demon Deacons got off to a hot start to the 2015 season winning two of three over opening weekend defeating Delaware 3-2 and VCU 1-0 while dropping the middle game of the weekend to Bucknell 16-12.
  • After dropping a mid-week game to UNC Wilmington 10-1, the Deacs won the next two games against George Mason 9-3 and Western Carolina 10-2 before finishing the weekend with an 8-4 loss to Wilmington.
  • After losing their second straight game — a mid-week game against Appalachian State 10-1, the Deacons have gone on a four game winning streak defeating Towson, 7-0 and 15-8, and Marshall, 6-5 and 8-3.
  • The Deacons open up ACC play with a three-game set with Virginia Tech this weekend.
  • Sophomore third baseman and pitcher, Will Craig is leading the team in hitting with a .429 average, one home run and a team leading 17 RBI.
  • Sophomore pitcher Parker Dunshee has been fantastic on the mound for the Deacons with a 3-0 record and has yet to give up a run in 20.1 innings pitched with 28 strikeouts.

    • NC State Wolfpack (7-3, 0-0 ACC)

    •  The Wolfpack started the season off with wins against Villanova 14-5 and Davidson 8-3 before they travelled to Myrtle Beach, S.C. for the Baseball at the Beach Classic.
    • The Pack dropped two of three in Myrtle Beach losing games to Albany 9-6 and Coastal Carolina 12-3. NC State won the middle game of the weekend defeating Florida International 3-1.
    • NC State has won four of their last five games around a couple of cancellations defeating North Carolina A&T 9-1, UNC Greensboro 4-2, East Carolina 7-0 and Appalachian State 6-4 while losing to UNC Charlotte 1-0.
    • The Wolfpack will face Clemson this upcoming weekend in their first ACC series of the season.
    • Senior infielder/outfielder Logan Ratledge leads the Pack in hitting with a .406 average, one home run and six RBI. Sophomore first baseman Preston Palmeiro is second on the team in average, batting .382 with one home run and leads the team in RBI with 14. Sophomore third baseman/catcher Andrew Knizner has spent some time playing behind the dish and has thrown out five of six base stealers on the young season.

    • Freshman southpaw Brian Brown is 2-0 in his first two starts of his collegiate career and has a 1.50 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched.

    Clemson Tigers (7-4, 0-0 ACC)

    • The Tigers got off to a bit of a rough start to the 2015 season dropping two of three to begin the year losing the opening series to West Virginia losing 2-0 and 6-1, while winning the middle game of the series 4-2.
    • Clemson then went on to win five in a row sweeping Maine 10-1, 5-4 in 14 innings and 10-2. The Tigers then went on to win a mid-week game against Wofford 11-5 and defeated South Carolina 11-4 before dropping the second game of the three-game set with the Gamecocks 4-1 at Flour Field in Greenville, S.C.
    • Clemson then took the rubber match of the series with South Carolina defeating the Gamecocks 7-0 in Columbia, S.C. to go to 7-3 on the year.
    • The Tigers fell to Winthrop on Tuesday losing 5-4 in Clemson, S.C. They will then travel to Raleigh, N.C. to take on NC State to begin ACC play.
    • Junior shortstop Tyler Kreiger is leading the Tigers in hitting with a .465 average and eight RBI. Sophomore infielder Weston Wilson and junior outfielder Steven Duggar both lead the team with nine RBI. Wilson also leads the team with three home runs on the year.
    • Junior right-hander Brody Koerner leads the pitching staff with a 2-1 record and a 1.29 ERA in three starts and 21 innings pitched including a complete game shutout over No. 8 South Carolina.

    Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-1, 0-0 ACC)

    • The Irish have gotten off to a terrific start to the 2015 season taking three of four opening weekend in Norman, Okla.. Notre Dame defeated SIU-Edwardsville 7-6 in the season opener and then took two of three from Oklahoma taking the last two games of the series 10-9 and 5-1 after dropping the first game to the Sooners 6-1.
    • Since that 6-1 loss to Oklahoma opening weekend, the Irish have won nine in a row defeating Incarnate Word twice (14-1 and 11-1), Villanova 8-1 and Northwestern 7-3 in the second weekend of the season.
    • The third weekend of the season brought more good fortune to the Irish. Notre Dame swept the third weekend in Macon, Ga. defeating Belmont 6-4, Mercer 8-2 and Akron 8-4 to extend their record to 10-1 in the first three weekends of the season.
    • It will be interesting to see if the Irish can keep up their good baseball this weekend as conference play begins. Notre Dame will take on Georgia Tech in the first ACC series of the season.
    • Sophomore infielder Cavan Biggio has been red-hot this season and is a big reason why the Irish have gotten off to such a great start this season. Biggio is leading the team in hitting, batting .525 on the year with two home runs and 11 RBI, both team highs.
    • Junior right hander Nick McCarty is leading the staff this season with a 2-0 record and a 1.74 ERA in three starts and 20.2 innings pitched. Freshman right hander Peter Solomon is holding the fort in the pen recording two saves, a 1-0 record and a 2.70 ERA this season.

    This is Part I of the ACC Baseball Three Week Season Recap. Stay tuned for Part 2 in the next couple of days as I break down the Coastal Division outlook at the three week point of the season and preview the first weekend of conference play.

    Follow me on Twitter @Ewints. Like us on Facebook and check out @InsideTheACC.

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