Doucette's ACC Baseball Notes 4/11/17

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Spring has finally arrived and with it, college baseball is back in full swing. The ACC season is almost at the halfway mark so let’s take a look and what been going on in the league.

There are six teams that are ranked in the four different polls that are used for the sport. The Louisville Cardinal are the highest ranked team at #2 in all the polls, with North Carolina and Clemson right behind them at #4 and #5. Florida State, Virginia, and Wake Forest round out the group.

The tightest race belongs in the Atlantic Division where the Clemson Tigers hold the top spot by a game over Louisville. In the Coastal Division, the North Carolina Tar Heels hold a four-game lead in the loss column over second-place Virginia.

Virginia leads the league in team batting with a .324 average over 33 games, an on-base percentage of .405 and they are slugging at a .486 clip. The best pitching staff in the conference belongs to Louisville with a team ERA of 2.45 over 30 games. While the staff has no complete games to their credit, they do boast six combined shutouts. The Cavaliers have both the best hitter and pitchers according to league stats. Adam Haseley leads the conference in batting with a. 407 mark, he is third in hits with 50, fourth in HR with 10, third in walks with 26 and is second in total bases with 89, on-base percentage .513 slugging at .724 while also leading the league with 41 runs scored.

The best pitcher so far is Alec Bettinger also from Virginia as he is first in opponent batting average at .155, second in wins with five and he has given up 18 hits in 34 innings pitched, six runs allowed with only four of them earned. His walks to strikeouts ratio are a solid 39 strikeouts to only 15 BB. Derek Casey has also been a very good number two man in their staff posting a 1.88 ERA with a 3-0 record, 38 innings pitched allowing 30 hits with nine runs and only eight earned. His base on ball to K’s ratio is an outstanding 35 punch outs to only five walks. The only blemishes on his resume are the three home runs allowed.

North Carolina’s good start can be traced back to what they have been doing on the bump. In their first 23 games, they have given up five runs or fewer. It was the longest such streak in 106 seasons. Their closer Josh Hiatt leads the ACC in saves with 10, and he is already tied for eighth all-time on UNC single-season saves list. His ten saves ranked third in the nation.