Weekend Preview: BC Hosts NC State, ALS Awareness Game at Fenway

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Weekend Preview: BC Hosts NC State, ALS Awareness Game at Fenway
The Eagles take on the Pack and will host game two at Fenway Park in honor of Pete Frates

Game Notes | ACC Weekly Release | Tickets (ALS Awareness Game at Fenway)

THE FACTS
MATCHUP: NC State (20-17, 8-10 ACC) at Boston College (12-22, 3-15 ACC)
WHERE: Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at Commander Shea Field in Chestnut Hill, Mass. (Games 1 & 3); Fenway Park in Boston, Mass. (Game 2)
WHEN: Friday, April 21 at 2:30 p.m. | Saturday, April 22 at 4 p.m. | Sunday, April 23 at 1 p.m.
RECORD vs. NC State: State leads the series, 22-11

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Saturday’s game is on ESPNU | WatchESPN
Listen: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Live Stats
Twitter: @BCBirdball

PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: BC: RHP Jacob Stevens (3-4, 4.78 ERA) vs. LHP Sean Adler (3-5, 4.05 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Dan Metzdorf (1-5, 5.20 ERA) vs. LHP Brian Brown (1-1, 3.54 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Brian Rapp (0-2, 4.97 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Bienlien (2-1, 4.23 ERA)

CALL TO STRIKEOUT ALS

The BC baseball team will play the Sixth Annual ALS Awareness Game at Fenway Park on Saturday, April 22 against NC State.

The game is played in honor of former captain Pete Frates who was diagnosed with ALS in March 2012.

Tickets are general admission for $10 with all proceeds benefiting the Pete Frates #3 Fund. The fund was created to aid in Frates’ medical costs not covered by health insurance.

The teams will also honor Chris Combs, who played baseball for NC State from 1994-97 and was diagnosed with ALS in May 2016. He is an associate director with the Wolfpack Club. He is also fighting to bring awareness and funds to the disease.

The Eagles will wear Strikeout ALS ribbon patches with Frates’ No. 3 on their sleeves and “The Cure for Combs” hats. The Pack will wear “Strikeout ALS” jerseys with Combs’ logo on the arm. Both teams will wear “PF3” wristbands as part of the “Band Together to Strikeout ALS” initiative. BC will also don its red, PF3 StrikeoutALS tee shirts for batting practice.

Each year since Frates’ diagnosis, the Eagles have held an ALS Awareness Game at Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at Commander Shea Field. In each of the last five seasons, over 2,000 fans have been in attendance to show their support for a cause very close the BC community’s heart.

Last year Frates’ No. 3 was retired and in 2015, the largest crowd in Shea Field history, 3,033 fans, attended the Eagles’ ALS game against Georgia Tech.

Frates was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at 27 years old. Since then, he, along with his family and friends, have worked tirelessly to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for the disease. In the summer of 2014, Frates championed the Ice Bucket Challenge through the use of social media. Along with the amount of awareness brought to ALS, over $220 million was raised to help find a cure.

Frates completed his own ice bucket challenge to cap off the historic August 2014 at Fenway Park and during the spring training game between the Eagles and Red Sox in 2015, the teams donned No. 3 jerseys in honor of Frates at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla. Both sets were put up for auction to benefit his fund. The Red Sox also signed him to a contract to make him part of the organization before opening day the same year.

A Beverly, Mass., native, Frates played in the outfield for the Maroon and Gold from 2004-07. A captain his senior year, he finished his BC career with 107 starts, a .228 average, 88 hits, 56 RBIs, 11 home runs and 34 stolen bases.

In November 2016, the NCAA announced Frates was the recipient of the 2017 NCAA Inspiration Award.

SCOUTING THE WOLFPACK

NC State comes into the series with a 20-17 record an eight conference wins.

The Wolfpack lost an ACC and in-state rivalry series to fourth-ranked North Carolina last weekend, dropping two of three games in Chapel Hill. After losing the first two, 7-2, and 7-1, the Pack got a 4-2, game-three victory.

State has conference series wins against Florida State and Miami and loses at Notre Dame, Louisville and at Wake Forest. The Pack has not swept a series or been swept in 2017.

Brad Debo leads the way at the plate with a .364 batting average – which is 10^th in the league – and a .517 slugging percentage.

Josh McLain is second on the team with a .324 batting clip, leads the way with 47 hits, 17 doubles and is 10-for-10 on the base path. His doubles leads the ACC while Joe Dunand is tied for fourth in the conference with 12 home runs.

Friday starter LHP Sean Adler has the most strikeouts (41) for the Wolfpack on the year. He is making his 10^th start against BC. He shouldered the loss in the first game against UNC, going 5.2 innings, allowing six hits, two runs, no walks and four strikeouts.

Saturday’s starter RHP Brian Brown leads State starters with a 3.54 ERA. He also took a loss to the Heels, throwing five innings, allowing four hits, three runs, four walks and striking out three. Last year’s game two, Brown picked up the win for the Pack, with a 6.2-inning start, allowing five hits, two runs and one walk with nine Ks.

RHP Michael Bienlien is making his fifth start for the Pack. He threw the first four innings in last Sunday’s victory against UNC, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks with one K in a no-decision.

THE SERIES

The Wolfpack leads the all-time series, 22-11, and has taken 11 of the 14 games on the Eagles’ turf.

While the Pack won the first 11 meetings, including one in Charleston, S.C., in 2003 before BC was a member of the ACC, the Eagles have won five of the last eight contests.

Last year, the Eagles won two of three in Raleigh, N.C., with the Pack ranked eighth in the nation.

BC swept NC State in 2010 while the Wolfpack has swept the Eagles in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2013.

Seventh-year head coach Mike Gambino earned series victories in 2016 and 2014. The Eagles and Pack each one a game in 2015 and the third was canceled due to weather.

AMERICA’S FAVORITE BALLPARK

The Eagles have played 37 times at Fenway Park, all in the Baseball Beanpot Tournament.

They hold a 25-10-1 record in the iconic venue. This year’s finale was halted with the Eagles up on Harvard, 3-2, midway through the fifth inning because of rain.

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE EAGLES

Junior Donovan Casey has been hot at the plate and on the mound. In the last 17 games, he is 24-for-67 (.358) with a .522 slugging percentage and a .429 on-base percentage. He’s logged 15 runs, three doubles, a triple, two home runs, 11 RBIs and seven walks. He has also recorded four outfield assists. On the mound, he has 12 strikeouts over 11.2 innings with a win and two saves. He and sophomore Jacob Stevens one-hit Duke on April 14 as Casey retired all six batters he faced in the eighth and ninth. He was 6-for-12 at the plate in Durham.

Also making waves at the plate and on the mound is junior Mitch Bigras. He recorded his first career save in the victory over Harvard on April 12, pitching the ninth and logging a strikeout. In the last six games, he is 8-for-22 (.364) with three RBIs, two runs, three walks and a stolen base. He has made five appearances in 2017 – 5.0 innings – and has not allowed run and only one hit. He has allowed just two walks while striking out seven.

Junior Jake Palomaki started 116 straight games before a hamstring injury suffered at Louisville on March 18 forced him to miss 10 games. He returned to the diamond as a defensive replaced in the eighth inning on April 8 and drew a walk. He played the weekend series at Duke, going 3-for-10 with three runs, a triple, three RBIs and his 100th career walk. He is third in BC record books for all-time walks.

Sophomore Jake leads the Eagles with a .304 batting average in ACC games and 21 hits in conference contests. His .311 overall average is also first and he is tied for the team lead with seven stolen bases. He recorded a career-high four hits in the victory at Duke on April 15.

Freshman Jacob Yish has played in 10 games for the Eagles, including the last six, and has recorded a hit in six of them. He came in as a pinch hitter against UNC on April 8 and recorded his first career hit and then in the following game, he went 1-for-2 with two RBIs. He logged an RBI in the form of a sac fly in the third game against the Tar Heels and against Harvard on April 11, he went 1-for-3 for his third hit in four games. He went 4-for-12 in the series at Duke with three runs, his first career double and two RBIs.

Sophomore Gian Martellini has at least one hit in 11 of the last 13 games. He recorded a career-long, seven-game hit streak from March 29 to April 9, tallying eight hits, seven runs, six RBIs, two doubles, a triple and two home runs. In the 33 games played, he has logged at least one in 26 games. Martellini leads the team with nine doubles, three home runs, 24 RBIs and a .445 slugging percentage. He recorded a career-high five RBIs in the victory over Duke on April 15 with his first career grand slam to put the Eagles ahead in the fourth inning.

Sophomore RHP Jacob Stevens started the season by not allowing an earned run in the 19.2 innings. After a few mid-season bumps, he got back on a track, allowing just one hit and one run over a seven-inning start at Duke on April 14, tying a career high for innings pitched. His 3.47 career ERA is currently sixth in BC record books.