Weekend Preview: BC Baseball Hosts Quinnipiac

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Weekend Preview: BC Baseball Hosts Quinnipiac
BC ends regular season with seven home games

Game Notes | ACC Weekly Release

THE FACTS

MATCHUP: Quinnipiac (17-28) at Boston College (19-26)
WHERE: Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at Commander Shea Field in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
WHEN: Saturday, May 13 at noon (doubleheader) | Saturday, May 14 at noon
RECORD vs. Quinnipiac: BC leads the series, 4-0

HOW TO FOLLOW
Listen: Saturday | Sunday

THE MATCHUP

BC Pitching
Saturday Game 1: RHP Jacob Stevens (4-6, 5.35 ERA) vs. LHP Chris Enns (4-2, 2.14 ERA)
Saturday Game 2: LHP Dan Metzdorf (3-5, 4.24 ERA) vs. RHP Taylor Luciani (4-5, 3.35 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Brian Rapp (2-3, 4.05 ERA) vs. RHP Robbie Hitt (2-3, 4.83 ERA)

Scouting The Bobcats

The Bobcats come into the series after also taking the week off. In their last game action, they took two of three at Manhattan College in MAAC action.

Matt Batten leads the way for Quinnipiac with a .312 batting average. He is the only QU player hitting over .300. He also leads the team in hits (54), runs (31), doubles (13), and RBIs (24).

Liam Scarfariello is the only Bobcat with double-digit homers, as he has 16 of Quinnipiac’s 37.

Saturday starter lefty Chris Enns boasts a 2.14 ERA with 35 strikeouts in five starts. In his last outing, he threw six scoreless innings, allowing just six hits, one walk and two strikeouts in the Bobcats’ win over Manhattan College.

RHP Taylor Luciani, slated to pitch the first game of the doubleheader on Sunday, has a 3.35 ERA and 30 Ks in 10 starts. He picked up his fourth win in his last outing in New York, going six innings, allowing four hits, no runs and one walk while striking out three.

Righty Robbi Hitt is scheduled to close out the series with the Eagles. He has a 4.83 ERA, two wins and a team-high 41 strikeouts over nine starts. He picked up the loss in his last outing, allowing nine hits, seven runs, two walks and five Ks over seven innings.

Quinnipiac took Wake Forest to 11 innings in early March, falling, 2-1, on a walk-off single by Logan Harvey.

THE SERIES

The Eagles have won all four meetings against the Bobcats, which have all been played in Chestnut Hill.

It is the first time BC will play the Quinnipiac since 2010 and the first time under seventh-year head coach Mike Gambino.

The last meeting came in 2010, in a midweek contest, which BC won, 6-1. Dane Clemens threw 8.2 innings and brought a shutout into the ninth. Matt Brazis picked up the save, striking out the final batter with the bases loaded. Current Giants farmhand Matt Paré was 2-for-2 with two walks and an RBI while Andrew Lawrence hit a solo shot.

Quinnipiac head coach John Delaney is the brother of former BC baseball player Jason Delaney (2002-05). As an Eagle, he earned First Team All-BIG EAST in 2004 and is BC’s all-time hits leader with 263 and second all-time with 157 RBIs.

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE EAGLES

The Eagles return to the diamond after the week off for final exams to host a three-game set with Quinnipiac on the ACC bye weekend.

BC is coming off a 1-2 weekend at then No. 17 Wake Forest as the BC pitching staff held one of the most prolific offenses in college baseball at bay, allowing just two runs in the final two games and handing the Demon Deacons their first home shutout of the 2017 season.

Sophomore LHP Dan Metzdorf threw six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and three walks with five strikeouts, in the Eagles’ 8-0 win on Saturday. It was the second start for Metzdorf he did not allow a run; He went six strong against then No. 6 Clemson on March 25, allowing just two hits and striking out four.

RHPs sophomore John Witkowski and junior Donovan Casey combined to throw three scoreless and hitless innings in the victory. The three BC pitchers combined to shut out the Deacons, who came into the series averaging 8.3 runs per game, seventh in the nation.

They also held the Wake batters to just five hits – one double and no home runs. The Deacons did not homer on Sunday either. Wake came into the game with 78 home runs, averaging 1.77 per game.

Junior Jake Palomaki drew a career-high four walks on May 7 at Wake Forest to bring his weekend total to eight and his career total to 114, which is tied for first in BC record books. He already owns the top two spots for single-season walks.

Sophomore Gian Martellini has started 44 games for the Eagles behind the plate and logged at least one hit in 37 of them. He has never recorded two straight games without a hit and has at least one in the last 12, registering a career-long hit streak, which is also the longest of the season for the Eagles. It is tied for 11th in BC record books. In that span, he has tallied 17 hits, four runs, five doubles, a triple and home run, eight RBIs, 27 total bases and three walks. He led the way in the three-game series at Wake with six hits, a .500 batting average and two doubles. Martellini recorded a career-high five RBIs in the victory over Duke on April 15 with his first career grand slam.

Junior RHP Brian Rapp threw the first complete game of his career – a three-hit shutout – to complete the sweep of NC State in the second game of a doubleheader on April 30. He allowed just five base runners on the day and none advanced past first base. He struck out six, walked just two and all three hits were singles. He is one of three ACC pitchers throw a shutout this season and one of five to pitch a complete game. Against Miami on April 30, Rapp allowed just four hits and two runs over a seven-inning start, walking three with two Ks. At Wake Forest on May 7, he was one away one from his career high, striking out seven over six innings. In five of his seven ACC starts this season, Rapp has 31 strikeouts, just nine walks and eight earned runs over 36.0 innings. He has not allowed a run twice.

Freshman Brian Dempsey has hit his stride in the second half of the season. He has logged at least one hit in 10 of the last 13 games played, including a career-long, six-game hit streak. In those 13 games, he recorded a .400 batting average (14-for-35) with five runs and four RBIs. He laid down a team season-high three sacrifice bunts against Miami on April 29, including one for an RBI.

Sophomore Jake Alu has hit in 12 of the last 15 games. He leads the Eagles with a .320 batting average and 33 hits in ACC games. His .319 overall average and 11 stolen bases also lead the team.

Casey entered BC’s single-season record books tied for eighth with five save on the year. He combined with sophomore RHP Jacob Stevens to throw a one-hitter at Duke on April 14, retiring all six batters faced with one strikeout. His five saves on the season is tied for sixth in the ACC.