BC BASEBALL Travels to Charlottesville

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BC BASEBALL Travels to Charlottesville

It’s the first matchup in Virginia since 2014

Postgame Notes (PDF) | ACC Release (PDF)

THE FACTS

MATCHUP: Boston College (6-8, 1-2 ACC) at No. 21 Virginia (11-6, 1-2 ACC)
WHERE: Davenport Field at Disharoon Park
WHEN: Friday, March 16 at 4 p.m. | Saturday, March 17 at12 p.m. | Sunday, March 18 at 1 p.m.
RECORD vs. UVA: Virginia holds the series lead, 20-5

THE MATCHUP

Pitching Matchups
FRIDAY: RHP Jacob Stevens (2-2, 2.95 ERA) vs. RHP Derek Casey (2-1, 3.76 ERA)
SATURDAY: LHP Dan Metzdorf (0-2, 10.12 ERA) vs. LHP Daniel Lynch (1-2, 4.68 ERA)
SUNDAY: RHP Brian Rapp (2-1, 3.22 ERA) vs. RHP Evan Sperling (2-0, 1.96 ERA)

Scouting the Cavaliers

The 21^st-ranked Cavaliers come into the weekend with 11-6 record and 1-2 in the ACC. They dropped two of three to Duke in Durham in the opening weekend of conference play.
On Wednesday, the Hoos earned a 3-2, walk-off victory against James Madison.
UVA has only played seven games away from Davenport Field, going 8-3 at home.
The Cavs are fourth in the ACC with a .286 team batting average, sitting just above BC, and eighth in the league with a 3.78 team ERA.
They are led at the plate by senior Justin Novak with a .345 batting average. Junior Andy Weber has a team-high 22 hits and 15 RBIs.
Friday starter senior RHP Derek Casey leads the ACC with 41 Ks. In four starts, he is 2-1 with a 3.76 ERA. In 26.1 innings, he has allowed 29 hits, 14 runs – 11 earned – and walked just seven. He picked up his first loss of the season at Duke, allowing 12 hits and six runs – all earned, without walking a batter in a 7.2-inning start. He struck out 10.
Junior LHP Daniel Lynch is 1-2 with a 4.68 ERA. In 25 innings, he has allowed 23 hits, 16 runs – 13 earned – has also only walked seven and struck out 24. He picked up the win against the Blue Devils, throwing seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out seven.
Junior RHP Evan Sperling leads the league with a .117 opponent batting average and is fifth in the ACC with 35 strikeouts. He is 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA in four starts. In 23 innings, he has allowed just nine hits, five runs – all earned – 10 walks and has struck out 35. He threw 6.1 at Duke in the series finale, allowing three hits, two runs – both earned, three walks and struck out 12 in a no-decision.

THE SERIES

It is the first time BC heads to Virginia since 2014 when the then third-ranked Hoos swept the series.
Virginia has won 20 of the 25 all-time meetings, 23 of them in conference play. BC earned a 2012 season-opening win in Conway, S.C., in a non-conference matchup. UVA collected a 6-4 win in the 2010 ACC Tournament.
The Cavs won the first nine meetings before the Eagles earned a 9-6 win at home and UVA won the first six series, sweeping five of them.
BC picked up the first series win against Virginia in 2016. After dropping the first game, the Eagles won the next two in walk-off fashion, including a 13-inning victory, to clinch the series.
Of BC’s five wins against Virginia, eighth-year head coach Mike Gambino has led the Eagles to five of them.
BC has never won on the Hoos’ soil.
Nine games have been decided by one run with four games going into extra. BC is 2-2 in extras against UVA. Virginia has shut out BC four times.
Junior RHP Jacob Stevens threw six innings in his start in 2016 against the Cavs, allowing just one hit and one unearned run. He walked five and struck out six.
Redshirt junior Scott Braren lifted the Eagles to the series win with a walk-off single in 2016.

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE EAGLES

The Boston College baseball team started conference play 1-2, falling in the first two games at No. 22 NC State before earning a victory in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday to wrap up the series. BC outscored State, 19-18, in the three-game series. The Pack entered conference play as the top offensive team in the nation.
The Eagles have recorded double-digit hits eight times in 2018, including four of the last five games. They are fifth in the ACC with a .283 team batting average.
Two Eagles are from the state of Virginia – junior RHP Sean Hughes (Williamsburg) and sophomore Jack Cunningham (South Riding).
Senior RHP Brian Rapp threw seven shutout innings to earn his second victory, allowing just two singles. He struck out eight in the outing.
Junior RHP Jacob Stevens threw a career-high eight innings in a complete-game effort on March 9 at No. 22 NC State. He allowed just five hits, two runs on a home run in the eighth inning and two walks. He struck out eight. His 3.78 career ERA is ninth in BC record books.
Freshman Chris Galland leads the ACC and is third in the nation with a .514 batting average. In 44 plate appearances, he has only struck out twice. His 10 stolen bases are tied for the league lead and his .585 on-base percentage leads the ACC.
Senior Jake Palomaki is second on BC with a .407 batting average. His eight-game hit streak is the longest for BC this season. He is fourth in the ACC for his batting clip, tied for first with eight doubles, tied for fifth with 24 hits, seventh with a .627 slugging percentage and ninth with a .485 on-base percentage.
Palomaki’s 126 career walks is first in BC record books, topping the list in three years. He has reached base safely 309 times in his BC career, fourth all-time. His .433 career on-base percentage is fifth, the 46 career stolen bases arels fourth and his 18 sacrifice hits is tied for eighth.
Sophomore Brian Dempsey has a hit in 10 of the Eagles’ 14 games this season and least one in 24 of the last 34 games played, dating back to 2017. He also reached base safely in the 13 of the 14 games. His .354 batting average is 12th in the ACC.
Junior Jake Alu has a hit in seven of the last nine games, including five multi-hit games. He logged a career-high four hits against Rutgers on Feb. 25 and launched his first career grand slam against Wofford on March 7.
Redshirt junior Scott Braren returned to the lineup on Feb. 17 after missing the majority of 2017 with a torn ACL, suffered eight games into last season. In the win at No. 22 NC State o March 10, he tied a career-high with three hits and logged two RBIs.
Hughes leads the BC bullpen with a 1.35 ERA. In seven appearances, he has struck out eight with just one earned run and five hits.
Cunningham has a hit in 11 of the Eagles’ first 14 games and recorded a career-long, seven-game hit streak. He put up career numbers in the second game of the season, tallying three hits and then notched a career-high three RBIs at NC State on March 10.