ACC Baseball News & Notes 4/24/18

ACC Baseball News & Notes 4/24/18

Down the stretch we come in the regular season of the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball season. There are still some big series ahead that will be deciding things. One thing is for sure, the last weekend of league play will mean something for somebody.

Heading into this past weekend series vs North Carolina State, the Duke Blue Devils became the first team to crack the 30-win mark. This was done at the expense of the Florida State Seminoles. Duke has been terrific at home this year, going 21-3 heading into that huge three-game set. The Blue Devils were trying to become the first team this season to take a three-game set from the Wolfpack.

WOLFPACK WINS! #Clenney strikes out the side in the ninth, as #Pack9 runs past Duke in the series opener with a 9-2 win#STATEment ✅ pic.twitter.com/8ASq7LRNGM

— #Pack9 ⚾️ (@NCStateBaseball) April 21, 2018

North Carolina State meanwhile, has been almost unbeatable in league play. They enter their series with Duke, having won nine consecutive ACC series dating back to 2017. Its the longest active streak in the conference. Having the player of the week helps too. Sophomore Shortstop Will Wilson was named conference player of the week, for the week of April 16. He helped the Wolfpack to a 3-1 record, by hitting .318, with eight rbi, six runs, and three home runs. In the field, Wilson was pretty good as well as he had nine assists and seven putouts

Wilson now has 10 home runs on the season, which is tied for third in the league. Six of the ten long ones have come against teams in the league tied for the most by an individual in conference play. The Kings Mountain, North Carolina native, had a multi-hr game vs Notre Dame two weekends ago which was followed up by going deep against UNCW last Wednesday night. It’s the second time this year Wilson has been named the player of the week.

The pitcher of the week is Griffin Roberts of Wake Forest. The junior from Midlothian, Virginia struck out 11 hitters in a Friday night win over Boston College two weeks ago. He has fanned at least eight batters in all nine of his starts this year and has record 10 punchouts on six occasions. He leads the ACC and ranks second in the nation with 90 strikeouts. This is the third time this season that Roberts has been named pitcher of the week.

DEACS WIN! Griffin Roberts and Rayne Supple combine for a one-hitter in a series-opening 3-0 win over Boston College! #GoDeacs pic.twitter.com/a4pjk2wLqF

— Wake Forest Baseball (@WakeBaseball) April 13, 2018

The Boston College Eagles are heading towards being left out of the ACC tournament as inconsistent play has been a problem all year long for them. So too has been playing extra-innings. BC has played five such games this year and has lost them all. Three of these games have come in the league. One on the road at Virginia, and two at home vs Pittsburgh, and this past Friday night against Florida State. In that one, the Eagles came back twice to force extra baseball only to lose in the eleventh.

Virginia Techs first baseman Sam Fragale had himself a busy night vs Old Dominion last Wednesday night. He recorded 17 putouts in a win over the ODU. The putouts were two shy of the all-time school record of 19, which is held by David Fitt vs James Madison on March 30, 1995.

Head Coach Mike Martin, is closing in on becoming the winningest coach in NCAA history. With their three-game sweep of Boston College (including a win at Fenway Park) Martin is now just three wins away from tying the late Augie Garrido mark of 1,975 wins. The Seminoles have four games scheduled for this upcoming week. A midweek game at Stetson, followed by a weekend series at home against the Miami Hurricanes. History could be made over this weekend.