Weekend Preview: BC BASEBALL Hosts Louisville

THE FACTS

MATCHUP: Louisville (30-14, 10-11 ACC) at Boston College (15-28, 6-18 ACC)
WHERE: Harrington Athletics Village in Brighton, Mass.
WHEN: Friday, May 4 at 6 p.m. | Saturday, May 5 at 4 p.m. | Sunday, May 6 at noon
RECORD vs. Louisville: The Cardinals lead the series, 7-2

HOW TO FOLLOW
Live Stats
ACC Network Extra: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
Radio: WZBC (Friday–Sunday) |  WBNW 102.9 FM & 1120 AM (Saturday & Sunday)
Twitter:  @BCBirdball

PROMOTIONS
FRIDAY: First Responders Day – The Eagles will honor first responders, public safety and medical personnel; BC will wear BCPD hats and members of the BC police force will throw out the ceremonial first pitch
SATURDAY: Sixth Annual Military Appreciation Game – BC will honor current former military members; local veterans will throw out the ceremonial first pitch and member BC teams will unfurl the flag; there will be a live singing of the National Anthem and “God Bless America”
SUNDAY: Senior Day – The members of the Class of 2018 will be honored before the start of the game

THE MATCHUP

Pitching Matchups
FRIDAY: RHP Jacob Stevens (3-5, 5.01 ERA) vs. LHP Adam Wolf (4-2, 2.39 ERA)
SATURDAY: LHP Dan Metzdorf (1-6, 4.81 ERA) vs.  LHP Nick Bennett (5-1, 2.32 ERA)
SUNDAY: RHP Brian Rapp (3-5, 3.82 ERA) vs.  RHP Bobby Miller (4-1, 0.92 ERA)

Scouting the Cardinals

• Louisville comes into the series with a 30-14 record, 10-11 in ACC play. The Cardinals have won eight of their 13 road games.
• They are first in the ACC with a 3.29 team ERA and fourth in the conference with .272 batting clip. They are the only ACC team with more stolen bases than the Eagles, sitting at 90 swipes on the year.
• The Cardinals are coming off an 8-4 midweek win at No. 15 Vanderbilt. They dropped two of three to Virginia at home in their last ACC matchup.
• UL started the conference slate taking two of three from North Carolina before losing series at Wake Forest and at Florida State and to Clemson and NC State. The Cards swept Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
• Logan Wyatt leads UL with a .335 batting average, good for sixth in the conference He has racked up 52 hits, including a league-leading 19 doubles, and 43 RBIs.
• Josh Stowers is second in the league to freshman Chris Galland with 25 stolen bases.
• Friday night starter LHP Adam Wolf is fourth in the league with a 2.39 ERA. His 76 strikeouts rank eighth. Over 11 starts, the southpaw has allowed 55 hits, 25 runs – 18 earned – and 19 walks. In his last start, he went eight innings, allowed five hits, one run and one walk whiling striking out six in a no decision against Indiana State.
• Saturday’s starter LHP Nick Bennett is 5-1 a 2.32 ERA. He has made six starts and nine total appearances. Over 42.2 innings, the lefty has allowed 32 this, 16 runs – 11 earned – 15 walks and struck out 43. In his last outing against the Sycamores, he collected a win in a six-inning start, allowing six hits, two runs and two walks with five strikeouts.
• On Sunday, RHP Bobby Miller will throw for the Cardinals. He has a 0.92 ERA and a 4-1 record over 12 appearances, including four starts. In 39.1 innings, he has allowed 18 hits, seven runs – four earned – 12 walks and struck out 33. In his last time out, Miller threw seven scoreless against ISU, allowed five hits, two walks and struck out six in a no decision.

THE SERIES

• The Eagles return to The Heights to host Louisville for the final home series of the 2018 season.
• It marks just the second time the Cardinals make the trip to Chestnut Hill since they joined the ACC in 2015.
• Louisville has swept BC in both series in Kentucky while the Eagles collected the program’s first two wins at home in 2016.
• When the Cardinals were ranked fourth in the nation, the Eagles walked off with the win on April 23, 2016 as Nick Sciortino drove in the winning run on a walk-off base hit.
• Louisville will not be ranked for the first time in a series against the Eagles. The Cardinals were the No. 1 team in the nation in 2017, fourth in 2016 and 13th in 2015.

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE EAGLES

• The Boston College baseball team earned a 6-0 shutout at Notre Dame on Saturday but dropped its other two games in the series by one run each. The Eagles held a lead in both losses to the Irish.
• The Eagles have not won a one-run games this season, falling to 0-6 after the two defeats over the weekend.
• BC’s two midweek contests were canceled due to opponents’ need to makeup conference games.
• The Eagles are second in the ACC and 12th in the country with 83 stolen bases. They are tied for third in the team record book.
• BC is fourth in the conference with a .974 fielding percentage, which is currently fifth in BC record books.
• Behind the outstanding pitching of junior LHP Dan Metzdorf, BC collected its third shutout of the season. Metzdorf tied a career high with eight innings pitched, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out three. He collected his first win of the season, retiring 17 of 18 batters through seven innings. He threw 24 straight first-pitch strikes.
• Freshman Chris Galland broke BC’s single-season steals record in the finale at Notre Dame with his 28th steal. He leads the ACC and is tied for fifth in the nation. He has reached base in 18 straight games, tying for the longest of the season for any Eagle, and his .329 batting average is seventh in the conference.
• Junior RHP Jacob Stevens recorded his 200th career strikeout on Friday.
• Senior Jake Palomaki has reached base in 39 of the Eagles’ 43 games this season with a hit in 30 of them. He has a .322 batting average, 11th in the ACC and his 58 hits tied for seventh sixth.
• Sophomore Dante Baldelli is 17-for-19 on the stolen-base path, tying for 10th on BC’s single-season record list. He is fifth in the ACC.
• Senior RHP Brian Rapp‘s .196 opponent batting clip this season is currently tied for the lowest in BC record books.
• In 15 starts in right, sophomore Joe Suozzi has logged 16 hits, 13 runs, five RBIs, four doubles and his first career home run against Florida State on April 20. He tallied a career-high three hits at Notre Dame on April 29.
• Sophomore Brian Dempsey‘s 12 sacrifice hits on the season are tied second in BC single-season record books and his 19 career sacs are tied for seventh all-time. He has reached base in 38 of the Eagles’ 43 games this season.
• Junior RHP Thomas Lane has inherited 28 runners in his team-leading 26 appearances out of the bullpen. Just four have scored and all between April 13-22. He is second on the bullpen staff with 26 Ks and has the lowest opponent batting average at .166.