BC Baseball at URI Tuesday, Hosts Harvard Wednesday

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MIDWEEK PITCHING MATCH-UPS

Tuesday at Rhode Island, 3:30 p.m.: RHP-Joe Mancini (3-5, 5.62) vs. TBA
Wednesday vs. Harvard, 5:30 p.m.: LHP-Joey Walsh (3-6, 7.55) vs. TBA

BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES

Record: 22-24 (8-16 ACC)
Coach: Mike Gambino
Career Record/Years: 199-272/9
Rank: NR RPI: 71

RHODE ISLAND RAMS

Record: 18-22 (9-6 A-10)
Coach: Raphael Cerrato
Career Record/Years: 261-220-1/10
Rank: NR RPI: 133

HARVARD CRIMSON

Record: 23-11 (12-6 Ivy League)
Coach: Bill Decker
Career Record/Years: 676-441/30
Rank: NR RPI: 100

The Boston College baseball team is again in action twice in the midweek. The Eagles visit Rhode Island on Tuesday, April 30 at 3:30 p.m. to close out the month. BC then returns home on Wednesday, May 1 for a 5:30 p.m. contest against Harvard; a match-up that will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

ABOUT THE EAGLES

Boston College is 22-24 on the season and 6-5 against opponents from New England, having won five in a row vs. its regional rivals. Freshman outfielder Sal Frelick remains the Eagles’ top hitter at .367 to go with 32 RBI, 30 runs and 18 stolen bases. Senior third baseman Jake Alu tallied 13 hits last week to lift his average to .362. The duo atop the BC lineup is fourth and fifth in the ACC, respectively. Junior first baseman Jack Cunningham is hitting .291 with a team-leading eight home runs; the most by an Eagle in a single season since 2015. As a team, BC is second in the ACC with a .289 batting average and is fifth in ACC only games at .280.

SCOUTING THE RAMS

Since visiting Brighton earlier this month, Rhode Island has dropped back-to-back Atlantic-10 series at Davidson and at home against George Mason. The Rams are 18-22 on the season and 9-6 in conference. Center fielder and leadoff hitter Austin White leads the URI lineup with a .317 average and 10 stolen bases. First baseman Xavier Vargas is second at .303 with a team-high 28 RBI.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON

Harvard heads toward the final week of its regular season at 23-11 overall and 12-6 in the Ivy League. The Crimson, which fell in the Beanpot title game to UMass, is led by first baseman Patrick McColl; the nation’s second-best hitter at .430. Outfielder Jake Suddleson is hitting at a .406 clip with 52 RBI. McColl and Suddleson have each hit 11 home runs.

RACE TOWARD THE RECORD BOOK

With nine games remaining in the regular season, senior right-handed pitcher Thomas Lane is two appearances away from tying the BC single-season record for pitching appearances in a season at 32. Nate Bayuk set the record in 2009. Freshman outfielder Sal Frelick has the Eagles’ records in the ACC era for batting average (Matt McGovern, 2011 – .371) and on-base percentage (Jake Palomaki, 2015 – .447) in his sights. Frelick enters the week hitting .367 with a .447 OBP. Junior shortstop Brian Dempsey is one sacrifice-fly away from tying Ryan Leahy (2004) for the single-season record at seven. Senior LHP Dan Metzdorf is two innings and six strikeouts from entering the top-10 of BC’s career rankings.

IN THE BBCOR ERA

The beginning of the BBCOR bat era coincided with head coach Mike Gambino‘s first season as head coach at his alma mater. The NCAA’s change in bats saw a drop off in offensive numbers as BC dropped from 6.6 runs per game to 4.2 and 70 total home runs to 15. This season, the Eagles’ .289 team batting average is better than its high of .277 during the BBCOR era in 2012. BC is slugging .409; its second-highest percentage since .409 in 2012. The Eagles have also posted their best OBP of the era at .367. With nine games left in the regular season, BC’s 259 runs rank fourth and 25 home runs rank third in the last nine seasons.

UP NEXT

The Eagles are on the road against Virginia Tech while holding a one-game lead on the Hokies in the ACC standings with two series left before the ACC Championship. The series begins Saturday, May 4 and concludes Monday, May 6 with the finale broadcast to a national television audience on ESPNU at 7 p.m. The first two games will air on ACC Network Extra.