Boston College and Clemson Set for Weekend Series

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College baseball hosts Clemson for a three-game, ACC Atlantic Division series at the Harrington Athletics Village this weekend. Game one will be broadcast nationally at 4 p.m. Friday on ACC Network. The following two games will be streamed on ACCNX at 3 p.m. Saturday and Noon Sunday.

About the Eagles…
Following its second eight-run comeback of the season, BC enters the weekend at 12-7 overall with a 3-6 ACC record. The Eagles’ offense ranks second in the league in slugging (.472), third in batting average (.285), on-base percentage (.383), and runs per game (7.5). Junior center fielder Sal Frelick leads the way with a .395 average, which is fifth in the league, and 32 hits, 23 runs, and eight doubles; all tops in the ACC. Sophomore second baseman Luke Gold is hitting .359 with eight home runs and leads the league in total bases (62) and RBI (27). Junior right-handers Mason Pelio (2-3) and Emmet Sheehan (3-2) anchor the rotation in games one and two. Sheehan struck out eight in seven innings of one-run ball to beat UNC his last time out.

Weekend Pitching Match-Ups (Brighton, Mass. • Harrington Athletics Village)
Friday, 4 p.m. (ACC Network): RHP-Mason Pelio (2-2, 5.62) vs. RHP-Jackson Lindley (0-0, 10.80)
Saturday, 3 p.m. (ACCNX): RHP-Emmet Sheehan (2-2, 5.33) vs. LHP-Keyshawn Askew (0-0, 0.00)
Sunday, Noon (ACCNX): LHP-Joe Vetrano (0-0, 6.52) vs. TBA

Scouting the Tigers…
Clemson is 9-9 overall and 3-6 in the ACC after a series win over No. 13 Virginia Tech and a Tuesday victory against Georgia Southern. Right-handed pitcher Davis Sharpe is 2-1 with a 5.95 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 19.2 innings across four starts. Left-handed reliever Mat Clark has made five appearances, totaling 19 innings, with a 2.37 ERA and a save. Shortstop James Parker is hitting a team-high .343 with a 1.039 OPS and five home runs.

Last Time They Met…
Clemson overcame a 6-4 deficit after the stretch, to walk-off BC and sweep the series at DKS in the first and final ACC weekend of the shortened 2020 season. The game ended on a walk-off fielder’s choice hit to short by Parker with the throw home, not in time. The Tigers won the first two games by scores of 4-3 and 12-5.

All-Time vs. Clemson…
In a series that began when Boston College joined the ACC for the 2006 baseball season, Clemson leads the all-time series, 36-10. The Eagles are 4-17 at home, including a Sunday win over the No. 20 Tigers in Clemson’s first visit to the Harrington Athletics Village in 2019. In that game, BC snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Tigers behind 6.2 innings from Pelio in a 3-2 decision. BC’s lone series win vs. CU came in 2008; taking the first two vs. the No. 24 Tigers.

Pure Power is Pure Gold…
In just 18 games, Luke Gold has hit eight home runs; leading a Boston College lineup that has gone deep 2 times; already besting season totals from 2018 (14), 2017 (15), and 2016 (20). Gold is just the third BC hitter with six or more home runs in a season since 2015; Chris Shaw (11, 2015) and Jack Cunningham (9, 2019). Gold posted a three-home run weekend at Auburn and homered in three straight games vs. Holy Cross and UNC. He became the first Eagles since Mickey Wiswall (2010 vs. Clemson).

Frelick Keeps it 100…
Sal Frelick needed three hits in the final game of the weekend vs. UNC (3/21) to pass teammate Cody Morissette for the fastest to 100 in program history. In his 72nd career game, Frelick went 3-for-5 to best Morissette by a game. A year earlier, Morissette became the fastest to 100; passing former first-round pick Tony Sanchez (81 games). Sanchez still holds the record for most hits (119) in 100 career games; set in 2008. Morissette sits at 113 hits in 85 games, while Frelick has 101 in 73 games.