Annual ALS Awareness Game Returns Friday on ACC Network

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College baseball hosts its Ninth Annual ALS Awareness Game on Friday at 3 p.m. against North Carolina State on ACC Network. The series continues Saturday and Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 3 and 1 p.m., respectively, on ACCNX.

About the Eagles…
BC is 14-13 overall and 4-11 in the ACC. Junior center fielder Sal Frelick leads the Eagles’ lineup with a .368 batting average and 1.130 OPS. He has scored 29 runs and hit five home runs. Sophomore third baseman/DH Luke Gold is second with a .330 average and leads the team in home runs (8), RBI (31) and slugging percentage (.661). Graduate shortstop Brian Dempsey is approaching 100 career runs and 100 career RBI with 97 runs and 98 RBI through 198 career games. His 206 career hits rank sixth all-time and is three away from moving into third in program history. Boston College starting pitchers have gone six or more innings in four straight games. Junior right-hander Emmet Sheehan has struck out a team-high 53 batters with a 4.50 earned run average and 3-2 record.

Scouting the Wolfpack…
NC State is 11-11 and 5-10 in the ACC after a 1-8 start in league play before sweeping No. 11 UNC. First baseman Austin Murr is hitting .358 with a 1.113 OPS to go with five home runs. Catcher Luca Tresh has hit seven home runs with a .300 batting average. NC State pitchers own a .250 batting average against, including RHP Reid Johnston’s .237. He is 2-1 with a 4.31 ERA after a seven-inning start vs. Clemson.

Weekend Pitching Match-Ups (Brighton, Mass. • Harrington Athletics Village)
Friday, 3 p.m. (ACC Network): RHP-Mason Pelio (3-3, 6.06) vs. RHP-Reid Johnson (2-1, 4.31)
Saturday, 3 p.m. (ACCNX): RHP-Emmet Sheehan (3-2, 4.50) vs. RHP-Sam Highfill (1-2, 4.54)
Sunday, 1 p.m. (ACCNX): TBA vs. TBA

Last Time They Met…
The Eagles salvaged the series against the No. 1 Wolfpack with a two-run eighth behind 7.2 innings of one-run ball by freshman Mason Pelio. BC broke a 1-1 tie with a Jake Alu RBI-single and added an insurance run on a Frelick pinch-hit sacrifice-fly. Pelio struck out seven to two walks.

All-Time vs. NC State…
Boston College is 16-27 all-time against North Carolina State, including a 16-25 mark in ACC regular season games. The two sides met for the first time in 2003; a 4-3 NC State win in Charleston, S.C. The Eagles and Wolfpack next matched up in BC’s first-ever ACC series; a sweep for No. 22 NC State in Raleigh. Boston College lost each of the first 10 match-ups in league play, but are 16-15 since winning the 2009 series at home. In 2017, the Eagles swept the Wolfpack; starting the series with an 8-3 win at Fenway Park in the team’s annual ALS Awareness Game.

ALS Awareness…
Boston College honors the memory of Pete Frates ’07 with its Ninth Annual ALS Awareness Game. Frates, who captained the Eagles, passed on Dec. 9, 2019 after a seven-year battle with the disease.

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 122 hits in 93 games, while Frelick has 112 in 81 games.