BC Visits No. 11 Duke to Open ACC Play. Series Opener Set for 3 P.M

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The BC baseball team begins ACC play this weekend vs. No. 11 Duke at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The series opens Friday at 3 p.m. on ACC Network. Mike Monaco (play-by-play) and former big leaguer Adam Greenberg (color analyst) have the call. Games two and three will be streamed on ACCNX Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

About the Eagles…

BC is 3-0 following an opening-weekend sweep at Charleston Southern; outscoring the Buccaneers 34-7 in the process. The Eagles hit a collective .293 and slugged .483. Graduate shortstop Brian Dempsey led the lineup with a .455 average and five RBI. Senior left fielder Chris Galland hit .417, scored a team-high seven runs and stole three bases. Junior center fielder Sal Frelick had a team-high six hits, while hitting .400, with five runs and two steals. The team was a perfect 13-for-13 on the bases. The BC pitching staff posted a 1.67 earned run average with the starting rotation holding the opponent to one unearned run in 13 innings. On Fridays, the Eagles turn to junior right-hander Mason Pelio, who is 1-0 after five-scoreless innings with four strikeouts against CSU. Junior RHP Emmet Sheehan follows on Saturday after his second career start of six-plus innings and eight or more strikeouts with six-shutout and nine Ks.

All-Time vs. Duke…

Boston College is 19-14 all-time against Duke with all 33 match-ups coming in the Eagles’ ACC era. The Eagles are 8-7 against the Blue Devils in Durham and hold the series’ longest win streak at six with back-to-back sweeps in 2007 and 2008. The first series between the two sides was in 2006 as the Blue Devils took two of three in Chestnut Hill.

Last Time They Met…

Lefty Dan Metzdorf and the Eagles shut out the No. 25 Blue Devils in Brighton to open the series in 2019 with a 5-0 victory. Metzdorf worked out of trouble in each of the first three innings and went on to strike out nine in eight innings. Duke rallied to win the series by scores of 4-1 and 8-0 the following two days.

Golden Spikes Watch List…

Sal Frelick and Cody Morissette were both named to the Golden Spikes Award watch list by USA Baseball. Since 2008, only one BCA player has been on the watch list; Chris Shaw in 2015. The watch list is comprised of 55 players from 43 institutions. Boston College is in elite company as one of 11 schools with multiple candidates, including Arkansas, Florida, Louisville, Miami, Ole Miss, Tennessee, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wake Forest.

ACC Openers…

BC is 4-11 all-time in ACC openers, beginning with a 2-1 loss at No. 22 NC State in 2006. The Eagles are 2-8 under head coach Mike Gambino. Boston College has faced a ranked opponent in 14 of 15 ACC openers and a top-10 nine times, including each year from 2016-19.

Speeding Eagles…

The Eagles are first in the ACC with 13 stolen bases, which ranks third in the country. BC was a perfect 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts opening weekend at Charleston Southern. Chris Galland and Cody Morissette are tied for the league- and team-lead with three stolen bases each. Jack Cunningham and Sal Frelick added two steals apiece. From 2016-19, Boston College ranked in the top-three in stolen bases per game in the ACC; leading the league in 2019 at 1.62 stolen bases per game. Galland is fourth all-time in stolen bases in BC history with 48; one back of Drew Locke (2002-05) for third. Jared McGuire (2004-07) holds the program record with 70. Galland set the program’s single-season record with 28 as a freshman in 2018. That season, the Eagles averaged 1.88 per game, which ranked second in the ACC and 12th in the NCAA.

-BC-