Boston College Heads to SEC Country Eagles to visit No. 25 Auburn

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — No. 18 Boston College visits No. 25 Auburn for a three-game series in place of its previously scheduled ACC weekend at Wake Forest, which was canceled due to the Demon Deacon’s pause following recent Covid-19 test results. The series gets underway Friday at 5 p.m. ET. Game two is Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday’s finale, which will air on SECN+, is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Weekend Pitching Match-Ups (Auburn, Ala. • Plainsman Park)
Friday, 5p.m.: RHP-Mason Pelio (1-1, 6.00) vs. RHP-Richard Fitts (0-1, 6.75)
Saturday, 3 p.m.: RHP-Emmet Sheehan (2-0, 1.50) vs. RHP-Mason Barnett (0-0, 1.69)
Sunday, 2 p.m. (SECN+): LHP-Joe Vetrano (0-0, 7.71) vs. RHP-Trace Bright (2-0, 0.82)

About the Eagles…
BC is 6-1 overall, 2-1 in the ACC, and peaks in the national polls at No. 18 by Baseball America. Junior center fielder Sal Frelick is hitting a team-high .469 with 10 runs scored. Sophomore second baseman Luke Gold is second at .379 with a team-leading .724 slugging percentage and 10 RBI. Graduate first baseman Jack Cunningham overcame a 0-for-10 start and is hitting .360 with all nine hits in the last four games. Friday night junior right-hander Mason Pelio is 1-1 with a 6.00 earned run average and 11 strikeouts in nine innings. Junior righty Emmet Sheehan is 2-0 with 18 strikeouts and a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings. Graduate lefty Joey Walsh has two saves with a 3.52 ERA and eight strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work, including one spot-start.

Scouting the Tigers…
Auburn is 6-2 following a 1-2 weekend at the Round Rock Classic and peaks in the rankings at No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll. First baseman Tyler Miller is hitting a team-best .444 with two home runs and 11 RBI. Sunday starter Trace Bright is the reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week and enters the series with a 2-0 record, 0.82 ERA, and 10 strikeouts in 11 innings. The Tigers, who have made the last three regionals, including a run to the 2019 College World Series, set a program-record with a 33-0 win over Alabama A&M last month.

All-Time vs. Auburn and the SEC…
The Tigers lead the all-time series against the Eagles, 3-1, with a series win in 2004. All three Auburn wins have been by one run. Auburn has twice defeated BC 6-5 in 10 innings, most recently in 2010. The 2004 series opened the season. Freshman walk-on Pete Frates made the Eagles’ travel squad and made his debut as a defensive replacement in right field in BC’s 11-4 Saturday win. Boston College is 3-13 all-time against SEC teams, including a win against then-Big 12 affiliated Missouri at Plainsman Park in 2010. BC defeated Kentucky, 12-3, on the road in 2019. Frelick homered and drove in four runs in a 3-for-5 performance.

Last Time They Met…
BC led 2-1 after the first, but soon trailed 5-2 after the fourth. The Eagles scored two in the sixth on a Mickey Wiswall double and tied the game on a solo home run by John Spatola in the seventh. Auburn got the win in the 10th on a home run off the bat of Brian Fletcher. Wiswall went 2-for-3 with four RBI and two walks.

Inside The Polls…
The Eagles enter the week in the national polls; ranking No. 18 in the Baseball America top-25. BC is ranked for the first time since peaking at No. 16 in the final ranking of 2016 following a Super Regional appearance. It also marks just the second in-season ranking for the Eagles, who were No. 22 by Collegiate Baseball News on March 14, 2016, with a 12-3 record; the first ranking in program history.

Speeding Eagles…
The Eagles are second in the ACC with 16 stolen bases. BC was a perfect 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts opening weekend at Charleston Southern. Through seven games, five players have two or more stolen bases. 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.