The North Carolina Tar Heels will head to Boston College for an odd Thursday and Saturday series with the Eagles. The Tar Heels are coming off a 14-2 victory over UNC-Wilmington on Tuesday while the Eagles enter the games after beating local rival Northeastern also on Tuesday.
North Carolina is led by Robert Woodard who is an outstanding 29-3 in his career. This season he is a perfect 6-0 with an ERA of 2.17. He will be pitching against Boston College on Friday which is the only ACC team he has not defeated. He faced the Eagles in 2006 but only lasted four innings while giving up a run on three hits. Freshman Dustin Ackley leads a potent UNC offense as he currently holds a 23 game hitting streak entering Game 1 on Thursday. Ackley is hitting for the season at a .479 clip. He has also hit five homers and driven in 45 runs. He is not the only offensive threat for the 2006 CWS finalist as Tim Federowicz and Chad Flack are among many that return from last year’s team.
Boston College is currently on a six game ACC losing streak with consecutive sweeps at the hands of FSU and NC State. The Eagles pitching has been poor as they have a staff ERA in the ACC of 6.04. The Eagles have no pitching this year as they have moved Kevin Boggan from the closer role to the number 2 starter position. He gave up 10 runs in his last start against NC State in 4.2 innings. The Eagles will send Nate Jeanes to the mound this weekend as he went seven strong innings in relief last Saturday against NC State while giving up three earned runs. The third starter’s spot is still not announced but I expect Terry Doyle will take the ball and try to regain his composure he showed this past summer in the Cape Cod League. The Eagles leading hitter is punter/outfielder Johnny Ayers who is hitting .346 on the season. Tony Sanchez has been a pleasant surprise with a .333 average.
The College Baseball Blog might attend the doubleheader on Saturday if the weather cooperates and if I can handle the cold of Massachusetts that is hitting this weekend. I predict that the BC Eagles get swept by North Carolina.
Probable Starting Pitchers
Thursday: Robert Woodard (6-0, 2.17 ERA) vs Kevin Boggan (2-3, 4.96 ERA)
Saturday Game 1: Alex White (3-1, 2.27 ERA) vs Nate Jeanes (0-2, 5.40 ERA)
Saturday Game 2: Luke Putkonen (5-1, 3.23 ERA) vs TBA
UNC Game Notes
BC Stats
