2009 ACC Tournament Preview

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The 2009 ACC Tournament begins on Wednesday with the top eight teams split into two separate divisions. Division A contains Florida State, Boston College, Georgia Tech, and Miami (FL). Division B consists of North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, and Virginia. The Florida State Seminoles ended up winning the Atlantic Division title while North Carolina won the Coastal Division title.

Division A

Florida State (40-14, 19-9 ACC)

FSU overcame a slow start to the ACC season to win the Atlatic Division by a full game over the Clemson Tigers.

Players to Watch
Tyler Holt- He is the top hitter on the Florida State squad as he finished the season with a .402 with five homers and 25 RBI. Holt is the table setter for the FSU offense as he sports a .527 OBP while stealing 31 bases in 35 attempts.
Mike McGee- He led the Seminoles with 16 homers and 65 RBI.

Pitchers to Watch
Sean Gilmartin- The freshman stepped into the number 1 spot in the rotation as he went 10-2 with 3.71 ERA in his 14 appearances (12 starts).
Jimmy Marshall- He leads the team with nine saves while having a 3-2 record and a 4.76 ERA.

Georgia Tech (34-15-1, 17-10-1 ACC)

Georgia Tech entered the last weekend of the season with the chance to win the Coastal Division but ended up losing two out of three games against Duke giving North Carolina the division title.

Players to Watch
Luke Murton- He led the Yellow Jackets in hitting with a .379 average. He finished the season also top on the team with 16 homers while finishing second in RBI.
Tony Plagman- He finished the season third on the squad in hitting with a .349 average while leading the team with 63 RBI and second in homers at 15.
Derek Dietrich- He had a disappointing sophomore season but still hit .321 with nine homers and 48 RBI.

Pitchers to Watch
Deck McGuire- The sophomore RHP pitcher solidified the weekend rotation by going a perfect 10-0 with a 2.63 ERA in his 13 appearances (all starts).
Mark Pope- led the team with eight saves but has a 5-1 record and an ERA of 8.24. We should see if he is used in the ACC Tournament in a key spot.

Miami (FL) Hurricanes (35-18, 18-12 ACC)

The Miami Hurricanes enter the weekend as the 16th ranked team in the country while being seeded fifth in the ACC Tournament. This Miami Hurricanes squad has some major issues in all facets of the game but when they put it all together can be a very difficult team to beat.

Players to Watch
Scott Lawson- led the team in hitting at .347 but is a defensive weakness for the Hurricanes as he has made 13 errors on the year.
Chris Hermann- finished with a .346 average and has been attrocious in the field with 14 errors and a fielding percentage of .850.

Pitchers to Watch
Chris Hernandez- was the top Miami (FL) starting pitcher this year with a 7-3 record and a 4.31 ERA.
Kyle Bellamy- is one of the top relief pitcher in the country and showed it this season with a 3-1 record and a 1.09 ERA with 15 saves in 27 appearances.

Boston College (31-23, 13-15 ACC)

Boston College will be making their first appearance in the ACC Tournament this season. The Eagles have cooled off since the early part of the season as they finished the last two series with a 2-4 record in the ACC.

Players to Watch
Robbie Anston- serves as the Boston College leadoff batter as he finished the season with a .366 average while leading the team with 14 stolen bases in 17 attempts.
Tony Sanchez- is considered the top catcher in the ACC this season. He finsihed second on the team with a .353 batting average while leading the team with 14 homers.

Pitchers to Watch
Pat Dean- was moved into the BC weekend rotation midway through the season. He is currently 5-4 with a 3.54 ERA in 16 appearances (13 starts).
Mike Belfiore- considered the second best relief pitcher in the conference behind Kyle Bellamy. He finished the season with a 5-1 record including eight saves while appearing in relief in all 22 appearances.

Predictions for Division A
1. Georgia Tech
2. Florida State
3. Boston College
4. Miami (FL)

Division B

North Carolina (41-14, 19-10 ACC)

The North Carolina Tar Heels won the Coastal Division title by taking two out of three games from Boston College in the final weekend of ACC action.

Players to Watch
Dustin Ackley- considered the top college hitter in the country. He picked up the 2009 ACC Player of the Year award after leading the Tar Heels in every triple crown category with a .405 BA with 17 homers and 56 RBI.
Kyle Seager- finished second on the team with a .390 average with 46 RBI.

Pitchers to Watch
Alex White- considered the second best RHP for the 2009 MLB Draft. He finished the season with a 7-3 record with a 3.38 ERA.
Brian Moran- finished the season with a 7-1 record in 30 relief appearances as he pitched 56.2 innings.

Clemson (39-17, 19-11 ACC)

Clemson finished in second place in the ACC Atlantic Division a full game behind Florida State. Clemson has had a tremendous run into being in the conversation for a Regional host position.

Players to Watch
Ben Paulsen- led the team with a .369 average while leading the team with 54 RBI. He also tied for the team lead with 11 homers.
Wilson Boyd- finished second on the squad with a .338 average.
Jeff Schaus- finished third on the squad with a .337 average while tying for the team lead with 11 homers. He is currently leading the Clemson offense over the last few weeks.
Kyle Parker- also plays on the football team. He also hit 11 homers on the year but hit .270.

Pitchers to Watch
Graham Stoneburner- led the Clemson staff with a 3.51 ERA while going 5-3 on the year.
Matt Vaughn- went 3-1 while tying for the team lead with 4 saves.
Tomas Cruz- went 2-3 while tying for the team lead with 4 saves.

Virginia (39-12-1, 16-11-1 ACC)

The Virginia Cavaliers enter the weekend after losing two out of three games to instate rival Virginia Tech Hokies last weekend.

Players to Watch
Jarrett Parker-led the Cavaliers in every triple crown category with a .380 average, 15 homers and 58 RBI.
Dan Grovatt- finished second on the squad with a .372 average and 45 RBI.

Pitchers to Watch
Danny Hultzen- the freshman has been the ace of the Cavaliers pitching staff with a 7-1 record with a 2.28 ERA.
Kevin Arrico- finished the season with 8 saves and a 2-2 record with a 2.49 ERA.

Duke (34-22, 15-15 ACC)

Duke finished the year as the seventh seed in the ACC tournament after taking two out of three from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to make the tourney.

Players to Watch
Matt Williams- led the team with a .354 average.
Nate Freiman- hit at a .346 clip while hitting 19 homers and driving in 61 runs.

Pitchers to Watch
Andrew Wolcott- was the top starting pitcher all year with a 7-3 record and a 2.79 ERA.
Chris Manno- started out the season slow after a terrific summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League. He is currently 5-5 with a 4.72 ERA.
Alex Hassan- has served as the team’s closer this season where he is 2-2 with a 4.10 ERA.

Prediction
1. UNC
2. Clemson
3. Virginia
4. Duke