ACC Weekend Preview (March 25th-27th)

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The ACC enters the third weekend of play this weekend with the Florida State Seminoles leading the Atlantic Division with a 4-2 conference record. The Clemson Tigers are in second with a 3-3 mark while Boston College and Wake Forest are tied for third at 2-4. Maryland and NC State are in a tie for last place at 1-5. The Coastal Division is led by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Miami Hurricanes who have a perfect 6-0 record through the first two weekend of play. Virginia is in third place with a 5-1 conference mark while North Carolina is fourth at 4-2. Rounding out the division is Duke at 2-4 and Virginia Tech at 0-6.

The marquee series in the ACC this weekend features a matchup of the only two undefeated squads in Coral Gables between Georgia Tech and Miami. The Miami pitching staff has been outstanding since starting ACC play as they have a team ERA of 1.50. Georgia Tech has also been strong in the pitching department as they have a staff ERA of 2.14 on the year lead by Mark Pope who is a perfect 5-0 with a ridiculous 0.23 ERA.

The rest of the weekend series see Maryland visiting Virginia, Wake Forest heading to Florida State, Duke visiting intrastate rival UNC, Clemson going to NC State, and Boston College hosting Virginia Tech in Kingston RI as the Eagles field is not ready to go.

Maryland (11-10, 1-5 ACC) at #3 Virginia (21-2, 5-1 ACC)

Probable Starting Pitchers
Fri. -UMD TBA vs UVA LHP Danny Hultzen (4-0, 1.05 ERA)
Sat. – UMD RHP David Carroll (4-1, 2.84 ERA) vs UVA RHP Tyler Wilson (3-0, 2.54 ERA)
Sun. – UMD LHP Eric Potter (2-2, 3.13 ERA) vs UVA RHP Cody Winiarski (2-1, 3.76 ERA)

Prediction
Brian Foley: UVA 3-0

Wake Forest (7-13, 2-4 ACC) at #7 FSU (16-5, 4-2 ACC)

Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday WF LHP Austin Stadler (Jr., 0-4, 7.62 ERA) vs. FSU LHP Sean Gilmartin (Jr., 4-0, 1.73 ERA)
Saturday WF LHP Tim Cooney (So., 2-1, 1.83 ERA) vs. FSU RHP Scott Sitz (So., 2-0, 2.70 ERA)
Sunday WF LHP Zach White (Jr., 0-2, 5.60 ERA) vs. FSU RHP Gary Merians (Jr., 3-1, 2.25 ERA) or RHP Hunter Scantling (Jr., 1-0, 1.04 ERA)

Prediction
Brian Foley: FSU 3-0

Duke (15-8, 2-4 ACC) at #13 UNC (20-3, 4-2 ACC)

Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday: DU: Dennis O’Grady, RHP (4-0, 3.54 ERA) vs UNC: Patrick Johnson, RHP (4-0, 1.67 ERA)
Saturday: DU: Dillon Haviland, LHP (1-1, 1.06 ERA) vs UNC: Kent Emanuel, LHP (3-1, 1.84 ERA)
Sunday: DU: Marcus Stroman, RHP (1-1, 3.38 ERA) vs UNC: Chris Munnelly, RHP (2-1, 5.30 ERA)

Prediction
Brian Foley: Duke 2-1

#14 Clemson (12-7, 3-3 ACC) at NC State (12-10, 1-5 ACC)

Probable Starting Pitchers
Clemson
Day # Pitcher Pos. Cl. W-L ERA
Fri. 33 Scott Weismann RHP Jr. 2-2 5.84
Sat. TBA
Sun. 20 Scott Firth RHP So. 1-0 2.93

N.C. State
Day # Pitcher Pos. Cl. W-L ERA
Fri. 39 Cory Mazzoni RHP Jr. 1-2 3.31
Sat. 35 Danny Healey RHP So. 1-2 6.49
Sun. 38 D.J. Thomas LHP Fr. 0-1 4.85

Prediction
Brian Foley: Clemson 2-1

 

#17 Georgia Tech (18-4, 6-0 ACC) at Miami (FL) (14-8, 6-0 ACC)

Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday: RHP Mark Pope (5-0, 0.23, 38.2 IP, 32 SO) vs. LHP Bryan Radziewski (3-1, 1.95 ERA, 27.2 IP, 36 SO)
Saturday: LHP Jed Bradley (3-0, 1.44, 31.1 IP, 43 SO) vs. RHP E.J. Encinosa (1-2, 3.41 ERA, 29.0 IP, 23 SO)
Sunday: RHP Buck Farmer (3-1, 2.43, 29.2 IP, 33 SO) vs. RHP Eric Whaley (4-1, 2.61 ERA, 31.0 IP, 32 SO)

Prediction
Brian Foley: GT 2-1

Virginia Tech (13-10, 0-6 ACC) vs Boston College (8-10, 2-4 ACC) (Kingston RI)

Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday: LHP Andrew Lawrence (0-0, 4.91) vs. LHP Joe Mantiply (2-3, 4.70)
Saturday: LHP Nate Bayuk (2-2, 4.98) vs. RHP Marc Zecchino (2-2, 3.99)
Sunday: RHP John Leonard (3-1, 2.36) vs. RHP Joe Parsons (3-1, 2.84)

Prediction
Brian Foley: VT 2-1