ACC Elite Loom For Baseball

Time is running out for Eagles baseball. Aside from four non-conference games, the team has only two series left on its schedule, both against top-tier ACC squads. To stand a good chance at the ACC tournament, and to have a hope of making the College World Series, these next two match-ups against No. 5 Florida State and No. 17 Georgia Tech are must-win situations for the Eagles.

Unfortunately, the team does not have much in the way of momentum going into this weekend's series against the Seminoles, having just come out of an ugly road series against Virginia Tech. The Hokies (32-14, 14-10 ACC), ranked No. 16 nationally, swept the Eagles, outscoring the visitors 20-10 over three games.

The trip to Blacksburg had something of a silver lining, however, in the form of Pat Dean's strong performance on the mound on Saturday. He gave up only three runs over six innings, but found little run support from the BC lineup. The sole run came from right fielder John Spatola, who notched his 11th home run of the season.

Florida State, on the other hand, had no such offensive troubles in last weekend's match-up against Le Moyne. The Seminoles hammered the Dolphins, 17-1, in the series finale on Sunday, led by infielder Sherman Johnson, who had five RBIs in the game.

Seminoles pitcher Scott Sintz held Le Moyne bats quiet for five innings, allowing just one run. Sintz's record is now 4-0, which is matched by fellow hurlers Brian Busch and Mike McGee. The Eagles' lineup will have to be ready for such a dangerous pitching staff. Offensive leader Robbie Anston, who is currently batting a .352 average, had an uncharacteristically quiet weekend in Blacksburg. The center fielder went 2-11 over the series.

Fellow slugger, first baseman Mickey Wiswall, slapped a pair of solo shots in the series finale, his 13th and 14th of the year. Wiswall, currenty hitting .290, is just shy of joining the four Eagles who are hitting above .300: Anston, Spatola, Anthony Melchionda, and Matt Hamlet. The offense's lack of consistency has been one of the key issues for the squad over the course of the year.

On the weekend of May 20, Georgia Tech will come to Chestnut Hill to face the Eagles for the first time this season. The Yellow Jackets (36-9, 17-7 ACC) are another conference powerhouse, and will take on the Eagles for what will be their season finale.

Georgia Tech's weekend did not go as expected, however, as the team dropped a series on the road to NC State (28-18, 11-13 ACC). The Wolfpack's pitching staff held the visiting squad's robust offense to 10 total runs over the series. Wolfpack hurler Cory Mazonni's five innings of no-hit ball set his team up for its 4-2 win. The Eagles remember Mazonni from the BC-NC State series in April, during which BC bats lit up Mazonni for five runs and six hits.

In terms of match-ups, Georgia Tech seems to be the more manageable of the two looming threats. The Seminoles have lost only two of their series this season, dropping one apiece to Virginia and Virginia Tech.

In order to challenge Florida State, the Eagles' pitching will need to bring much stronger stuff to the table than was seen at Virginia Tech. John Leonard got roughed up in the series closer, giving up seven runs on 11 hits in his 5.2 innings of work. The blowout, his first loss this season, caused the right-hander's ERA to shoot up to 4.12.

Fellow pitcher Mike Dennhardt also suffered at the bats of the Hokies, who rang him up with five runs during his start in the season opener. This quality of pitching will not do much against a team coming off a 17-1 thrashing of Le Moyne.

The team will simply need to play its best kind of baseball to succeed against the visiting Seminoles and Yellow Jackets. Anston and the rest of the lineup will need to provide the runs they've shown they can generate to support the pitching staff. The starters should look to emulate Pat Dean's three-run performance on Saturday.

If they can hold the high-powered Florida State and Georgia Tech to a few runs, and if the offense brings its best to the plate, the Eagles may stand a chance of winning these must-win series.