ACC Weekend Preview: April 21
#2 Wake Forest (32-5) at Pittsburgh (16-18)
Heading into the 7th weekend of ACC play, Wake Forest still hasn’t dropped a conference series and appears to be the ACC’s best team. The Demon Deacons are coming off a big series win at Louisville and will be looking to sweep an under-performing Pitt Panthers squad.
Yes, Pitt is coming off a massive series win over #9 Virginia in Charlottesville but also got beat handily in the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia midweek. And, aside from that series win at Virginia, they’ve been pretty unimpressive lately, with losses to Youngstown State and Kent State in recent weeks.
Friday, 6 pm: Sean Sullivan vs Jack Sokol
Saturday, 4 pm (ACCN): Rhett Lowder vs Logan Evans
Sunday, 1 pm: Josh Hartle vs Kyle Moseley
#9 Virginia (32-6) at Notre Dame (20-15)
Virginia’s 23-game home winning streak was snapped last weekend, during that disappointing series loss to Pittsburgh, but they rebounded nicely with a 19-6 road victory over in-state rival VCU during the midweek. UVA leads the nation in batting average and is 4th in ERA. The ACC Coastal Division leaders will be looking to notch another road series victory in South Bend.
Notre Dame needed to rebound during the midweek themselves after losing a series at Clemson last weekend, despite a decent offensive performance. They were able to win both of their midweek games over Valparaiso and Western Michigan, respectively.
Friday, 6 pm: Brian Edginton vs Aidan Tyrell
Saturday, 3 pm: Nick Parker vs Brian Hely
Sunday, 1 pm: Jack O’Connor vs TBA
#10 Louisville (26-10) at Duke (24-12)
Louisville is having a somewhat up and down season so far, and they appear to be struggling lately after dropping a big home series to #2 Wake Forest last weekend and losing midweek to Indiana. Louisville will be looking to get back on track against Duke, over whom they hold a 10-3 all-time record.
Duke has been a bit of surprise in the ACC this season, and they are 9-8 in conference play following a massive series win at #19 Boston College last weekend. The Blue Devils have NCAA Tournament aspirations, and a series win over visiting Louisville would go a long way toward helping those aspirations.
Friday, 6 pm: Ryan Hawks vs Jason White
Saturday, 7 pm (ACCN): Riley Phillips vs Alex Gow
Sunday, 1 pm: Carson Liggett vs Ryan Higgins
Clemson (22-16) at NC State (25-11)
North Carolina State is coming home for an eight-game homestand, after sweeping Florida State in Tallahassee last weekend and beating Davidson midweek. The Wolfpack, after a rough start to ACC play, have bounced back to an 8-9 conference record and are looking to build on their recent success with a series win over Clemson. Stud pitcher Matt Willadsen is out for this series and as of this writing, Head Coach Elliott Avent hasn’t named a starting pitcher for Sunday’s game. Could former ace Sam Highfill make his long awaited return to the rotation and fill the slot?
Clemson is coming off a series win at home over Notre Dame and are looking to build off that as a young team building for the future. The Tigers will have a tall task in front of them as they face a really good Wolfpack lineup.
Friday, 6 pm: Ethan Darden vs Logan Whitaker
Saturday 4 pm: Austin Gordon vs Dominic Fritton
Sunday, 1 pm: Caden Grice vs TBA
#19 Boston College (24-12) at #13 North Carolina (25-12)
Boston College has fallen back to earth a bit following their first home series loss of the season, to Duke last weekend, before dropping a midweek to UConn. The Eagles have been a massive surprise this season, but they’ll need to pass their latest test at UNC to prove they belong among the big boys in the Top 25.
A season ago, Max Carlson was one of the best pitchers in the ACC. He’s had his moments this season, most notable against ECU in February and Georgia Tech a few weeks ago, but he’s hardly been himself much of the season. UNC is #13 in the country despite their ace's troubles and are coming off a series loss to Miami.
Friday, 6 pm: Henry Leake vs Max Carlson
Saturday, 2 pm: Chris Flynn vs Connor Bovair
Sunday, 12 pm: TBA vs Jake Knapp
Georgia Tech (21-16) at #18 Miami (23-14)
The Yellow Jackets head south to Coral Gables to take on #18 Miami, after being swept in Blacksburg by Virginia Tech last weekend. As of this writing, they have not announced their starting pitchers for this series.
After being swept at Virginia, Miami rebounded to take a series win over #13 North Carolina last weekend. They did, however, lose to FAU during the midweek. They also have not announced their starting pitchers for this weekend as of this writing.
Friday, 7 pm: TBA
Saturday, 7 pm: TBA vs TBA
Sunday, 1 pm: TBA vs TBA
Virginia Tech (21-13) at Florida State (13-23)
After a disappointing start to the year, Virginia Tech finally looked to be back on track after sweeping Georgia Tech last weekend, following a 3-2 record over #9 Virginia and Duke. But, then they were beaten 16-8 by Radford midweek, and we’re back to having no idea about these Hokies. Still, a series against the hapless Seminoles might be just what the doctor ordered.
Florida State is in a transition year, but they were not expected to perform this poorly. Injuries have played a part, but they are reeling after appearing in the Top 25 polls very early in the year. They snapped an 10-game losing streak with a win over Clemson a few weeks ago, but since then, they have lost 7 in a row to Clemson, Florida, NC State, and North Florida.
Friday, 8 pm (ACCN): Anthony Arguelles vs Jackson Baumeister
Saturday, 3 pm: Drue Hackenberg vs Conner Whittaker
Sunday, 11 am: TBA vs TBA
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