ACC Baseball Weekend Roundup: Virginia is legit.

Virginia @ FSU Series

The headline matchup of the weekend as the ACC started conference play was a series in Tallahassee between #1 Virginia and #5 Florida State with Virginia taking 2 of 3 on the road.

Virginia's ace Danny Hultzen bested FSU ace Sean Gilmartin in Game 1, and UVA held the ACC's #2 offensive team to just 3 hits in a 5-0 shutuout win. The 2nd game saw FSU jump out to a big 8-3 lead going into the 9th inning, but VA put up a 6-spot to win the game 9-8. Game 3 was another offensive slugfest with FSU coming out on top 9-8.

UPCOMING

Virginia now stands at (12-3, 2-1 ACC) and faces William & Mary again Tuesday (defeated them 12-6 midweek), @ JMU Wednesday, and Boston College this weekend. I would expect UVA to be a unanimous #1 this week, this is a very balanced team.

FSU is now (13-2,1-2 ACC) and will face Florida in Gainesville on Tuesday before going to Chapel Hill.

NC State (11-4, 0-3) - swept by Clemson, and even their two capable pitchers got touched up pretty good.

UPCOMING: They'll now continue on the road with UNC-Central Tues., UNC-W Weds, and at Wake Forest for the weekend. 

Duke @ UNC Series

Duke won their midweek set against Quinnipiac 10-3, and 5-0. Another game against Wofford was postponed. Quinnipiac was also swept by NC State last weekend.

UNC was shutout 3-0 by William & Mary. Three Tribe pitchers combined to throw a four-hit shutout in the win. The Tar Heels only had four hits and five base runners all day. NC use a 6-run 1st to beat St. Mary's 8-2 the next day.

Duke then went into Chapel Hill and proved that the Tarholes were overrated, taking 2 of 3.

UNC managed to win game one, pounding Duke 21-9, behind Matt Harvey (3-0).Eleven different Tar Heels posted at least one hit and eight different players recorded at least one RBI. The 21 runs on 21 hits are the most since an April 15, 2009 Carolina win over Wofford 20-4. Goodwin paced the Heels going 4-for-4 with five RBI and four runs scored. The freshman was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle en route to mashing his team-leading third home run of the season.

UNC's pitching was highly thought of, and exposed in Game 2 as Duke won 15-11. Game 3 went to the Blue Devils 5-3.

With the win, Duke  (11-4, 2-1 ACC) takes the series from ranked North Carolina (12-4, 1-2 ACC). The victories give the Blue Devils their second straight series win over the Tar Heels after taking two out of three games in 2009 when the Tar Heels were the top-ranked team in the country.

Duke UPCOMING: Liberty Wednesday, then at home against Miami.

UNC UPCOMING:  T-W at home vs. Princeton, then at home vs. FSU.

Boston College @ Miami

BC started the week with a midweek set against FIU, splitting it 11-5 and losing the 2nd 18-14.

Miami won their midweek contest against UCF 19-2.  Stephen Perez led UM's offensive attack, going 4-for-6 with six RBI while starter Steven Ewing (2-0) pitched well for the second straight start to open his career. Perez, who had just four RBI in 10 games coming in, recorded a third of UM's 18 RBI on the night. The highlight of his performance at the plate came in the seventh, when his first career homer came in the form of a grand slam blast to right that put the `Canes up 13 at the time.

On Friday, Pat Dean, who confused and jammed batters all night, allowed six hits and had a season-high nine strikeouts as BC shutout Miami 3-0. Only three runners were able to get into scoring position with Dean on the bump. In his last three outings against the `Canes, he is 3-0 with a 0.41 ERA - allowing one run in 22.0 innings - and has struck out 21 while walking two.

Miami struck back in game 2, winning 7-1. Senior right-hander Jason Santana (1-1) allowed just one run while striking out a career-high eight in six innings of work.

Yasmani Grandal capped off an impressive weekend at the plate going 4-for-4 with a three-run homer, a double and two singles as Miami used a 11-4 win Sunday to secure a series victory over Boston College. Grandal went 7-for-11 and tallied 13 total bases on the weekend. On Sunday, he drove in three, scored three times and recorded his second four-hit game of his career.

BC UPCOMING: BC  (6-8, 1-2 ACC) continues its long opening road trip northward against UCONN, Bryant, and at Virginia this weekend.

Miami UPCOMING: (10-4, 2-1), Fordham T-W, then @ Duke.

Wake Forest - Georgia Tech

GT swept Wake, who have now lost 5 straight. Wake lost to Coastal Carolina 9-4 Tuesday and UNC-W on Wednesday 10-3 before running into an offensive juggernaut in Atlanta. GT's midweek game against Mercer was postponed.

GT's Deck McGuire pitched his first career complete game, holding Wake Forest to just three hits in a 9-1 win.

"I've done a better job this year of keeping my pitch count down," McGuire said. "I tried to keep the ball down and use all four of my pitches to keep them off balance. "Our defense played great out there tonight, and it was just one of those days where everything seemed to go right."

 

On a night marred by cold weather and wet conditions, McGuire (3-0) put on a show, and reminded those in attendance why he was named the 2009 ACC Pitcher of the Year. The Richmond, Va. native struck out eight batters and allowed just one run on three Demon Deacon hits. McGuire retired 17 straight batters at one point, a stretch that lasted from the second to the eighth inning.

"I think the four-hour rain delay really loosened me up," added McGuire when asked about the long wait to start the game. "I went into our weight room, put some head phones on, and read a book to stay focused."

McGuire and VA's Danny Hultzen are fast separating themselves as the best starters in the conference.

Georgia Tech rallied from seven runs down, scoring eight in the bottom of the sixth, for a 15-8 comeback win over Wake Forest in Game 2.

Sophomore Matt Skole and senior Tony Plagman led the attack with three hits apiece, while Skole's two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth started the comeback for the Jackets. Skole added a double and three RBI's on the day, while extending his hitting streak to seven games.

The rubber game went to GT 6-5. With one-out and junior Jeff Rowland on third, Leonida muscled the first pitched he saw from Wake Forest reliever Brandon Johnson (0-2) to right field, giving Rowland enough time to slide past the Demon Deacon catcher for the 6-5 lead, and the eventual win. For the second consecutive day, the Jackets had to rally for the win. For the second consecutive game, the Tech bullpen out-dueled the Wake Forest bullpen.

WF UPCOMING: (6-11, 0-3) Gardner-Webb, then NC State at home. I dont think WF's pitching staff will survive it.

GT UPCOMING: (13-1, 3-0) Georgia Tuesday at home, then a weekend series in College Park.

Maryland @ Virginia Tech

VT split a midweek set with Bryant, winning 5-4 Tuesday and losing 5-3 Wednesday night. Tech went on to take the series against Maryland 2-1.

Brett Harman shut down Virginia Tech batters for eight innings and the Terps came up with key hits all afternoon as Maryland won its Atlantic Coast Conference opener, 10-0, on Friday. It was the first time Maryland shut out an ACC opponent since a 7-0 win over NC State on May 4, 2002. Harman spread out seven hits and didn't allow Virginia Tech to record two hits in one inning. The junior right-hander struck out five and walked three to improve to 2-2 on the season. Justin Wright (2-2) took the loss for Virginia Tech, giving up five earned runs in four innings.

VT's bats woke up in Game 2, pummeling MD 13-4. Virginia Tech's Steve Domecus hit a grand slam as part of the big second inning. After an error and a single gave the Hokies runners on first and second, Maryland starter Eric Potter hit Michael Seaborn with a pitch and walked Mike Kaminski to give Tech its first run. Potter then hit Andrew Rash with a pitch to plate another Virginia Tech run, and with the bases still loaded Domecus homered to make it 6-1 Hokies. Virginia Tech held Maryland to just three hits.

Virginia Tech twice overcame one-run deficits and scored the game's final five runs to defeat Maryland 8-4 on Sunday and claim a series victory. Virginia Tech starter Matthew Price (2-1) went eight innings, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out six in the win.

VT UPCOMING: (11-4, 2-1) Columbia Tuesday, Rider with a two-game midweek set, then @ Clemson.

MD UPCOMING:(6-8, 1-2) The Terps host Old Dominion on Tuesday at 4 p.m., then travel to Williamsburg, Va., to face William & Mary at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. They get GT at home next weekend.