ACC Baseball Weekend Roundup: UVA still rollin

Kyle Parker won ACC PoW and Chris Hernandez of Miami won ACC Pitcher of the Week honors

Parker went 8-for-17 (.471) with three homers, one double, five RBIs, 10 runs, five walks, a 1.059 slugging percentage, and .591 on-base percentage in five games this past week to lead Clemson to a 4-1 record, including a three-game sweep of Virginia Tech over the weekend.

On the season, Parker is hitting .414 with nine home runs, two doubles, 21 RBIs, 28 runs, three steals and an .829 slugging percentage. The Jacksonville, Fla., native has a .534 on-base percentage in 19 games.

New Baseball America poll - Clemson moves to #12 there after being jumped by UCLA, but are as high as 5th in ESPN.

#1 Virginia (17-3, 5-1 ACC) vs. Boston College (7-12, 1-5)

UVA hosted William & Mary and James Madison in midweek games, handling W&M 9-1 and 6-3 over JMU.

BC lost to UConn 8-4 and beat Bryant 8-2 in midweek games.

Virginia then pounded BC at home pretty well, sweeping the series. On Friday, their ace Danny Hultzen (4-1) went 8 innings, giving up 3 hits, and struck out 12 en route to a 7-1 victory.

Saturday afternoon was more of a ballgame, but UVA still won 4-3. Robert Morey (3-1) allowed only four hits and struck out eight. From the second to the sixth innings, he retired a dozen batters in a row, with five coming via strikeouts. He did not walk a batter in the game. The Eagles made it interesting in the 9th against VA closer Kevin Arico but he struck out the final batter to seal it.

Sunday UVA pounded them 11-1.

Eight of the nine Virginia starters recorded at least one hit. Dan Grovatt homered as part of a 2-for-4, four-RBI day, while Phil Gosselin also had a pair of hits. Gosselin went 7-for-10 with three doubles over the weekend.

Virginia's starting pitching was impressive all weekend. Cody Winiarski, Danny Hultzenand Robert Morey each earned wins and went at least six innings. Over the weekend the trio combined to record a 0.81 ERA in 21 innings and allowed just two earned runs, 10 hits and three walks while striking out 23.

UVA UPCOMING: Marshall Tuesday afternoon, then they host Clemson this weekend.

BC UPCOMING: BC finally starts their home schedule in Chestnut Hill against Hartford and Holy Cross, before hosting Duke this weekend.

#4 Georgia Tech (16-2, 5-1 ACC) vs. Maryland (8-11, 2-4 ACC)

Tech used a bases-loaded walk in the 8th to get the go-ahead run in a 6-5 victory over Gawja in their lone midweek game.

Maryland split midweek games, beating Old Dominion 3-2 and losing to William & Mary 5-2.

Maryland halted GT's 7 game winning streak and gave them their 2nd loss Friday afternoon 5-2. Brett Harman scattered just two runs on seven hits over eight innings and Dan Gentzler hit a pair of home runs to lift Maryland over the bumblebees. Maryland jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead on a 3-R homer off GT ace Deck McGuire. McGuire (3-1) lost for just the first time since season, and fourth time in his career after allowing five runs -two earned--on seven hits in 8.0 innings pitched.

GT bounced back in the next two games however, crushing Maryland 24-4 Saturday and 10-3 Sunday. Senior Jay Dantzler had a career-day at the plate, going 4-for-6 with two home runs and eight RBI Saturday as the Jackets pounded out 20 hits. Junior Cole Leonida was 3-for-5 with five RBI as five different players hit a home run Sunday afternoon for the 2nd time this season.

Leonida was a triple shy of the cycle, as he hit a single, double and a home run Sunday. He is now hitting .439 with five home runs on the season, and leads the team in RBI with 26.

Jed Bradley (3-1) allowed just one run on six hits, while throwing a career-high seven innings Sunday. He also struck out nine batters en route to his third win of the season.

GT UPCOMING: Mercer Tues-Wed in a home & home, then at UNC this weekend.

Maryland UPCOMING: At James Madison, a home game with UM-Baltimore County, then on the road to Tallahassee.

 

#6 Florida State (15-4, 3-3 ACC) vs. North Carolina (15-6, 2-4 ACC) Series

Former Clemson pitching coach Kevin O'Sullivan led the #2 Gators over FSU in Gainesville in their only midweek game 8-5 as the Noles blew a early 3 run lead.

FSU continued on the road for the weekend to Chapel Hell, taking 2 of 3 from the Tarholes. On Friday afternoon, with the Seminoles trailing 3-2 entering the ninth, Justin Gonzalez got things going with a one out base hit back up the middle. He would score all the way from first for the game tying run on a double to the gap in right center off the bat of Jayce Boyd. UNC put together a nice relay combination to have a play at the plate, but Gonzalez slid in safely as Tar Heel catcher Jacob Stalling could not hold on to the ball for the out.

The Seminoles then loaded the bases as Tyler Holt drew a walk and James Ramsey was hit by a pitch. Following the second Tar Heel pitching change of the inning, Boyd scored the game-winning run as Michael Morin unloaded on a wild pitch on his first delivery to the plate to make it 4-3.

The win by the Garnet and Gold spoiled a fantastic outing by North Carolina starter Matt Harvey, who did not factor in the decision on Friday night. The junior right hander threw seven shutout innings as he allowed just two hits and walked four, while tying a season-high with 11 strikeouts. It marked the fourth time in Harvey's career that he reached double-digit strikeouts in a start.

"Oh my gosh, he struck out 11 batters, 10 plays had to be made behind him," said Martin on the performance of UNC's Harvey. He struck out the rest of them, 10 plays had to be made. That is a credit to him and you might say he deserved to win. And that's the silly thing about this game...it's the greatest game in the world."

Florida State's Sean Gilmartin was just as impressive as the sophomore southpaw went six plus innings allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits as he walked three and struck out five.

On Saturday NC struck back 10-4. Norkerlina broke open a three-run game in the seventh taking advantage of two Seminoles errors to plate four runs and put it out of reach for the Noles. FSU starter John Gast was chased in the 5th after giving up 5 runs on 6 hits, and NC starter Colin Bates left after 2 consecutive walks in the 4th.

Sunday afternoon was another close battle with the Noles coming out on top 5-3, with FSU scoring twice in the 8th inning. It was the first series win over NC for FSU in Chapel Hill since 2000, but FSU's pitching showed their weakness in the series against an very average NC lineup. NC fell out of the rankings in BA.

FSU UPCOMING: Stetson at home, then they host Maryland for the weekend.

NC UPCOMING: At UNC-Greensboro, then they host Georgia Tech.

#15 Miami (14-5, 5-1) vs Duke (12-7, 2-4)  Series

Miami split two midweek games with Fordham in Coral Gables, losing 4-3 and eeking out a win 9-8 in the 9th off a wild pitch. Duke won their lone midweek against Liberty 3-2 after they took 2 of 3 from UNC last weekend.

Over the weekend, the Canes swept Duke. Junior left-hander Chris Hernandez tossed his first career complete game Friday night to give them a 3-1 win. Hernandez (2-2), whose previous career-high of eight innings came twice during his freshman year in 2008, allowed just the one run on two hits while walking one and striking out six to earn his second win of the campaign.

Harold Martinez led the `Canes at the plate Saturday, finishing the day 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored in their 11-3 win in Durham Bulls Park. For the second time on the weekend, he homered over the famous "Blue Monster" in left - bringing his team-high homer total to six on the year. Scott Lawson also had another big day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with three runs scored while Zeke DeVoss and Yasmani Grandal each has a pair of hits.

The Hurricanes totaled 15 hits on Saturday, good enough for the second-highest hit total by Miami this season. UM's 11 runs scored also marked the team's seventh double-digit scoring game this year.

Miami completed the sweep with a 9th inning RBI double by Yasmani Grandal to give the Canes a 7-6 win.

Miami UPCOMING: UCF at home, then on the road to NC State in what I suspect will be a slugfest.

Duke UPCOMING: Davidson on the road Tuesday, then in Chestnut Hill for the weekend.

NC State (14-6, 2-4) vs Wake Forest (7-14, 1-5) Series

NCSU split midweek games to UNC-Central and UNC-Wilmington on the road. Against UNCC in the old Durham Bulls Park (of Bull Durham), which has  290 ft RF fence, the Woofers pounded out 24 runs and 5 homers in the 24-6 win. They fell in Wilmington 9-6.

State then went to Winston-Salem and took 2-of-3 from the Preachers. NC State scored four in the first inning and five more in the ninth Friday before coasting to a 17-6 victory in the opening game Friday. Jake Buchanan got the win with seven innings of work. He allowed six runs on nine hits. He walked two and struck out eight.

Cory Mazzoni pitched seven strong innings, Drew Poulk hit a two-run home run and Felix Roque worked two scoreless innings of relief for his first college save Saturday night as NC State defeated Wake Forest 5-3 in the second game.

Game 3 went to WF 4-3 in 10 innings, giving Wake its first ACC win of the season. Wake Forest starter Austin Stadler was outstanding on the mound. Stadler tossed a career-high 8.2 innings, giving up three runs on five hits, with six strikeouts and three walks. The sophomore gave up all three of his runs in the fourth inning, but shut down the NC State offense, the league leader in runs scored and batting average entering the weekend, for the rest of the game.

NCSU UPCOMING: Campbell on the road, then they host Miami.

WF UPCOMING: At High Point, then to Blacksburg VA for the weekend.

Virginia Tech: Split two games with Rider in midweek before being swept by CU this weekend. They face Liberty Wednesday at home before hosting Wake.

ATLANTIC DIVISION
School	Conference	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
Clemson	6-0-0	1.000	17-2-0	.895
Florida State	3-3-0	.500	15-4-0	.789
NC State	2-4-0	.333	14-6-0	.700
Maryland	2-4-0	.333	8-11-0	.421
Boston College	1-5-0	.167	7-12-0	.368
Wake Forest	1-5-0	.167	7-14-0	.333
COASTAL DIVISION
School	Conference	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
Georgia Tech	5-1-0	.833	16-2-0	.889
Virginia	5-1-0	.833	17-3-0	.850
Miami	5-1-0	.833	14-5-0	.737
North Carolina	2-4-0	.333	15-6-0	.714
Duke	2-4-0	.333	12-7-0	.632
Virginia Tech	2-4-0	.333	13-8-0	.619

Team Statistical Leaders - Individual Stat Leaders