FSU baseball travels to Boston College looking for second straight ACC series win

FSU baseball (24-4, 5-4 ACC) surpassed last year's win total with a 5-3 win over Bethune Cookman Wednesday night. It was their second win this week before traveling to take on the Boston College Eagles (16-11, 5-7 ACC) in a three-game ACC series beginning on Friday. Boston College had its midweek game canceled after traveling to Georgia Tech and sweeping the Yellow Jackets as betting underdogs last weekend. The Eagles bring a solid offense into the series, batting .300 with a .419 on-base percentage. They have hit 41 home runs and have struck out in 28 percent of their at-bats. They are aggressive on the bases, going 64 of 76 in stolen base attempts. A lot of similarities to Louisville from last weekend. Pitching-wise, they bring a 6.92 ERA into the series, with opposing batters hitting .297. They have 225 strikeouts and 126 walks in 236.2 innings.

Their Friday and Saturday starters went deep into their games against a solid-hitting Georgia Tech team last week. Defensively, they have a .981 fielding percentage. Boston College got swept by NC State and Virginia Tech and won two of three against Pittsburgh before sweeping Georgia Tech in ACC play. The Eagles are 2-4 at home this season. The key to winning this series is the same as always with FSU. They need their starters to get into at least the fifth or sixth inning, and this week is even more important since the bullpen has already had some action in two midweek games this week. FSU pitchers must avoid issuing walks, and the defense must be solid. Offensively, FSU hasn't been great lately with situational hitting. They have had too many opportunities to score with a runner on third with less than two outs lately, and they have come up empty in several instances. Boston College's two best pitchers had been getting tagged previously before posting outstanding starts last week against the Yellow Jackets. Only one of their starters is a left-handed pitcher, which has given FSU issues in conference play lately. Friday's game will begin at 3 p.m. and will air on the ACCNX channel.