ACC Baseball: FSU v. Wake Forest Heads Weekend Matchups

Photo Credit FSU - Larry Novey

Florida State travels to play Wake Forest in a matchup of the first and second place teams in the ACC Atlantic Division. After dropping a series against Georgia Tech, the Seminoles fell from the top spot in College Baseball Central’s rankings down to the No. 4 spot. The Demon Deacons dropped two out of three games to North Carolina last weekend.

Wake Forest freshman Will Craig is currently tied for the ACC lead in home runs with seven. On the other side of the field is FSU outfielder D.J. Stewart, who also has seven home runs to go along with an ACC best .374 batting average. With ace Luke Weaver and the conference’s best offense, FSU looks to have the edge in this series.

The Duke Blue Devils, who are coming off a series win against the N.C. State Wolfpack, will make their way to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech, who took two out of three from the Maryland Terrapins. Chris Marconcini leads Duke with seven home runs, he’s tied with Craig and Stewart for the ACC lead. Virginia Tech has been playing better of late, as they’ve been victorious in four of their last five contests, including a midweek win against Liberty University.

The University of Virginia meets up with the Tarheels in Charlottesville. UVA currently occupies the No.1 spot in CBC’s rankings. Their pitching staff leads the ACC in ERA at 2.06. Aces Nathan Kirby and Trent Thornton will meet up Friday in what should be a marquee matchup.

The Clemson Tigers head to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers in a matchup of ferocious felines. Clemson took one game last week from UVA, while Pitt was swept by the Miami Hurricanes. Clemson is second in the ACC in runs scored, but their pitching has lagged behind their hitting. Meanwhile, the Panthers pitching staff has the second highest ERA in the conference.

Georgia Tech and Maryland square off in College Park. The Yellowjackets had a strong weekend against FSU, taking the first two games before dropping the final match of the series. At 10-8, they could make a move in the Coastal Division, as UVA and Miami stand in front of them at 14-4. The Terps have dropped their last three conference series.

Boston College and N.C. State play a three game set in Raleigh. The Eagles won their first conference series of the season against Notre Dame last weekend. Wolfpack ace Carlos Rodon was on last Friday, but he was outdueled by Duke’s Drew Van Orden.

The Fighting Irish will try to get in the way of the Hurricanes’ 13 game winning streak as they travel to Coral Gables. Miami swept by the Panthers last weekend as Dale Carey collected eight hits in the series. Andrew Suarez and Chris Diaz have been strong on the mound for the Hurricanes, and Carey has played in every game, compiling an impressive .308/.406/.507 batting line. At 14-4, the Canes are tied for first in the Coastal Division with UVA, and could claim first place with some strong play.

After this weekend, there will be just three weeks of ACC play left. As teams head down the stretch of a long conference season, depth tends to separate the best teams from the rest of the pack.