Preview: Birdball Plays First of 3 vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

By Anthony Iati

Two red-hot ACC Baseball teams will collide Friday afternoon at the Birdcage on Commander Shea Field. The Boston College Eagles (25-17, 9-13 ACC) welcome in the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (27-17, 10-11 ACC) for the first game of a three-game set. Friday’s first pitch will be at 3:00 pm. You can catch WZBC Sports’ broadcast on the AM station with TJ Hartnett, Kyle Maslan, and myself on the call.

The Eagles have won four straight games, including two important ACC wins last Saturday and Sunday. After dropping the opener of a home series with Virginia Tech, 5-0, the Eagles rebounded to win the next two days behind the solid starting pitching efforts of Justin Dunn and Mike King, respectively. They stayed hot during the week with non-conference wins at Rhode Island on Tuesday and vs. Northeastern on Wednesday. The latter game had been scheduled to be played at Pellagrini Diamond here in Chestnut Hill, but was moved across town to a more playable field, given the poor weather. 

The Demon Deacons, too, are on fire. Wake Forest has won six straight ballgames, including their previous four ACC games. Those W’s have included impressive series wins over Florida State (two out of three) and North Carolina (three-game sweep). All those victories, however, have occurred at home in Winston-Salem, N.C.. Coach Tom Walter’s team has played extremely well there, compiling a 19-5 record. Friday’s matchup at BC begins a crucial eight-game road trip for the Deacons. They have not fared nearly as well away from their friendly confines, as they are just 7-12 as the visitors. 

One thing that has traveled well for Wake Forest this season has been their bats. The Demon Deacons average a whopping 6.36 runs per game, outscoring opponents by a full run on average. Led by 2015 ACC Player of the Year Will Craig, Wake Forest is hitting .281 as a team with 36 home runs. By comparison, the Eagles are batting a still-respectable .256 with 17 home runs. Craig, a pitcher and corner infielder for Wake Forest, has garnered just about every accolade possible for an ACC player. Out of high school, he was drafted in the 37th round (2013)– you can be sure when he re-enters the draft after this season or next, he will be selected much, much sooner than that.

With an incredible slash line of .430/.558/.860, plus 13 HR and 53 RBI, Craig is the main offensive threat BC will have to deal with this weekend. But he is far from the only one. Coach Walter’s teams have always been known for their offensive firepower, even dating back to his days coaching the University of New Orleans. Here in the ACC, Walter also has at his disposal powerful first baseman Gavin Sheets (.325, 5 HR, 28 RBI) and center fielder Stuart Fairchild (.294 with 19 extra-base hits). The lineup runs even deeper, with second basemen Nate Mondou and left fielder Kevin Conway also serving as valuable contributors. 

The first Eagle who will be tasked with clamping down this formidable Wake Forest lineup is Jacob Stevens. A freshmen from Darien, CT, “Bear” Stevens has been nearly unhittable at times this season. He has acclimated extremely well to the collegiate game, earning his role as Coach Mike Gambino’s Friday starter. His numbers: 3-3, 1.56 ERA, 57.2 IP, 40 H, 58 K – 20 BB ratio, 2 HR allowed. Stevens has adeptly used a low-90s fastball and a devastating breaking ball that resembles a slurve to rack up almost exactly a strikeout per inning. He continues to fine-tune his changeup so that he can trust it in tough spots against dangerous lineups like Wake Forest. He has already proven he can stand up to tall orders, having pitched fantastic games against ranked ACC foes Virginia and Louisville. BC is expecting another stellar outing from Stevens on Friday. 

Opposing Stevens on the hill will be Wake Forest junior right-hander Parker Dunshee out of Zionsville, Indiana. Dunshee has filled several roles for the Demon Deacons in his three years of college, pitching as a starter, middle reliever, and closer. As of now, he is firmly entrenched as Wake Forest’s Friday starter. Said his head coach, Tom Walter, “Parker has been our go-to guy the past two seasons … he has emerged as a legit Friday guy in our league. Not only does he have great stuff and pitch with great deception, but he is also a fierce competitor. We want the ball in his hands to set the tone.” Dunshee will have exactly that chance Friday afternoon against BC’s lineup.

Like Stevens, Dunshee will also face a tough task. While BC’s offense is not prolific in terms of power, they have shown the propensity to bust through with timely hits and small-ball. Nick Sciortino, their phenomenal defensive catcher, has climbed the stat sheet to earn the highest average among regular starters at .303. This weekend, Sciortino will make up one-half of a catching matchup that features two Johnny Bench Award watch list catchers, the other being Wake’s Ben Breazeale. BC corner infielder Joe Cronin has slowed down from a hot start, but shortstop Johnny Adams is rolling while center fielder Michael Strem remains a reliable RBI guy. Second basemen Jake Palomaki is a threat to be standing on second base when he steps in the box because of how often he draws walks and swipes bases (14 of 20). 

Friday’s game is sure to be a great one. Wake Forest looks to surpass their 2015 win total (27), while the Eagles look to snap a recent skid in the all-time series with Wake Forest– BC has lost 7 of the last 9 meetings, including a series in North Carolina last year. Never before, though, has Coach Gambino had at his disposal a starting pitching trio as solid as Stevens-Dunn-King. Baseball is such an unpredictable game, but you can be sure of one thing: when Will Craig steps into the box this weekend to face any of BC’s starting pitchers, scouts will flock to the battle between pro prospects. 

Catch all the action right here with WZBC Sports. Our weekend broadcast schedule below:

Friday, 3:00 pm, on the AM station: TJ Hartnett, Anthony Iati, Kyle Maslan.

Saturday, 1:30 pm on the WZBC Newton 90.3 FM station: Quinn Kelly, Michael Graziano, Casey Hague.

Sunday, 1:00 pm game on the AM station: Quinn Kelly and Conor Hawley.