The Boston College Eagles come to Blacksburg this weekend for a 3 game series with the Hokies. Because of questionable Sunday weather, the series starts tonight with a single game at 7:00 followed by a doubleheader tomorrow at noon.

Last weekend, I told everyone on this board that Pittsburgh was a hitting machine and the Hokies ended up sweeping the Panthers, so I’ll try to duplicate the magic with this brief BC preview.

BC comes to Blacksburg with an overall record of 17-9. However, they are RED HOT, sporting a 5 game winning streak and wins in 12 of their last 13 games. Their one blemish in those 13 games was a ten inning loss to #10 Georgia. Last weekend, they went to Atlanta and swept the Yellow Jackets, so they are playing really good ball at the moment.

BC has a team batting average of .275 compared to .246 for the Hokies. Jordon Chimento leads the offense with a .333 batting average and is especially dangerous in the clutch, batting .500(9 of 18) with runners in scoring position and also batting .500 (9 of 18) with two outs. Jessee Daulton is batting at a .329 clip and has blasted 5 HRs. Loren DiEmmanule is their final .300 hitter, with a .305 average.

However, the strength of the Eagles is their pitching staff, led by sophomores Jessica Dreswick (8-3, 1.69 ERA) and Allyson Frei (9-5, 2.59 ERA). Dreswick hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in 13 consecutive appearances while Frye hasn't allowed more than one earned run in six straight outings.

Statistically, the Hokies don’t match up particularly well with the Eagles, but they certainly found their groove last weekend, so don’t count them out. Maggie Tyler, who has a season ERA of 3.47, pitched 15 innings against Pittsburgh and only gave up 2 earned runs. The bats were simply smokin’ , scoring 30 runs on 34 hits in the 3 games.

Let’s hope the magic continues.

GO HOKIES!!!