ACC-Tournament means Do or Die for the Eagles

The Eagles made a permanent imprint on the national scene last year by giving the perennial powerhouse Texas’ Longhorns all they could handle for 25 innings in the NCAA regional last year; the longest college baseball game ever played.  But, they’re going to need some truly miraculous play to get back to that stage once again.  Barely squeaking in over North Carolina due to a tiebreaker, the Eagles come into this weekend’s ACC tournament with a resume completely undeserving of a NCAA tournament birth. How can we fix this predicament? Get hot in a hurry!

As the bracket stands now the eagles are set to face the #1 team in the tournament, and #2 nationally, is the Virginia cavaliers, followed by Florida St. and Miami, FL, who are ranked 8th and 13^th respectively.  If they could win out and then beat Georgia Tech, another top 10 team, the Eagles would be a lock for the tournament due the automatic bid given out to the ACC tournament winner.

Possible? Definitely. BC has proven that they can compete with the big boys this year with wins over all of the teams I just mentioned, but one: the Virginia Cavaliers. But even versus them the Eagles proved they were up to the challenge, losing a one run heart break in the second game of the series, followed by an inspired effort for 7+ innings before a break down in the bullpen blew the game in the series finale.

Probable? No.  Although BC has the capability to win against the best of the best, we lack one thing that all these other school has an abundance of. TALENT.  BC wins by playing solid fundamental baseball.  But when the all-conference rosters are released in late may, the location of talent appears clear.  Boston College had only one player appear between the first and second teams of the all-ACC rosters. Virginia had seven. Georgia Tech had six. Miami had five. Yes we have one versus these teams, but we’ve done it with nothing resembling consistency as seen in our inability to win a series against a single ranked team this season. In the end, the chances of us to catching four of the nation’s best teams on a bad day, and in a row, seems slim to none, leaving our hope for another NCAA berth hanging on by only the very, very, very, very slightest thread.