With the Super Bowl behind us and Spring around the corner, that means it’s almost time for baseball! Boston College baseball returns to action this Friday, with a home series against the University of South Carolina Upstate. After a 14-9 non-conference start last season, Birdball went 8-22 in ACC play, finishing with the worst record in the league.
The ACC is stacked once again this season, with seven teams in the preseason Top 25 poll. Virginia was picked to win the conference and is ranked No. 2 in the national rankings. Unfortunately, Boston College was picked to finish dead last in the conference and is squarely in the bottom tier of the ACC. In other news, the ACC Baseball Championship will have a new format in 2025, which you can read about here.
Suffice it to say, Birdball will have its work cut out for it this season. But that doesn’t mean this team is lacking talent. Coach Todd Interdonato brought in some intriguing transfers from the portal, like Josiah Ragsdale from Iona. Ragsdale is a junior outfielder who earned First-Team All-MAAC and ACBA Northeast All-Region Second-Team honors last season. He led the Gaels in hits, runs, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, and stolen bases. Jack Toomey, also an outfielder, transferred from Holy Cross, where he was a Freshman All-American and the Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2023.
On the pitching side, BC’s coaching staff brought in several pitchers to address what was a glaring weakness for the Eagles last season. Among the incoming transfers are JD Ogden, who was a captain at Columbia, Alex Bryant from Holy Cross, and Dylan Howanitz from Division II West Chester. However, it will remain to be seen exactly how all of the new players will be integrated into the pitching staff until the season begins.
Birdball will also have quite a few familiar faces in the lineup and on the mound. Nick Wang, Kyle Wolff, Vince Cimini, and Sam McNulty project to be the starters in the infield again. Adam Magpoc and Patrick Roche will also be likely to see a large share of at-bats. AJ Colarusso looks to be a weekend starter again and senior Tyler Mudd should be a key piece in the bullpen.
After BC’s opening series against South Carolina Upstate, they’ll have a few more non-conference games before being welcomed into ACC play with trips to Charlottesville and Tallahassee to take on No. 2 Virginia and No. 9 Florida State in March. Some other notable matchups include games against Northeastern in mid-March and early April, a home series against No. 6 North Carolina on March 21-23, a visit from Notre Dame in April, and a road trip to Winston-Salem in mid-April to play No. 14 Wake Forest.
Last season, Boston College’s main issue was a complete lack of pitching. This season, it appears as though pitching will once again be the determining factor in just how many games this team can win. If the starters and bullpen arms can pitch well, the rest of the roster could make some people look foolish for picking them to finish last in the ACC.
Tune into ESPN+ on Friday at 3 PM EST to see the Eagles take on the South Carolina Upstate Spartans!
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