Birdball Midweek Recap - Harvard

It may not have been in dominating fashion, but on Tuesday afternoon the Boston College baseball team scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to claim a come from behind win against their crosstown rivals the Harvard Crimson. The win was the tenth of the season for the Eagles, who will look to carry over the momentum from Tuesday into an important road series at Duke this weekend. Let’s take a closer look at today’s action:

Tuesday: Boston College 8 Harvard 5:

Harvard jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first off spot-starter Jacob Stevens who threw one inning on Tuesday to get some work in before this weekend’s series at Duke. BC answered in their half of the frame, scoring two runs to reclaim the lead. After leadoff batter Donovan Casey walked to start the game for the Eagles, he was moved to second on a Johnny Adams single. The pair then stole second and third, and were brought in on a Michael Strem ground out and Gian Martellini sacrifice fly to put BC ahead 2-1 after one inning.

Unfortunately, that would be all the Eagles would muster until the sixth inning, while the Crimson scored three in third and one in the top of the sixth off BC relievers Jack Nelson and John Witkowski, respectively, to make the score 5-2 heading into the home half of that frame. In the bottom of the sixth, Strem led off with a double to right field and was brought home in the next at bat when Martellini singled to left, cutting Harvard’s lead to two. After a pitching change, the hits kept on coming for the Eagles, as Mitch Bigras singled to right-center, moving Martellini to third base. The next batter, Jake Alu, grounded into a double play, scoring the run from third and making the score 5-4 in favor of Harvard heading into the seventh. After a scoreless frame by Donovan Casey, who had come in to pitch, the Eagles went right back to work, loading the bases on bunts from Brian Dempsey and Dominic Hardaway, and a single from Casey. After another Harvard pitching change, Johnny Adams singled to shortstop, scoring Dempsey and tying the game at five. After two quick outs, Casey, who had advanced to third on a fielder’s choice, scored on a passed ball to give BC its first lead since the top of the first inning, 6-5. The batter at plate, Mitch Bigras, then ripped a base hit into left field, scoring Adams and Martellini, but was thrown out trying to advance to second base. However, the damage was done and the Eagles went into the final two innings leading the Crimson 8-5. Casey worked a scoreless eighth and Bigras earned his first save of the year with a scoreless ninth.

Offensively, BC was led by Bigras who was 2 for 3 on the day with two big RBIs. Johnny Adams also had a nice day at the plate, as the senior went 2 for 4 in the game with an RBI and two runs scored. Gian Martellini also drove in a pair of BC runs in a 1 for 3 performance.

Some thoughts on Tuesday’s game:

Well, it wasn’t as dominant as I predicted, but I’ll take it. It’s always nice to get a win during the midweek, especially over a traditional rival like Harvard. I will also give the Crimson credit, they swung it very well today and put together some quality at bats while building their three-run lead. However, I was extremely impressed with the way the Eagles handled themselves facing a three-run deficit in the latter half of Tuesday’s game. With the way the season has gone, it would have been very easy for the team to pack it in and give away at bats, but that is not how this team is made. These guys will continue to fight and scrap until the last out is recorded no matter their record. Along those lines, it was great to see some timely hitting, especially the big base hit from Mitch Bigras in the seventh to add a couple insurance runs. We’ll be coming out with a Midseason Review on Thursday afternoon where we will cover what’s happened so far this season, and what to expect moving forward, and while this game may seem inconsequential to the outside observer, coming off the series sweep by UNC, this win his huge to get some momentum going into the back half of the season.