Weekly Recap: Boston College Baseball

BC opened the week on Wednesday at Fenway Park, taking on Northeastern in the consolation round of the Beanpot. The Eagles avenged an early season loss to the Huskies with a 5-3 win.

Northeastern took an early lead, but BC scored two runs in the 4th on an RBI groundout by Cody Morissette and a run scoring double by catcher Gian Martellini. The Eagles added two more in the 6th on a bases loaded, two run sacrifice fly off the bat of Morissette, giving him three RBIs on the day.

A two run NU double in the bottom of the 6th cut BC’s lead to 4-3, but the Eagles bullpen held the Huskies scoreless over the final three innings. Brian Dempsey singled home an insurance run in the 9th, and Thomas Lane preserved the 5-3 win for his first save of the season.

BC then headed down to Chapel Hill, NC, and played a marathon Saturday doubleheader against #13 North Carolina, in which both games went 11 innings.

Dan Metzdorf got the start in the opener and allowed six runs, only three earned, on four hits and three walks in 6.1 innings. It was not a great defensive day for Boston College, as they committed five errors in the opener, and four more in game two.

The Eagles built an early 4-1 lead on a Dempsey RBI single, a Jake Alu sacrifice fly, a Sal Frelick RBI groundout, and a Jake Cunningham sacrifice fly. But the Tar Heels smashed two home runs in the third, and added runs in the 5th and 7th to take a 6-4 lead.

In the top of the 9th Cunningham came through in a big way, blasting a go-ahead three run homer, but UNC made it 7-7 on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth. BC hitters failed to reach base in the 10th and 11th, and Carolina picked up the winning run after three singles against Joey Walsh, who fell to 2-5 on the season.

Mason Pelio started game two and lasted only three innings after the Tar Heels scored six runs in the third, including a grand slam. Dempsey and Dante Baldelli hit solo home runs in the 5th and 6th respectively to cut the deficit to 7-3. UNC answered with a run in the 6th, but Cunningham led off the 7th with another home run. BC batted around in the inning, scoring four runs on six hits, including RBI singles by Baldelli and Frelick.

The offensive outburst was followed by an ugly bottom of the 7th, in which UNC scored two runs on a hit by pitch, a walk, a wild pitch, and two errors, staking them a 10-7 lead. The Tar Heels then committed two errors of their own in the top of the 8th, gifting the Eagles an unearned run.

Alu and Frelick walked consecutively to start the 9th, and a sacrifice bunt by Dempsey put the tying run in scoring position with one out. Alu scored on a wild pitch, and Martellini drove in Frelick with a sacrifice fly to even the score.

The Eagles had their chances in extras, but Cunningham struck out with the bases loaded to end the 10th, and Baldelli struck out with two on to end the 11th. A run scoring double in the bottom of the 11th gave UNC their second walk-off victory of the day.

Matt Gill started Sunday’s finale, and allowed four runs and seven hits over 4.1 innings of work.

UNC jumped out to a 2-0, but BC plated six runs in the top of the 3rd, powered by RBI doubles from Frelick and Morissette, and a two run triple by Cunningham. Undeterred, the Tar Heels followed up a two run 5th with a whopping 12 runs in the 6th.

Joe Suozzi doubled home two runs in the 8th, but it was not enough to keep up with a Tar Heel offense that tallied 35 runs in three games. Carolina finished off the sweep with a 16-8 win, as Boston College dropped to 19-22 (7-14) on the season.

Up next: BC hosts UMass Lowell on Tuesday and makes a trip to Bryant on Wednesday, before welcoming in Duke for a weekend series.