Boston College 22, Northeastern 1: Eagles Bring The Pain

Boston College scored two runs in the first inning, then never looked back, then poured it on, then threw gasoline on the fire, then threw more gasoline on the fire, then doused the fire out, then reignited the fire, then scored nine eighth inning runs in a 22-1 rout of Northeastern on Tuesday afternoon.

With 22 runs on 22 hits, it was the largest offensive output in a Boston College baseball game since April 15, 2003's 24-6 routing of Harvard.

BC opened up the scoring almost immediately off a two-run homer from Chris Shaw. He went the opposite way, hitting an 0-2 pitch over the left-center wall of the Friedman Diamond with two outs after starting pitcher Isaac Lippert walked Jake Palomaki to lead off the game.

After a scoreless second (one of only two innings in which BC didn't record a run), the Eagles notched four in the third to take a 6-0 lead. Johnny Adams led off with a double to center and moved to third when Palomaki bunted him over. With one out, Lippert walked Blake Butera to put runners on the corners, and Michael Strem hit a sacrifice fly to score the runner from third. That set up Shaw once again, who launched a two-run shot into right that still hasn't landed to make it 5-0. Joe Cronin soon followed with a double, and he scored when Donovan Casey singled to the right side of reliever Nick Cubarney.

Although Northeastern scored one to cut the lead to 6-1, the Eagles added three runs in the fourth. Stephen Sauter walked, Johnny Adams singled, and Jake Palomaki bunted himself aboard to put runners on all bags. Strem hit another sacrifice fly to score Sauter, giving BC back a six-run lead at 7-1. Adams would score on a wild pitch, and with Palomaki on second, Shaw doubled to left to score the runner, making the score 9-1.

BC hit double digits in the fifth when defensive woes caught up to the Huskies. Sauter walked and wound up on third when Adams doubled him over. Palomaki grounded out to third, but Sauter scored because Nolan Lang threw the ball in the dirt, increasing the lead to 10-1.  Mitch Bigras recorded a one-out double to score Adams in the seventh, followed by another RBI for Strem, who singled up the middle to make it a 12-1 lead.

With the game already blown open, the eighth inning proved to be the nuclear explosion hanging over the Huskies all day. BC loaded the bases twice and recorded nine runs on seven hits and an error. During the inning, after scoring four runs to go up 16-1, Anthony Maselli launched a delivery to right center field, clearing the fence with the bases loaded for a grand slam and scoring the Eagles 20th run. They would add another one late in the inning and one in the ninth to round out what was the most prodigious offensive output in years.

Lost in the shuffle for BC was the pitching performance by starter John Gorman. Gorman, who did not appear in the weekend series against NC State, pitched four innings and was credited with the win to improve to 2-2 on the season. He allowed one run on two hits and struck out two while walking none. Geoffrey Murphy threw two innings of relief, as did Bobby Skogsbergh, with Trever Massey shutting down NU in the ninth.

For the Huskies, Lippert lasted just 2.2 innings, absorbing the loss to fall to 0-3 on the season. He gave up six runs, all earned, on five hits, walking two and striking out just one. Cubarney threw 1.1 innings in relief, followed by Nick Borges. Keegan Taylor absorbed the brunt of the offensive output, allowing eight earned runs in less than an inning of work.

Offensively for the Eagles, it was a huge day. Shaw went 4-for-5 with two homers and five RBI, scoring three runs on his own, but he was arguably not the best BC hitter. Johnny Adams went 4-for-5 with our runs scored, while Stephen Sauter scored three runs of his own. Michael Strem drove in five, as did Anthony Maselli. Maselli notched four when he launched the grand slam. It was the second salami recorded by the Birds this season.

11 of the 13 Eagles who played in the game recorded a hit, and seven different players recorded at least one RBI. It was also, perhaps most importantly, the first win for the Eagles in their last five games against Northeastern. The win and loss improved and dropped BC and NU to an identical 7-13 record.

Boston College gets back at it on Wednesday when they travel to Northborough, MA and a meeting with the Holy Cross Crusaders. First pitch is slated for 3:30 PM.