Red Sox 1, Eagles 0: BC Hangs Tough In Exhibition With Big Club

The Boston College baseball team fell to the Boston Red Sox, 1-0, on Monday afternoon at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in the 25th annual meeting between the two clubs. The game was the second end of a doubleheader for the Red Sox, and it featured an exhibition of baseball that surely made the man emblazoned on both teams' jerseys proud.

Both teams wore uniforms with Pete Frates' name and familiar number 3 on the backs of their jerseys. The Boston College jerseys echoed the ghosts of the 2007 team Frates captained, while the Red Sox wore their traditional spring training red uniforms. The game was only a seven inning affair for a split squad Sox club, as Boston played Northeastern in an earlier, seven-inning game that wound up going into "extras," ending in eight.

BC surrendered the game's only run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Red Sox infielder Jemile Weeks, who spent previous seasons with Oakland before being dealt to Baltimore and Boston in 2014, tripled to right to lead off the inning. Pitcher Geoffrey Murphy nearly got out of the jam, though, retiring two of his next three batters—he induced a ground out off the bat of Daniel Nava and, after walking Allen Craig, struck out Garin Cecchini. But Blake Swihart lined a single to center to score Weeks and put the Sox in front, 1-0.

The Eagles nearly had a 1-0 lead early on in the game when they put a runner in scoring position in the third. Nick Sciortino doubled off the fence in left field and was sent home on a single to left center by Blake Butera. Nava fielded the shallow hit cleanly, however, and gunned the runner down at the plate.

On the mound, BC received fine single inning outings from all of their pitchers as they held the BoSox to just six hits. Eric Stone started the game and threw an inning with just one hit allowed. Tyler Hinchcliffe threw a perfect second with one strikeout, and freshman Brian Rapp equaled that performance in the third. Carmen Giampetruzzi (who was a favorite due to his last name to radio announcer Joe Castiglione) threw two innings and scattered three hits while striking out one and walking one before Murphy threw the sixth.

For the Red Sox, Wade Miley threw two innings for a start, and the Red Sox threatened against reliever Craig Breslow. Brandon Workman threw the fourth with farmhands finishing out the game.

It was an emotional day for both teams, along with the nearly 8,000 fans in attendance. Their jerseys are now up for auction with the proceeds being donated to the Pete Frates #3 Fund.

In addition, the Red Sox honored the Frates family before the game for their work in combating ALS. The seven-inning game started 45 minutes after the conclusion of the Northeastern game, and it was just the fourth time in the 25 years of the annual meeting that the teams played a one-run ballgame.

With the exhibition behind them, the Eagles will now get back to the task of preparing for their next opponent, league opponent Florida State. BC will open ACC play on Friday against the Seminoles in Tallahassee at 6 PM.