Stephen Sauter went 3-for-5 with four RBI, and both Donovan Casey and Logan Hoggarth contributed three hits apiece as the Boston College Eagles defeated two-time NCAA Tournament qualifier Bryant at Shea Field on Wednesday. The 11-5 final improve the Eagles to 24-21 on the season while dropping the visiting Bulldogs to 17-19.
After the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, starting pitcher Jack Patterson failed to record an out as BC lit up the Bryant defense. He proceeded to walk three in a row after Jake Palomaki singled to put BC up 1-0 without recording an out. The Bulldogs went to the bullpen almost immediately, sending Patterson to the bench in favor of James Davitt.
Davitt didn't help the cause, inheriting the bases loaded and nobody out. He struck out Joe Cronin, but then Logan Hoggarth singled through the right side and Stephen Sauter doubled to bring home three runs. Donovan Casey grounded out to score Hoggarth and put the Eagles up 5-1 in the first inning. For the second time in two days, the Eagles batted around in the first, with all nine men coming up to the plate.
They made it 6-1 in the second when Strem singled home Palomaki in the second. The leadoff man walked and moved up to second on a fielding error by second baseman Cole Fabio. After advancing one more base on a grounder to third, Strem moved a 2-1 pitch into right field to give the Eagles a commanding five pitch lead.
The Bulldogs chipped away at the lead in the fourth when they scored two of their own against starting pitcher Eric Stone. John Mullen singled with one out, moving up a base on a wild pitch. After Fabio walked, a wild pitch sent both of them into scoring position, and AJ Zarozny delivered a two-RBI single to left, cutting the lead to 6-3.
In the fifth inning, they added two more. Jordan Mountford homered to cut the lead to 6-4, and after the next two batters, Stone came out of the game with an inherited runner to Tyler Hinchcliffe. John Mullen doubled him home to make it 6-5.
The Eagles immediately got something back in the bottom half of the fifth. Facing reliever Ross Weiner, who had entered the game in the third and escaped a bases loaded jam in that inning, BC rallied. Donovan Casey bunted himself aboard with one out, moving up a base on a wild pitch. Three batters later, with runners on first and second after Gabriel Hernandez struck out and Palomaki walked, BC executed a double steal to put runners on second and third. Johnny Adams singled to bring home both runners, giving BC a 8-5 lead.
The Eagles added one in the seventh when Sauter scored when Palomaki grounded into a double play, and they poured two more in the eighth to reach the double digit mark. With Hoggarth and Scott Braren on base, Sauter singled to center to score both runners.
Justin Dunn shut down Bryant in order in the ninth to end the game, 11-5.
For the Eagles, Stone (4-0) remained undefeated, picking up the victory by going 4.1 innings with two strikeouts and a couple of walks. He wasn't on point as he has been, but he put BC in a position to win the game. He allowed six hits and five runs, all of which were earned.
Tyler Hinchcliffe pitched the rest of the fifth inning, allowing one hit. He was relieved by Brian Rapp, who went the next 1.2 innings of one-hit, shutout baseball. He struck out two and walked one while hitting a batter. After Travis Ferrick got out of the seventh, John Nicklas walked one and hit a batter but got out of the jam in the eighth, and Dunn was perfect in the ninth.
For Bryant, Patterson (0-3) absorbed the loss, walking three and not striking out anyone. He was charged wtih four runs after James Davitt struggled to get out of the first in his relief. Davitt threw two innings, walking one and striking out two while allowing three hits.
Ross Weiner gave up two runs in three innings of yeoman's work out of the pen, and Justin Snyder, Logan Lessard, and Michael Marshall finished off the game for Bryant.
The win sends BC into their penultimate league weekend with their offense back on track in the midst of a two-game winning streak. The Eagles are currently tied for 11th in the ACC with Virginia Tech, their opponent for the series in Blacksburg. The key three-game series starts on Friday at 5:30 PM.
All three games this weekend will be televised on ESPN3.