Boston College baseball went 2-2 last week and won their series against the No. 9 Virginia Cavaliers. Birdball is now 6-6 on the season and 2-1 in ACC play.
On Tuesday, the Eagles played the Longwood Lancers (3-9) in Farmville, Virginia, losing 13-12. It was a disappointing loss to a subpar opponent, made worse by the fact that BC held an 8-3 lead after the top of the sixth inning. BC pitching gave up three runs in the sixth, four in the eighth, and three more in the bottom of the ninth.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Lancers had a runner reach on an error, and then tripled and singled twice, to walk off the game. BC committed four errors and allowed three unearned runs.
After the tough loss to Longwood, Birdball traveled to Charlottesville to play No. 9 Virginia (9-5) over the weekend. With Kyle Kipp starting on the mound for Friday’s game, the Eagles took the first lead of the game in the second inning on an RBI single by Jack Toomey. Virginia scored two runs in both the third and fourth innings and held a 4-1 lead until the sixth. BC scored in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Patrick Roche and completed their comeback in the eighth.
Trailing 4-2, the Eagles scored five runs on five hits and took the lead for good. In the inning, Josiah Ragsdale hit a two-run homer, Vince Cimini knocked in two runs with a single, and Toomey collected another RBI with a single. The Eagles won 7-4 and A.J. Colarusso, after pitching the final 3.1 innings without allowing a run, earned his first win of the season.
Saturday’s game was a much different affair. The two teams combined for 35 hits and 38 runs! But BC lost 22-16 after another late-inning collapse by the pitching staff. After four innings, the Cavaliers had an 8-6 lead. Starter Tyler Mudd threw three innings and gave up three runs on six hits.
Virginia scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth but neither team scored again until the seventh inning, when the teams scored 12 combined runs. The Eagles scored three runs on an error, sac bunt, and a single by Esteban Garcia. But the Cavaliers’ bats exploded for nine runs on eight hits, including three doubles, to seize the game’s momentum.
Now trailing 17-9, the Eagles fought back by scoring four runs in the eighth, with Toomey, Ragsdale, and Cimini all collecting RBIs in the inning. However, Virginia scored five more runs in their half of the inning and extended their lead to 22-13. BC scored three runs in the ninth, but it was too little, too late.
In Sunday’s rubber match, Boston College needed some real length out of their pitchers after using 11 players on the mound in Saturday’s shootout. Bobby Chicoine started the game and went two innings, giving up two hits and one run. Brady Miller followed him, allowing two runs in 1.2 innings, but Virginia didn’t score again after Dylan Howanitz relieved him in the fourth.
The Eagles’ offense did all of its damage in the first four innings too. In the second, Garcia singled to center field to drive in the first run of the game. In the third inning, with two outs, Jack Toomey launched a three-run home run over the left-field fence to give BC a 4-1 lead. BC added two more insurance runs in the fourth on a fielding error, and held a 6-3 lead after four innings.
Joey Ryan took the mound in the fifth and threw four scoreless innings, in which he allowed three hits and two walks while striking out four. Ryan earned the win, and Colarusso earned the save by pitching a scoreless ninth inning, to give BC a 6-3 victory.
Although the pitching staff was a bit shaky, the series win over Virginia was huge for the Eagles and should give them plenty of confidence as they venture further into ACC play. Birdball has a midweek matchup against Merrimack on Tuesday, before traveling to Tallahassee to play No. 5 Florida State over the weekend.
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