With our season wrap-up now complete, today is the last day for Soaring to Glory to cover the 2012-13 Boston College Eagles season across all sports. Starting tomorrow is the BC football summer series as we launch the 2013-14 year on this parcel of internet real estate.

My associate editor and I wanted to fit in one more riveting discussion before the big transition to the summer. In it, we weave from Boston College football to baseball to Kyle’s forthcoming road test and sitcoms we don’t like. How can we go wrong?

Joe: My best and worst sports moments of the 2012-13 Boston College academic year are out in the open, but what were your one or two favorite moments of the year?

Kyle: I really gotta think my favorite moment was the whole hiring of new head football coach Steve Addazio and the recruiting process that followed it. There is renewed excitement on the Heights about football. The coaches are engaged in recruiting and aren’t waiting ’til the summer to do it like our previous mustache in charge. Marcus Outlow and now Connor Strachan are BC recruits who will make instant impact at RB and ILB, respectively. Plus, DE Harold Landry just picked up an FSU offer, but is solid on BC. I can’t believe it, honestly, as I REALLY wanted Bob Diaco, but Addazio is earning his paycheck in a big way.

Next best memory will be from BC basketball, and no, it is not the Olivier Hanlan game against Georgia Tech. Rather, it is the one-point loss to Duke. Despite the fact we lost, coming close is representative of the improvements the team made through the second half. The team at the end of the year is not the one that achieved embarrassment against Bryant, but instead is an ACC team on the rise with a young backcourt and a late first-round pick at the 4. Plus, the transfer from Notre Dame (Alex Dragicevich) looks like a solid prospect at the 3.

Joe: I think Addazio has gotten most BC fans on board at this point. Before we get to the next obvious area of discussion, let’s get into the recruiting for a moment because this is an important topic.

I will not say anything bad about the guys we have here now or the kids coming in this year; they wear maroon and gold so I support them. Make no mistake, however: recruiting was very difficult under Spaz, especially towards the end, because the program was getting tired and stale, and what up-and-comer would want to hitch their wagon to a meteorite burning up in the atmosphere? With years of recruiting neglect and poor player development, I would have said that it might take several years at least just for BC to return to respectability. Spaz decimated the program and it seemed like it would be a long time before we were “back.”

Now, we’ve got a 2014 class that’s tracking Top 25/30 if this keeps up, and I think there’s at least a shot BC sneaks into a bowl this year. If Addazio’s recruiting stays at around this level in upcoming seasons, BC might be respectable again sooner than expected. Your thoughts on that?

The conversation continues on the next page

Michael Ivins-USA TODAY Sports

Although there is a sense that the tide is turning in Boston College sports these days, there were still more than a few sour moments from which to choose during the 2012-13 school year.

Even some Eagles sports one would not expect to have lousy events did, but you know what they say: take the good with the bad and all that.

Dishonorable Mention
December 4, 2012: Boston College basketball loses fifth-straight game to Harvard

Being embarrassed by the Harvard Crimson on our own home court is becoming old hat around here. It is so common, in fact, that it only gets a dishonorable mention.

In early December, the Eagles lost by 16 points to the Crimson at Conte Forum, making it five losses in a row to the Ivy school from Cambridge.

One thing we know for certain is that BC will not lose another home game to Harvard in 2013-14: the game will be on the road next time.

The bad news is that the Boston College Eagles baseball team had its worst season in program history in 2013, losing 40 of the 52 games in which they played, including 25 of their 29 ACC contests.

The good news is that the nightmare is over. BC’s season ended on Saturday afternoon following a 5-4 walk-off loss to the Maryland Terrapins in ten innings.

On Thursday, the Eagles took the series opener, 2-1. Hunter Gordon, arguably the team’s best starting pitcher over the full course of the season, got a well-earned win to end his Boston College pitching career. Chris Shaw went 2-for-3 in the victory.

On Friday, Boston College had the tables turned on them in a 4-1 defeat, and in the season finale on Saturday, the Terps grabbed the rubber game after BC blew a 4-run lead across the bottom of the 8th and bottom of the 9th.

The team’s final batting average is .209, one of the lowest in Division I. Boston College was outscored by 148 runs, 322 to 174. They also committed 82 errors over the course of the season, which was second-most in the ACC.

Now, realistically, Brad Bates watch begins. One would imagine that the head coach, Mike Gambino, is in serious jeopardy of losing his job after losing 107 games in his three years (51-107 overall record). There are a great many things to fix about the program, including long-term things such as facilities development, but bringing in a new face to start over would be a good place to start.

The 2013 Boston College Eagles baseball season began away from the Heights, and it will end away from the Heights. With the way things have gone this year, the sooner, the better.

With a three-game series at quasi-ACC, more-like-Big Ten foe Maryland last on the schedule, the end is very near. Short of salvaging any sort of pride by winning the series, it will be a blessing when the final out is recorded, so that Boston College baseball can begin picking up the pieces from its worst season in the program’s history.

At the moment, the Eagles are 11-38 (3-23) — for perspective, the second-worst ACC team’s overall record is Duke at 26-26, thirteen and a half games better than BC. In terms of conference wins, the ACC’s 11th-place team is 9-18, five and a half games clear. The Eagles aren’t merely the worst team in the conference at the moment: they’re the worst by miles.

When this season comes to an end for Boston College on Saturday — the series with the Terps runs from today, Thursday, through Saturday — it will go down as their worst ever, and one of the worst in the recent history of Atlantic Coast Conference. Maryland lost 39 games in 2010 with just five conference wins; with a series loss, however, the Eagles can become the first ACC team in seven years to clear the 40-loss mark (2006 Duke).

With any luck, Boston College Athletics will flush out the dead wood after Saturday to reboot the Eagles for 2014 and beyond, but for now, we just have to get through one more series.

I think I have probably started multiple game recaps with “I don’t know what to say anymore” or some variation of that and it is completely true: I don’t. This Boston College team has no hitting, no pitching, and no hope. But considering I am currently on summer vacation, I’m going to have a little bit of fun with all of you loyal Soaring to Glory readers and do a bit of a funky, creative recap to ease the pain of the Eagles faithful.

Even the beginning of this game was representative of the Eagles’ season. Their starter Andrew Chin only stayed for one inning in a “bullpen day”. Whatever that is supposed to mean, I don’t know but its execution is a basic concession of defeat. Putting in seven different pitchers is not a very ACC like thing to do. Who knows maybe, its just because Maine isn’t in one of the major conferences. Then again the America East Maine Black Bears are a BETTER team than the ACC Boston College Eagles!! With a now 32 and 19 the Maine Black Bears defeated the 11 and 38 Eagles in Chestnut Hill.

I don’t want to get into the nitty gritty of the game but rather I wish to use visual aids to describe it to you.

Dec 30, 2012; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Spencer Johnson (91) knocks the ball from New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez (6) causing a fumble that was recovered by the Bills during the second half at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Bills beat the Jets 28-9. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Sep 11, 2011; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez (6) fumbles the ball during the game against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Farrell/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

May 3, 2013; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; San Jose Sharks forward Raffi Torres (13) scores against Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo (1) during overtime of game two of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs at Rogers Arena. The San Jose Sharks won 3-2 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

May 11, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox first baseman Adam Dunn (32) drops a pop fly hit by Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols (not pictured) during the fifth inning at U.S. Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

Apr 20, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; New York Yankees center fielder Brett Gardner (11) fails to catch a double hit by Toronto Blue Jays left fielder Melky Cabrera (not pictured) in the first inning at the Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

I hope this sums it up/gives you a chuckle.

The old song says two out of three ain’t bad, but with the sort of season Boston College Eagles baseball has had, they’ll take one and run. They got it on Sunday afternoon in their series finale against the Virginia Tech Hokies.

On Friday afternoon in the opener, the Eagles had fine pitching, but the hitting was stymied and they fell, 1-0, in a 12-inning affair. In fact, with only three hits for the game, BC averaged just one every four innings. Hunter Gordon went nine innings deep into the game and shut the Hokies out over that stretch, but he was not rewarded for his peak performance with a win.

On Saturday, in the second annual ALS Awareness Game, Boston College actually put some runs on the board, but dug too big of a hole for themselves in a 7-5 loss. By all accounts, the Eagles had a more than respectable bottom of the ninth inning in which they plated five runs, but the problem was that they were down by seven. Between the extra-inning game on Friday and the first eight innings on Saturday, Virginia Tech shut the Eagles out for the first 20 innings of the series. Eric Stevens took the loss for BC, falling to a highly disappointing 0-11 mark despite only allowing three earned runs — four more were unearned.

In the series finale on Sunday, before which the seniors were honored for their presence, the comeback was completed and the Eagles won, 5-3. It is the team’s eleventh victory of the year, and the third against an ACC opponent. Down 2-1 entering the bottom of the eighth, BC scored four times, including a Matt Pare home run and a Gabriel Hernandez two-run double.

BC baseball’s season is less than two weeks from ending, with their home finale coming against Maine after the finals break on May 14. Thereafter, the Eagles close a dismal 2013 campaign at Maryland for a three-game set from May 16 to the 18th.

On a sunny, slightly brisk day at Chestnut Hill’s Shea Field, spirits were high. The first batch of students that attended received free Boston College hats(can’t say that I didn’t take up upon that offer myself). It’s too bad that I picked up a Large hat for my dome because when I realized that wearing it any further would give me a headache that is only saved for a Nickleback/Creed double bill, the XL hats were gone. So while braving a headache from the hat and other factors, I sat down to watch the 2:30 series opener between the Boston College Eagles and Virginia Tech Hokies.

Starting on the mound for the Eagles was senior righty Hunter Gordon, coming in hot with a 1-4 record on the season, with hitters batting .246 against him. Obviously W-L record really don’t matter for this team. Starter Eric Stevens’ record is 0-10 with a 6.42 ERA. On the other hand, John Gorman has an even more horrid ERA at 6.48, but has 3 wins. Take what you will from that but it is definitely seen that Gordon’s efforts on the hill haven’t been backed up by the Birdball offense.

I would make a joke comparing the probability of the Eagles putting up five runs to predictability of going out with someone with match with on Tinder, but after this game I’m pretty much convinced that Tinder sprouts more love than Coach Gambino’s crew puts men across the plate.

And oh boy, did the Eagles shortchange their pitcher!

Hunter Gordon came in against the No. 25 ranked Virginia Tech Hokies and throughly dominated. Virginia Tech came in with a stellar .286 BA with 310 runs(6.59 per game). For the purposes of comparison, Boston College is barely staying above the Mendoza line at .205, only driving in 150 runs(3.26 per game). Taking down a lineup like the Hokies with eight strikeouts while owning the outside corner should be rewarded by your teammates, the Eagles refused to help him or any of the other hurlers in 12 innings.

Now, if you are a Virginia Tech Hokie fan reading this blog for some reason(Obviously it’s for my humor and obscure references), don’t think that I am discounting SP Joe Mantiply’s outing. The senior has had a stellar career for the Hokies and he continued his solid season by throwing seven scoreless, but when a baseball team is unable to get three hits in 12 innings, there is a right for the fan to mock, without even considering their competition.

I will give a more full recap by the end of this weekend, as the series continues, but finals call me. I know you’re asking, “Kyle, how could someone as brilliant as you need to be studying on a Friday night?” I give you two words: Research Methods.

Anyways, have a great night you crazy, wild Boston College Eagles fans. Hopefully we’ll see you tomorrow(today) at 1:30 PM at Shea Field. But for now, have a good night.

Boston College Eagles baseball is in the middle of its best stretch of the season.

Granted, that’s not saying much, but it is nevertheless the case. BC has won three in a row and four out of its last five games, including its most recent Atlantic Coast Conference series against Miami, and they are looking for more. They will get the chance for that when the Virginia Tech Hokies come up from Blacksburg for a weekend visit to sunny Chestnut Hill.

It will be the Eagles’ penultimate ACC series of the 2013 season, which might not necessarily be a bad thing considering that they’re 10-35 on the year, but when it comes to playing better baseball, the adage better late than never comes to mind. On another note, it’s also the final one BC will host this season, with the seniors being honored in the Sunday finale. The schedule does, however, indicate that there is one final home game this season on May 14 against the Maine Black Bears.

The Hokies are 28-18 (11-13) and looking to clinch their spot in the 2013 ACC Tournament, from which the Eagles have been long since eliminated. We could dump stats on you all morning, but at this point in the season, none of it matters. Either Boston College is going to reach down for some extra pride and gut out a few wins or they won’t.

Promotions and special events: On Friday, the first 47 students to go to the game and show Boston College identification will get a free BC hat.

Saturday is the Second Annual ALS Awareness Game, being done in support of Pete Frates and Dick Kelley, two major players in Boston College sports who are both suffering from the disease. Last year’s inaugural ALS Awareness Game got a record crowd at Shea Field; all are invited to attend.

On Sunday, BC baseball’s seniors will be honored.

Friday afternoon’s game is at 2:30pm, Saturday’s game begins at 1:30pm (preceded by a pregame ceremony), and Sunday’s game begins at 1pm (also preceded by a pregame ceremony).

The overall record might not show it, but Boston College baseball has finally gotten on a roll.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Eagles defeated the Rhode Island Rams, 8-7, on the road in Kingston, RI. With the victory, Boston College has now won four of its last five games and improves to 10-35 on the season, while Rhode Island falls to 25-20. This is BC’s first three-game winning streak of the year.

Unlike Monday’s Beanpot game against Harvard in which the Eagles seemed to be in complete control, Boston College led here, but the game never truly appeared to be safe. The Eagles scored once in the top of the first but gave the run back in the bottom half. Then, in the third, BC scored three more, and gave two back in the bottom of the inning. Finally, they were able to open up an 8-4 lead in the seventh, but things got very tricky in the bottom of the ninth. Rhode Island would score three times on four hits, but leave the tying run on base as John Gorman struck out Kevin Stenhouse to seal the win.

Nick Poore earned the victory despite having only gone two innings deep into the game; Brendan Doonan lost for the Rams. Gorman picked up his first save of the season for the Eagles.

Junior John Hennessy had a four-hit game to lead the Eagles en route to a total of eleven; Blake Butera also had a multi-hit game at 2-for-5.

BC’s next contest will be at home on Friday afternoon as the Virginia Tech Hokies visit Boston College in an ACC matchup.

Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston College Eagles baseball team might not have been in a position to win the 2013 Beanpot, but they did the next best thing: win the consolation game.

At Fenway Park on Tuesday afternoon, the Eagles defeated the Harvard Crimson, 7-2, to take third place in this year’s tournament. Boston College is in the midst of one of its best stretches of the season, now winning three of their last four games and improving their overall record to 9-35. Harvard drops to 10-31 with the loss.

The Eagles appeared to never be in danger of falling, taking a 1-0 lead from the outset in the top of the first inning and leading the entire way. Boston College, playing as the road team this time, totaled seven runs and nine hits; they also committed no errors, a major improvement from the six they had in their walk-off win over Miami on Sunday afternoon.

Freshman Joe Cronin led the way for the Eagles, knocking three hits and scoring a run. BC also got a multi-hit game out of junior John Hennessy, who went 2-for-5. Junior pitcher Steve Green took the victory for Boston College after five innings of one-run ball. Matt Timoney lost for Harvard.

The Eagles have just eight games remaining in their 2013 season. Next up for BC is a trip to Kingston, Rhode Island tomorrow to face the Rhode Island Rams.