Eagles take first two against Hokies

Maybe BC should arrange to play more games at the University of Rhode Island.

The Boston College Eagles baseball team gained a 2-1 victory on Saturday afternoon against the visiting Virginia Tech Hokies, giving them their 4th ACC win of the season and setting up a possible series sweep on Sunday morning at 11:30. The Eagles are now 10-10 (4-4) and suddenly are getting a little more traction after their blown game against Holy Cross on Wednesday. The loss drops the Hokies to 13-12, but a very dismal 0-8 in conference play. At this early juncture in the season, Boston College is in second place in the ACC Atlantic behind division leader Clemson.

The Hokies got on the board first, putting up a run on a sacrifice fly by Tim Smalling in the first inning. That would be Virginia Tech’s only run off of starter Matt Alvarez, and their last for the game as well. Nate Bayuk pitched seven innings out of the bullpen for the Eagles and allowed no runs and only one hit in a tremendous performance.

Boston College plated their only two runs in the fifth inning when Mark Perdios hit a two-run single with two outs and the bases loaded. The Eagles would not score again, but Bayuk held the Hokies’ offense in check.

Virginia Tech clearly is not the same team that swept BC in Blacksburg last year, but every ACC win is meaningful, and if the Eagles want to make the ACC Tournament in May, then these are the games they need to win. They can push themselves up over .500 tomorrow (both overall and in conference play) with another victory.