Boston College Baseball Drops Villanova, 7-6 in 11 Innings

Boston College Eagles baseball found a way to keep their solid start to the 2014 season going on Saturday afternoon, even after losing their lead in the ninth.

In the second game of the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida, Birdball defeated the Villanova Wildcats, 7-6 in 11 innings. With the win, Boston College improves to 6-3 on the season.

Boston College ran out to an early 4-0 lead in this game in the top of the first inning, with all of the runs scored on either singles or well-placed ground balls. Despite the Eagles’ general lack of power as a team, they still found a way to string hits together and create a big inning for themselves.

That 4-0 lead would become a 6-0 lead by the top of the fourth, in which the Eagles chased Villanova starter Max Almonte. That lead would not last, however: the Wildcats would plate two in the fourth to make it 6-2, two in the seventh to make it 6-4, and finally, two in the bottom of the ninth to make it a 6-6 game. If not for a wild 4-2-5-4 double play to send the game to extras, the inning might not have ended in a tie.

It was not until Logan Hoggarth’s RBI single in the top of the 11th that the Eagles would take the lead for good; he was thrown out stretching at second base. That hit was the final of Boston College’s 17 on the afternoon.

Bobby Skogsbergh would polish off the effort for the Eagles, setting Villanova down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 11th to earn himself the win. Birdball wasted a good outing from Andrew Chin, who pitched six innings and allowed two runs.

The Eagles will play their third and final game of the Snowbird Classic against Western Michigan on Sunday afternoon.