Boston College Baseball: Virginia Sweeps Doubleheader, Series from Eagles
By Joe Micik
Boston College Eagles baseball played two games on Saturday, and both of them saw the maroon and gold lose in their opponent’s final at-bat.
In Game 1 of the doubleheader in Charlottesville, the #3 Virginia Cavaliers defeated Boston College, 3-2 in 12 innings. In the second game, Virginia won by a 2-1 score, again walking off though in a nine-inning contest. Birdball has been swept in their first two ACC series of the season, falling to 6-12 (0-6) on the year. The Eagles’ losing streak is now at nine games in a row.
Boston College took the lead in the first game in the second inning and once again in the top of the sixth after the Wahoos had tied the game previously. Virginia would again knot the score, 2-2, in the bottom of the eighth, with each side trading zeros on the scoreboard until Nick Howard — the starting DH who eventually took to the mound to pitch the final two and a third — knocked an RBI single in the bottom of the 12th to win it. Oddly enough, his doing so got him the win, his first of the season.
The Eagles kept that contest going with some spirited play, including defensive heroics from Logan Hoggarth and Tom Bourdon. Unfortunately for them, they were not able to generate more than two runs offensively despite outhitting Virginia, 10-9.
Shortly thereafter, Boston College and Virginia were at it again for the second game. The Cavaliers struck for their first run in the bottom of the first off of Eagles starter Jeff Burke, but that run was the only one he would allow in six and a third of work. The bats tied the game up at 1-1 in the top of the third, and so the game remained until the bottom of the ninth.
The bottom of the ninth was a disaster for the Eagles, starting with a walk and a hit by pitch. On the next batter, the bases were loaded as Boston College third baseman Johnny Adams committed an E-5 with a bad throw on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Finally, the game came to an end a few moments later as Mike Papi also reached on an error, a fielding E-3 by first baseman John Hennessy. The walk-off error handed Virginia the sweep.
Boston College encountered two crushing ways to lose games, especially considering that they were very much alive in both contests. The Eagles made the critical mistakes in the end, and now, they are a loss away from a double-digit losing streak.
They will try to prevent that from happening on Tuesday as they play their home opener in Chestnut Hill against Holy Cross.