Boston College Baseball Loses Series at Notre Dame

The Boston College Eagles baseball team got its first ACC road win on Friday night against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Chicago, but then lost both in a Saturday doubleheader.

Friday’s Boston College win came with a 4-1 score. The first Saturday game was a 4-2 Notre Dame win, while the second was a 7-0 Irish shutout victory.

The Eagles have dropped all of their conference series so far, and with the Notre Dame series included, Boston College’s record falls to 11-24 (3-15) on the season. Birdball is now back to being in a last-place tie with the aforementioned Irish. This was Notre Dame’s first ACC series win.

On Friday night, the Eagles and Irish needed free baseball to settle the game. Boston College took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, but Notre Dame was able to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth at 1-1. So the score would remain until the top of the 11th, when the Eagles came up with a three-run rally, including Gabriel Hernandez’s game-winning hit to give Boston College the lead for good.

Saturday’s doubleheader was less kind to the visitors. In the first game, Boston College never led, falling behind in the bottom of the first while Notre Dame never looked back. The first ten Eagles faced by pitcher Pat Connaughton were retired in order. (If the name sounds familiar, it should, as he is the same Pat Connaughton on the Irish basketball team.) Down 4-0 in the top of the eighth, the Eagles were able to scratch out their first run, and got another in the ninth but did not get the tying run on base, or to home plate for that matter, losing 4-2. Connaughton went the distance for the Irish, while Andrew Chin lost for Boston College, going 6.2 IP with four earned runs.

The second game was even more futile for the Eagles offense. Notre Dame shut out Boston College by a 7-0 score, taking the lead again in the bottom of the first and not looking back. Rather distressingly for the Eagles, they allowed the second game’s pitcher to also throw a complete game, though Michael Hearne’s victory was a complete game shutout. This was the fifth time Boston College has been shut out this season.

Birdball will return home on Tuesday afternoon to take on the Rhode Island Rams.