Boston College Baseball Blows 8-Run Lead, Loses Pitt Finale

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Boston College Eagles baseball blew an 8-run lead to the Pittsburgh Panthers on Sunday, en route to a 16-11 loss in the rubber game of their ACC series.

The defeat drops Birdball to 20-29 (9-18) on the season. As they are now 3.5 games off the pace from the final ACC Tournament spot with three conference games left to play, Boston College has been eliminated from contention and will not make it to Greensboro this year.

For what has ultimately been another sub-par season by Boston College baseball, Sunday’s contest was amongst the lowlights. It did not start out that way, however, as the Eagles grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Chris Shaw went deep for his team-leading fifth homer of the season; Shaw now accounts for half of Boston College’s home runs.

That first inning paled in comparison to Boston College’s second, in which Birdball sent six more runners across home plate. Shaw again was one of the key contributors, clearing the bases by knocking a three-run double to left. After two innings, Boston College led Pittsburgh by an 8-0 score.

Unfortunately for them, the Pittsburgh comeback began immediately thereafter. In the top of the third, the Panthers were able to shave those six runs back off of their deficit, highlighted by a two-run double by Steven Shelinsky, Jr.

They did not have to wait long to complete the comeback: Pitt did it in the top of the fourth, going ahead 9-8 with three more runs, including another RBI by Shelinsky as he was hit by a pitch.

Boston College was able to tie the game with a run in the bottom of the fourth on a Johnny Adams RBI single, but Pittsburgh retook the lead for good in the top of the fifth. There, Stephen Vranka’s RBI triple put the Panthers ahead, 10-9; they would add another in short order to take an 11-9 advantage.

The Eagles got as close as 11-10 in the bottom of the fifth, but five more runs would come home for Pitt in the top of the sixth, who obliterated Eagles pitching for a total of 16 runs on the afternoon. Boston College added just one more in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a Michael Strem RBI double.

Long reliever Mike King took the loss for Boston College; their starter, Jeff Burke, allowed six earned runs over two and a third.

The other story of this game was the volume of errors. Boston College and Pittsburgh combined for seven during the contest; eight of the 27 total runs plated were unearned.

Next weekend, Boston College baseball will return to action as they host the Binghamton Bearcats in a three-game set in Chestnut Hill.