Thanks to traffic crowding the roads, Boston College baseball arrived late to Hanover, N.H. for a weekday matinee with the Dartmouth Big Green. The original start time for the game got pushed back from 3 p.m. to 3:15, but once the Eagles showed up, they were ready to go.
Senior left-hander Nick Poore allowed the first batter he faced to reach base on an infield single to the shortstop and a walk two batters later. But then he settled down—he didn’t allow a baserunner for the rest of his day on the mound.
Due to Poore’s mastery on the hill and junior slugger Chris Shaw’s continued dominance at the plate, BC (13-16, 5-9 ACC) topped a struggling Dartmouth (6-18, 4-4 Ivy League) in a low-scoring 2-0 affair.
Making only his fourth start of the season, Poore got his first win of the year by forcing 10 Dartmouth hitters into groundouts, while baiting Big Green cleanup hitter Joe Purritano into two strikeouts. Poore is now the eighth BC pitcher with a win under his belt.
After blasting three home runs on Sunday against Wake Forest, Shaw played small ball with the Big Green on Tuesday. Shaw scored both of BC’s runs against Dartmouth, getting on base with two singles and a double. In the past four games, Shaw is batting .688 with five runs and seven runs batted in.
“It’s pretty special to have a guy like that in the middle of the order,” BC head coach Mike Gambino said. “He can carry a team offensively at times.”
Despite the fact that the rest of the lineup only mustered up two hits, Dartmouth’s batters were even more ineffective. The Big Green’s third, fourth, and fifth hitters went 0 for 8 with three strikeouts on the game.
The team of Luke Fernandes, Jesse Adams, and John Nicklas relieved Poore in the sixth inning and continued its starter’s reign of dominance over the Big Green. Fernandes allowed only one hit, while Adams gave up just a walk. Nicklas closed the door on the Big Green with a perfect ninth inning to get his third save of the season.
“All four of those guys threw the ball great today,” Gambino said. “They located their pitches, stayed ahead of the count all day, and we stayed under 100 pitches. It was great to see them throw well.”
Big Green pitcher Chris England had an impressive day, allowing two hits through the first six innings, but Dartmouth ran into trouble after pulling him with one out in the seventh inning. Reliever Chris Burkholder gave up two hits to the first two batters he faced, allowing the Eagles’ second run of the day to come home.
Burkholder settled down to retire the next two batters to end the inning, but BC’s damage had already been done.
Despite the late start, the game between BC and Dartmouth was especially quick, finishing under two hours. Gambino said that the team had food ordered for the bus ride home, but had to wait after the game ended for the food to arrive.
The Eagles are getting their pitching arms going with a first round Beanpot matchup against Northeastern University—a team they demolished 22-1 earlier this year—looming tomorrow.
As long as traffic allows them to show up for the game, they’ll be set.
Featured Image by Michael Sullivan / Heights Editor
