Coming off a nail-biting win at No. 25 UConn on Tuesday, Boston College baseball looked to make another step in the right direction as it began a nine-game homestand on Wednesday.
Entering Wednesday’s game, Merrimack (7–12–1, 2–1 Northeast) had won four of its last five games—a streak doomed to end almost from the moment the Warriors entered the Harrington Athletics Village.
The Eagles (11–14, 1–8 Atlantic Coast) dominated the game both offensively and on the mound to secure a 16–4 victory over Merrimack.
Defensively, Merrimack pitchers couldn’t keep the Eagles’ offense at bay until reliever Tiernan Lynch came into the game in the eighth inning, but at that point, only a few starters remained in BC’s lineup. The Warriors started each of the first three innings with a new pitcher, and Merrimack’s first four pitchers combined to give up six home runs.
Joe Vetrano got the action started in the first inning with his first of his two three-run shots of the day. Cameron Leary then hit a grand slam in the second inning that clocked 108 mph off the bat and put the Eagles up 8–0. Daniel Baruch then got his second hit of both the game and the year on a 411-foot bomb that nearly hit St. Clement’s Hall, situated just past the outfield fence. Lucas Stalman and Sam McNulty also added homers on Wednesday.
“We’ve got five guys who can pretty much leave the yard at any point,” BC head coach Mike Gambino said after the game. “We’ve got power throughout and power potential at the bottom.”
On the opposite side of the ball, freshman Luke Delongchamp pitched five innings for the Eagles, giving up just one hit. The only hit came on a leadoff double by Merrimack shortstop Alex Haba in the top of the first inning. Delongchamp walked Michael Golankiewicz later in the first, but a 6-4-3 double play got the freshman right-hander out of the inning without giving up a run.
Delongchamp pitched three straight 1-2-3 innings before a baserunner who reached on a walk in the fifth became the victim of another BC double play.
“It was great for [Delongchamp] to get five innings in just 52 pitches,” Gambino said. “We had some other guys we wanted to get in, but he was on a roll. He had a chance to give us seven or eight.”
The Eagles kept Merrimack off the board until the ninth inning, during which Travis Lane gave up four runs.
Featured Image by Aditya Rao / Heights Staff
