Last time Boston College baseball played Northeastern, it took until the fourth inning for the Huskies to break through the silence and score the first runs of the game. BC initially responded, but the Eagles lost their groove in the final four innings and surrendered a 10–6 loss—their first in a four-game losing streak.
BC’s Tuesday night game against the Huskies in the 2024 Baseball Beanpot final did not repeat this story.
Instead, it told a much worse one for the Eagles.
The Eagles (17–14, 6–9 Atlantic Coast) surrendered a 7–0 loss to Northeastern (25–7, 7–2 Coastal Athletic) at home, slipping one step back to .500 and getting shut out for the first time this season.
“[Northeastern] threw the ball really well,” BC head coach Todd Interdonato said. “I felt like we just needed to get some hard contact on the field early, and we just weren’t able to do that.”
For the first few innings, it didn’t seem like Northeastern would run away with the game. In fact, the matchup appeared almost even.
Both teams registered zero hits and zero runs through the first three innings. But while Northeastern broke this trend in the fourth inning with two runs off of two hits, BC remained utterly silent.
In the top of the fourth, Luke Beckstein started things off with a walk for the Huskies. A subsequent single into right field from Tyler MacGregor advanced Beckstein to second. Then, Alex Lane’s single up the middle scored Beckstein.
Lane looked to steal third base a few plays later. But a throw to Patrick Roche at third base flew right over his head, and Lane sprinted all the way to home plate to put the Huskies up 2–0.
In the bottom of the inning, Kyle Wolff was hit by a pitch. Then, Nick Wang reached first base, but Wolff was out at second on a fielder’s choice.
Vince Cimini followed with the Eagles’ sole hit of the game with a single into center field that allowed Wang to advance to second.
But the Huskies put the inning to rest when Adam Magpoc grounded into a double play.
The Eagles’ trouble continued into the fifth inning, during which the Huskies scored three runs off three doubles.
“Once they settle in, they just get very confident and our guys became defensive, and it just rolled out from there,” Interdonato said.
Two of Northeastern’s runs came off wild pitches from Kyle Kipp, who relieved starter Evan Moore. Gavin Hasche followed, entering the game after the Huskies scored two runs off Kipp.
Pitching was a constant struggle for BC. One after the other—Moore, Kipp, Hasche, Aidan Crowley, Beck Milner, Travis Lane, and Brad Lombardi entered the game to try and provide a spark on the mound.
“We just needed better appearances out of the pen once we’ve made those first moves,” Interdonato said.
The Huskies slowed down offensively in the final four innings, scoring two runs in the seventh inning. But their pitching maintained their dominant lead as BC struck out seven times in the last four frames alone.
BC started the game with hopes of winning its third straight Beanpot final. Eighteen strikeouts later, those hopes had been extinguished and the Huskies hoisted the Beanpot trophy on the Eagles’ home field.