BOSTON, Mass. — In last year’s ALS Awareness Game at Fenway Park, Boston College baseball thrived off John West’s pitching, which carried the Eagles to an 8–4 win over Notre Dame.
Against Virginia, this year’s ALS Awareness Game honoring the late Pete Frates, BC ’07, was also won on the mound—this time thanks largely to A.J. Colarusso.
“In these games that are overly emotional, where there’s a lot of external factors, I always look at [pitchers’] first inning,” BC head coach Todd Interdonato said. “[Colarusso] comes out and is just cramming in the first inning and looks like himself.”
Through the first four innings, Colarusso kept the ACC’s top offense silent, putting the Eagles (21–19, 8–14 Atlantic Coast) on track for an 8–2 win over Virginia (31–12, 12–10) on Thursday night.
“For it to play out the way it did, beat a team like that, the way it played out—it’s just a dream,” Interdonato said.
Michael Farinelli relieved Colarusso in the top of the fifth, hoping to keep the Eagles’ lead alive. He gave up a single on his second pitch, however, and the Cavaliers quickly loaded the bases with just one out.
But Farinelli pulled through. He struck out the final batter of the inning and dealt Virginia another scoreless frame.
The Eagles were held to two scoreless innings to start the game. But unlike the Cavaliers, they were able to break through in the third with a homer from Parker Landwehr that sailed over the bullpen wall and put BC up 1–0.
The Cavaliers picked up their first hit of the game in the top of the fourth inning with a double from Ethan Anderson. The hit failed to spark any runs, though, as BC ended the inning with a swift double play.
In the bottom of the fourth, Vince Cimini stepped up to bat with Kyle Wolff on base and smacked the ball into right field. The ball wrapped around the Pesky Pole, sneaking its way into home-run territory and to extend the Eagles’ lead to three runs.
“When he hit it, I was thinking it had a chance to stay fair because I knew he back spun it and hit it flush,” Interdonato said of Cimini’s homer. “So I was more thinking like, ‘Are we going to score from first on the double?’ … And then all of a sudden it did [leave the ballpark] and in my head I’m like, ‘That’s just Pete man.’”
After forcing the Cavaliers into their seventh scoreless inning in a row, the Eagles appeared to be ready to extend their lead in the bottom of the frame. Cam Caraher sent a bunt single to second base, then Landwehr followed it up with a single of his own that sent Caraher to third. But a Sam McNulty bunt straight to the pitcher hung Caraher out to dry and he was tagged out at home trying to score.
But the inning was not over yet.
With Landwehr on third and McNulty on second, Adam Magpoc walked to load the bases. Moments later, Cameron Leary grounded out to first base, allowing Landwehr to score and put the Eagles up 4–0.
Although BC left two runners on base when Wolff struck out looking to end the seventh frame, the Eagles’ lead held up.
BC gave up one run in the top of the eighth when a sacrifice fly from Henry Godbout scored Harrison Didawick, who had smacked a triple into center field. Then, the Eagles went back to work.
The Eagles responded in the bottom half of the inning to end the night with a bang. BC scored four runs, including two off an RBI single from Landwehr that gave the Eagles the eight runs they would ultimately end the game with.
Despite the Cavaliers putting up one run in the top of the ninth, BC ended the game with an 8–2 win that allowed the Eagles to snap their three-game skid.
“Getting to play at Fenway, getting to play [for] ALS, it just kind of shifts your focus and shifts your mind, and I do think it played a part,” Interdonato said.
