Boston College baseball was ready to go from the jump in its Sunday manatee matchup against Virginia Commonwealth. Despite the fact that the Eagles had only played seven games going into the game, they still had a lot to prove after dropping to 3–4 with a loss to Richmond.
BC (4–4) took care of business, beating VCU (2–9) 4–3. In order for the Eagles to even have a chance at the playoffs this year, it’s vital for them to take care of non-conference opponents due to the fact that its ACC schedule is so tough.
Despite playing in Richmond, it was still a chilly 38 degrees when VCU starting pitcher Miles Garrett took the mound in the first. The Eagles took the Chestnut Hill-like weather and used it to their advantage.
BC grabbed an immediate 2–0 lead in the top of the first inning thanks to a Nick Wang 2 RBI single that drove in junior starters Kyle Wolff and Josiah Ragsdale.
Ragsdale reached first with a walk and Wolff was hit by a pitch as Garrett could not seem to find the strike zone. He entered the day with an impressive 3.86 ERA, but was pulled after just two innings.
Senior left-handed pitcher and Massachusetts native Tyler Mudd set the tone for the Eagles early. Mudd entered this game coming off a strong performance against New Orleans, where he pitched 4.2 innings and let up just one run.
Mudd allowed just one hit through his first three innings of work against VCU. He exited his start against the Rams with the Eagles leading 3–1. Mudd totaled 5.1 innings pitched, allowing two hits, one run, and two strikeouts. He did exactly what the team needed him to do—give them a chance to win.
“We really needed one, and we decided to go with Mudd today,” head coach Todd Interdonato said. “I have to give credit to Ryan Forrest. That was his decision last night to go with Tyler. And Tyler came out and proved him right.”
The Eagles capitalized on the Rams’ errors. As the game went on, it was clear that whichever team had limited defensive mistakes would come out on top.
“We track that pretty closely in our dugout, about how we play defensively,” Interdonato said. “Since we left New Orleans, our defense has been really good all through this weekend. So probably a big difference of why we won two out of three this weekend.”
It was a 3-1 ballgame up until the seventh inning, when the Rams stormed back to tie the game at three. Karl Meyer was first in relief for Mudd. Meyer struggled against the Rams and was taken out of the game after allowing two runs and four hits through just 1.1 innings pitched.
Following Meyer was freshman pitcher Cesar Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was thrown into chaos as he came into a tied game in the bottom of the seventh with runners on second and first and the momentum on VCU’s side. The freshman showed up in dramatic fashion, however, with a strikeout and BC escaped the inning without losing the lead.
“The coaches trusting him in that moment, and his teammates trusting him in that moment speaks to his maturity,” Interdonato said. “He’s been an incredibly mature kid since he’s been here. Really proud of him, and we all trust him in that moment.”
Gonzalez would never look back, as he slammed the door shut against the Rams.
Jack Toomey put the Eagles ahead 4-3 in the eighth inning, which would be the final score of the game. Toomey is slashing a .321 batting average with six RBI and one homerun.
Gonzalez ended up getting the win and finished with a statline of 2.1 innings pitched, giving up just one hit to go along with two strikeouts, allowing the Eagles to climb back to a .500 winning percentage.
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