Jack Toomey strolled to first base after a five-pitch walk in the bottom of the seventh inning of Boston College baseball’s Sunday afternoon matchup against No. 17 North Carolina.
This was BC’s second runner on base all game—the previous coming from Gunnar Johnson reaching first on a throwing error.
UNC’s starter Aidan Haugh, on the brink of a no-hitter, was left with BC’s Nick Wang at the plate. But it wouldn’t be baseball without some oddity coming into play.
Wang lined a two-strike pitch toward the first-base side, nailing Toomey on the basepaths who was ruled out, ending the game.
But BC head coach Todd Interdonato wouldn’t go down without some words to the umpires.
“So I understand the traditional way of thinking is if the ball hits the runner, he’s automatically out,” Interdonato said. “That’s not the rule. The rule is he’s out if the runner is in front of the fielder, and I was arguing that the first baseman was in front of him.”
Nevertheless, this didn’t change the fact that the Eagles (10–11, 3–6 Atlantic Coast) had tumbled to a 10-run deficit in the seven innings beforehand, forcing the mercy rule to end the game early. Although Haugh and the Tar Heels (18–6, 4–5) weren’t credited with a no-hitter, it’s hard to complain about a 10–0 victory to end the weekend series.
Eric Schroeder only saw a very small number of innings compared to Haugh’s dominant performance.
Two singles and advancements on a throw set up runners at second and third in the top of the first. A wild pitch scored the first, and Tyson Bass drove in the second on a double to right center for an early 2–0 lead.
BC’s first inning went 1-2-3—and that became a regular thing throughout the afternoon.
In the top of the second, three straight singles loaded the bases for the Tar Heels as Schroeder struggled to find a groove. Two more consecutive singles cleared the original ducks on the pond, and Bass proceeded to drive in two more runs with a single through the left side.
Schroeder was pulled for Peter Schaefer after 1.2 innings, comprising nine hits and seven earned runs.
“We definitely pitched better Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday,” Interdonato said. “And then obviously, you know, outside of really the one inning today, you know, our pitching is starting to come around.”
Schaefer held his own in 2.1 innings of work, only allowing one hit and recording three strikeouts. Unfortunately for BC, the offense couldn’t build off that tempo, and the 1-2-3 innings persisted.
“You know, that’s a really hard job for Pete—or whoever comes in at that point—but for him to come in and give us two and a third, a shutout, was really good,” Interdonato said. “It did kind of get the momentum back on our side. We just couldn’t get anything going on offense.”
Cesar Gonzalez took over in the fifth inning, giving up two quick singles after getting one out and a run scored after the turn on a double-play attempt was too slow.
With eight runs on the board and very little weight on Haugh’s shoulders, there’s no surprise he continued to completely steamroll the Eagles’ offense. The senior right-hander put together four strikeouts across the fifth and sixth innings, bringing his strikeout total to 10.
As a cherry on top, Hunter Stokely pounded a ball to straight-away center over the head of Josiah Ragsdale for a 9–0 lead in the top of the sixth.
The Tar Heels wanted to hit the road early, as a sacrifice fly put their lead to double digits, forcing BC’s hand. The Eagles needed to put up one, measly run to play a full slate and avoid being mercy-ruled.
But in the seventh inning, the Eagles never crossed the plate, dropping their final contest against UNC in an ugly 10–0 loss.
“You know, I feel like everybody’s trying to do what they can do to match their skill set to improve, and that’ll be a key first moving forward,” Interdonato said.
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