Sunday’s game between Boston College baseball and Notre Dame was more than just another matchup. It was a series-deciding, rivalry matchup—a recipe for excitement.
The game, and especially how it ended, lived up to that expectation for a thriller.
In the final tilt of a three-game series, BC (17–18, 7–11 Atlantic Coast) beat Notre Dame (16–17, 4–14) 4–3 in walk-off fashion to take the series after the teams split Friday’s doubleheader.
“Just being able to play in tight games, and being able to make plays and make pitches in tight games, I actually think … builds more confidence than just a blowout,” BC head coach Todd Interdonato said. “Looking at, holistically, a 4–1 week, that’s really what’s most important.”
The Irish looked to make a splash in the top of the first frame with a knock off Davis Johnson’s bat. But it was tracked down by Eagles left fielder Colin Larson at the wall, ending the inning with one runner stranded on base.
The Irish’s bats caught fire in the top of the second, however. They got their first hit of the game in the second at-bat of the inning thanks to a Connor Hincks bunt single.
Hincks ended up recording the game’s first run, thanks to an RBI single from Nick DeMarco through the left side of the infield. Leadoff hitter Jared Zimbardo’s RBI single immediately after brought home one more run before the inning came to a close.
In the Eagles’ first at-bat of the second inning, Larson blasted his first home run as an Eagle over the left-field wall to cut BC’s deficit to one.
“He’s got some pretty elite bat speed, and once he got that ball in the air, I thought there was a chance,” Interdonato said. “Being a part of those special moments is really fun as a coach.”
The Irish didn’t waste much time responding, though. Carson Tinney opened up the next inning with a double into left field. Two batters later, Parker Brzustewicz brought home Tinney, posting another run for the Irish and forcing a pitching change from BC.
As the first pitcher out of the bullpen, junior John Kwiatkowski came in for Kyle Kipp and threw two strikeouts with two runners in scoring position to get the Eagles out of the third-inning jam.
“He threw a slider for a strike, and throwing an off-speed pitch for a strikeout out of the bullpen is so important, and that’s what he was able to do,” Interdonato said.
Another bright spot on the Eagles’ pitching staff was freshman left-handed pitcher Brady Miller, who allowed two hits, zero runs, and dished out three strikeouts in his 3.2 innings of action.
In the fifth inning, the Irish hit a fly ball into the helping wind. But the ball and the play ended in Larson’s glove at the left-field warning track, as just like in the first inning, he extinguished any threat of a runner in scoring position.
During the bottom of the fifth, the tail end of the Eagles’ lineup found a spark.
Vince Cimini started the action with a triple to right field with one out. Pinch-hitter Esteban Garcia hit an RBI double into the right-center gap to bring the Eagles within one.
The Eagles loaded the bases, but the Irish brought in freshman Oisin Lee, who faced Kyle Wolff and pitched an inning-ending strikeout. BC trailed 3–2.
One inning later, the Eagles put the pressure on again. After a two-out single from Sam McNulty, Cimini blasted a double to left-center field that allowed McNulty to score from first and knot up the game 3–3.
In the top of the ninth, with the game still tied, the Irish put two runners on base. But a huge strikeout from senior right-hander Eric Schroeder marked the end of the inning, giving BC a chance to win the game in the bottom of the frame.
That’s exactly what the Eagles did.
McNulty got to second base after a leadoff single and subsequent throwing error. After a sacrifice bunt from Cimini moved McNulty to third, pinch-hitter Gunnar Johnson came into the game.
On the first pitch Johnson faced, he hit a walk-off single that soared over the center fielder’s head, allowing McNulty to make his way through home plate and give the Eagles a 4–3 win.
A sea of blue-and-yellow jerseys flooded the field as BC captured a Holy War victory in dramatic fashion.
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