Boston College baseball flew into its game on Tuesday on a hot streak, having won five straight games, including a sweep of California last weekend.
The Eagles (17–8, 6–3 Atlantic Coast) did just enough to extend their streak, edging past rival Northeastern (12–10, 7–2 Coastal Athletic) 3–2 to win their sixth game in a row.
BC’s Jack Toomey opened the scoring at the top of the second, leading off the inning with a double down the left-field line. Two batters later, Luke Gallo brought him home on a groundout to give BC a 1–0 lead.
“Luke getting the chopper in just kind of sets the tone, and anytime you get hard contact on the field early in the game, I think it just kind of gives you a little more control of what’s going on,” said BC head coach Todd Interdonato.
Northeastern answered in the third with a major threat, loading the bases with no outs. Harrison Feinberg laced a single to tie the game at 1–1, causing a pitching change as Luke D’Ancona was brought on in relief.
D’Ancona came through, inciting a baserunning error from the Huskies and getting a strikeout to end the inning. D’Ancona would earn the win, shoving 3.2 shutout innings and striking out six.
BC regained the lead in the fifth. Colin Larson walked, and Julio Solier singled to give the Eagles runners at first and second with no outs. After a pop-up from Ty Mainolfi, Nick Wang singled to score Larson and put BC back on top.
“Some ballparks are just really hard to score in, and in my short time here, that’s a ballpark that’s just kind of hard to score in,” Interdonato said. “I think we punched out 15 or 16 batters, and, you know, I think that’s a credit to our pitchers executing what they were able to execute.”
Northeastern pitcher Cooper Maher limited the damage, catching Solier stealing at third and keeping the Huskies within striking distance.
From there, BC’s pitching staff controlled the game. Northeastern’s offense, which scored 17 runs in its last game against Elon, didn’t score another run until the ninth. The Eagles struck out a season-high 16 Huskies while allowing just four hits.
“I think pitching has been exceptional,” Interdonato said. “I feel like whether we get a lead, like we did against Sacred Heart and Lowell, we were able to keep in control, and then even when we’re down, like we were against Cal, those guys [have the] ability to keep the next run off the board, and just kind of keep it within striking distance.”
BC would get an important insurance run in the top of the ninth. Solier laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Owen DeShazo to put BC up 3–1.
The extra cushion would prove to be decisive. The Huskies sneaked in a final run courtesy of a Chris Walsh RBI single, but one final strikeout by Ryan Gerety would end the game in a 3–2 win for BC.
