Boston College baseball rode a seven-game winning streak into Friday’s contest, coming off a dominant 12–2 win over Merrimack.
The Eagles (19–8, 7–3 Atlantic Coast) stayed hot as they defeated No. 9 Virginia (21–6, 6–4) for their second top-10 win of the season.
With the win, the Eagles improved to a perfect 7–0 at home.
“I think our guys are just confident here,” BC head coach Todd Interdonato said. “Let’s be real. Like, this is a hard place to play. This is a hard ballpark to score runs in. Our guys are comfortable with it. They understand it.”
The Cavaliers threatened early with runners on first and second with no outs in the top of the second. A.J. Colarusso struck out the next two batters before walking Jake Weatherspoon to load the bases. Eagles fans held their breath as Zach Jackson hammered a fly ball toward the center-field wall, before Carter Hendrickson made the catch on the warning track to keep the game scoreless.
“The play that Carter made on the wall is just, I mean, that’s a big league play,” said Interdonato. “Carter just went completely fearless into the wall making that play, which honestly was, at the time, a game-saving play.”
Hendrickson got things going on the other side of the ball, too. After reaching base on an infield single and advancing on a Luke Gallo bunt, Hendrickson found himself in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the second.
He was brought home by a Kyle Wolff line drive that cleared the left-field wall for his first home run of the season. The second came to an end with BC up 2–0 in an inning that would be Virginia pitcher Kyle Johnson’s last on the mound.
The Eagles found themselves in a similar situation in the fourth after a single and a Ty Mainolfi error put two Cavaliers on base with no outs. After Colarusso retired the next two batters, Virginia’s Weatherspoon shot a single into center, bringing Joe Tiroly home to cut the BC lead in half. Colarusso struck out one more Cavalier, as BC headed into the bottom of the fourth with a 2–1 advantage.
“I think establishing my fastball early in a lot of counts and getting my cutter and changeup both on the plate helped me stay effective through six,” said Colarusso. “So I think I had a good mix of pitches going today, and yeah, just kept them at bay.”
Colarusso wasn’t done delivering for the Eagles in key moments, though. He left two runners in scoring position in the sixth, rounding out his day with six strikeouts and a new career high of 113 pitches.
“He gets us in control of the game by going out and hanging a couple zeroes,” said Interdonato.
The bottom of the sixth had Jack Toomey’s name written all over it. After singling and advancing to second on a Hendrickson bunt, Toomey stole third and scored on a throwing error by the Cavalier catcher, putting BC back up by two.
Cesar Gonzalez took the mound in the seventh for the Eagles, facing the heart of the Cavalier lineup. But BC’s pitching didn’t miss a beat—Gonzalez struck out two en route to ending the top of the seventh in just 12 pitches, pushing BC closer to the upset victory.
With one out in the seventh, Gunnar Johnson stood at second after a walk and a Colin Larson bunt, before speeding off to third for BC’s second stolen base of the day. The following pitch was chopped into left field by Julio Solier, bringing Johnson home and extending the lead to 4–1. Solier then stole second and was roped home by a Nick Wang double down the left field line, bringing BC to a 5–1 lead and putting the game out of Virginia’s reach.
Gonzalez earned his first save of the season, but it wasn’t easy. Tiroly knocked a two-out double into left field in the ninth, bringing two runners home and the tying run up to the plate.
But as the pressure mounted, Gonzalez remained calm. He forced a groundout to end the game in a 5–3 BC victory.
