Saturday: W, 16–1

Despite heading into the eighth inning with a comfortable 6–1 lead, No. 22 Boston College baseball had some unfinished business.

After suffering its first mercy-rule loss of the season to Notre Dame less than 24 hours before, BC (32–14, 15–8 Atlantic Coast) sought out its get-back, and it would do so with the help of 10 runs in a single inning.

Four different Eagles recorded three or more RBIs in a 16–1 run-rule victory over the Fighting Irish (19–19, 8–15), highlighted by a two-homer, five-RBI performance from Kyle Wolff.

The Eagles got the bats hot early, with Julio Solier and Ty Mainolfi knocking a single and a double in the top of the first. A Nick Wang double play and Carter Hendrickson groundout allowed Notre Dame to escape with no damage, though.

Brady Miller rolled through the first two innings, going six-up six-down. Four of his six strikeouts came in the first two frames.

The Eagles’ ace finished his outing, allowing four hits and one run over 5.2 innings, lowering his ERA to 2.58, the best mark of any BC starter.

After a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second, BC used a big third inning to provide a cushion for the remainder of the game.

After back-to-back outs to begin the top of the third, Solier kicked off a two-out rally with a ground-rule double into the left-field gap. Wang brought him home on a single, and singles from both Mainolfi and Hendrickson loaded the bases. Gunnar Johnson’s seven-pitch walk brought one run in, and Luke Gallo capped off a four-run third with a two-run double.

The Fighting Irish got their first baserunners in the bottom half, but Miller forced a flyout with two runners on to keep BC’s lead at 4–0 heading into the fourth.

Hendrickson led off the fifth with a triple, but after back-to-back strikeouts, the Eagles’ chance to score on Xavier Hirsch’s replacement, Caden Crowell, looked grim. That was until Wolff smashed the second pitch of his at-bat over the center-field wall to extend the lead to 6–0.

Notre Dame responded in the bottom of the sixth, forcing BC head coach Todd Interdonato to pull Miller off the mound for Cesar Gonzalez. Two singles led off Notre Dame’s sixth inning, and after both runners advanced to scoring position, all it took was a groundout from Dylan Passo to put the Fighting Irish on the board.

Gonzalez took the mound with minimal pressure and secured a seven-pitch strikeout to send the game into the seventh with BC’s lead at 6–1.

After a silent seventh inning, the Eagles’ bats got going again when the eighth rolled around. Ben Williams and Colin Larson led off with back-to-back singles, and Solier notched his fourth hit of the afternoon on a three-run blast into right field to push his team’s lead to 9–1.

Solier would be ejected from the game, ending a 4-of-5 performance with a home run, double, and three RBIs, but his expulsion only seemed to fire up the BC dugout even more. Wang followed the homer up with a double, and Mainolfi drove him home on a single. After a fielder’s choice and another single, Gallo delivered again with a double to push BC to double digits.

Notre Dame’s Garrett Snyder was tasked with slowing down a dominant Eagles offense, but on his very first pitch, Wolff cranked his second home run of the game, extending BC’s lead to 14–1.

BC wasn’t done yet.

A single and a hit-by-pitch put two more runners on for Wang to deliver his second and third RBIs of the game on a single into right field after both runners advanced on a steal and a pick-off error.

With a 16–1 lead heading into the bottom half of the eighth, all the Eagles needed was three more outs. Chase Hartsell was given the call, fulfilling his duty in five batters to secure the win for BC.

Friday: L, 12–2

Friday continued a week of firsts for BC.

After taking their first midweek loss of the year on Tuesday, the Eagles suffered their first run-rule defeat of the year with a 12–2 loss to Notre Dame, highlighted by a 10-run fifth inning for the Fighting Irish.

Jack Radel was key to Notre Dame’s victory. He threw a season-high 11 strikeouts on 111 pitches in a complete game. 

“We had some good at-bats and then [Radel] really got in a good rhythm and started mixing and landing off-speed pitches, and that was when his strikeouts started to go up,” Interdonato said.

Johnson got the scoring going in the second, poking a double to deep center that allowed Gallo to score from first and give the Eagles an early 1–0 lead. That lead held until the fifth, as A.J. Colarusso held Notre Dame to just two hits over the first four innings.

It wasn’t just Colarusso who was on his game. Hendrickson’s glove in center field silenced any scoring chance, as he ran down two long fly balls in the bottom of the fourth.

“Carter [Hendrickson] played excellent defense,” Interdonato said. “He made two plays up against the wall. I thought we defended really well, they just strung together that inning that we didn’t have an answer for.” 

The Fighting Irish got their bats going in the bottom of the fifth, as Jayce Lee kicked off the inning with a double and Passo singled through the right side of the infield to score Lee and even the game at one.

After a mound conference, Parker Brzustewicz kept the line moving with an RBI double. In the following at-bat, Jamie Zee hit a fly ball that moved Brzustewicz to third. Brandon Logan then posted an RBI single of his own to extend the lead to 3–1.

The Eagles intentionally walked Bino Watters to load the bases and called the bullpen, hoping to put a double play in the cards and slow Notre Dame’s momentum. 

But the Fighting Irish had more offense in them.

With three ducks on the pond, Noah Coy delivered, doubling down the right-field line to score two more. In the following at-bat, Mark Quatrani slotted his own two-RBI double down the left-field line.

Following a Lee single, Passo smoked a three-run home run over the right-field fence, pushing the lead to 10–1 and forcing another pitching change. After another walk, the Eagles escaped the inning thanks to a strikeout from John Mitchell and a failed bunt attempt.

The Eagles looked to fight back in the top of the sixth, using a pair of doubles from Hendrickson and Gallo to score another run. But a solo shot from Watters to left field in the bottom of the inning extended the advantage back to nine runs at 11–2.

After a scoreless top of the seventh from the Eagles, the Fighting Irish opened their side of the frame with a hit-by-pitch and a walk to get two runners aboard. After a wild pitch put runners in scoring position and an intentional walk loaded the bases, Logan smacked an RBI single to left field to give his squad the 10-run advantage and mercy-rule win.

Even with the loss, Interdonato remained confident in his team.

“I’m really confident in what Brady [Miller] is going to be able to do on the mound, and I think we’re going to have really good at-bats,” Interdonato said. “I’m ready to go play right now.”