Boston College baseball head coach Todd Interdonato lights up when asked about senior pitcher A.J. Colarusso. He is reliable. Hard-working. Consistent. Best of all, he almost always gives the Eagles a chance to win.
In No. 4-seed BC’s ACC Quarterfinal matchup against No. 5-seed Miami, however, Colarusso didn’t quite possess his normal swag. He gave up six runs, tying his season-high in earned runs on a season-high 10 hits in five innings pitched.
Without Colarusso’s steadying presence and lacking any offensive momentum, the Eagles (36–21, 17–13 Atlantic Coast) fell 8–2 to Miami (38–17, 16–14) on Thursday afternoon, and were knocked out of the conference tournament hosted in Charlotte, N.C.
Before their ultimate collapse, the Eagles shot out to a quick lead. Colarusso shut Miami down in the top of the first, as the Hurricanes stranded two on base. Then, following a few fruitless offensive outings last weekend, BC’s offense looked more like itself in the bottom half of the opening frame.
“I thought our worst offensive game in the last handful of weeks was game one against Georgia Tech, and then I feel like we’ve had this slow climb out of it,” Interdonato said.
Ty Mainolfi drew a walk, then advanced to second on a throwing error by Miami starter Lazaro Collera. Then, back-to-back RBI base hits from Jack Toomey and Kyle Wolff put two BC runs on the board. Wolff’s RBI double scored the Eagles’ last run of the day, though. Their offense quickly turned stale, as BC managed just three hits over the final eight innings.
“In order for us to play at our best, we need three, four, five good plate appearances in a row,” Interdonato said. “One swing, one home run, one bases-clearing double—that’s not who we are.”
Meanwhile, Miami’s bats heated up. Colarusso struggled in the second, and a four-run inning from the Hurricanes extinguished the Eagles’ lead. Miami racked up five hits in the frame, including a two-RBI home run, and Jake Ogden scored on a wild pitch to make it 4–2.
“When this game started, our whole objective was to get in control of the game—put up the first zero, score the first run—which is what we did,” Interdonato said. “But then they answered with that four-spot in the second that gave them control of it back.”
Colarusso found more success in the third, and Julio Solier opened the bottom of the inning with a single, giving the Eagles a chance to recover their spark. But Collera retired the next three in order to end the inning, including striking out Nick Wang, BC’s top batter.
“They were in control of the at-bats the whole way,” Interdonato said.
Another two-RBI home run in the top of the fourth pushed Miami’s lead to four, as Alex Sosa’s shot arched over the net in left-center and dropped into the dark green seats in Truist Field. Luke Gallo attempted to steal a base in the bottom of the frame—a tactic that’s come in handy for BC all season—but was caught. Nothing, even the things they normally draw success from, was going right for the Eagles.
After giving up a single and a hit-by-pitch in the fifth, Interdonato came out to speak with Colarusso. Colarusso stayed in and didn’t allow any additional runs, but Kyle Kipp relieved him to start the sixth.
Last year, Colarusso might have pushed through, stayed in the game, and tried to figure things out. But this year is unlike last in a key way: The Eagles are expected to play in an NCAA Regional. With the postseason looming, BC will almost certainly need Colarusso rested and ready.
Thursday’s game was not the end-all, be-all it would have been at this time last year. And while Colarusso wasn’t able to give the Eagles the spark he provided in last year’s ACC Tournament run, he’s been a cornerstone of BC’s success this season.
“I’m grateful we competed as hard as we did in the regular season to give us this opportunity, and I am starting looking forward to next week,” Colarusso said. “We’re just gonna put our best foot forward, tomorrow and this whole week, and get ready to make some noise in a regional.”
Now finished with ACC action, the Eagles have their sights set on a much bigger goal: making it to Omaha and earning the right to play for a national title.
“There’s a lot of anger in that dugout right now—there’s a lot of angst in that dugout,” Interdonato said. “I know you can look at the totality of this year and feel really good about it, but you’ve got 40 competitors in the dugout, kind of getting it taken to them. Our guys in there are pretty pissed off. I don’t think I’m gonna have to motivate them in practice this week.”
