Boston College baseball isn’t known as a hard-hitting team—far from it, in fact. The Eagles hit the fewest home runs in the ACC this season (40), 32 fewer than the second-lowest team. 

But the iron-clad identity the Eagles have sported all season, often defined by small ball and a distinct ability to run, came into question on Friday afternoon in Athens, Ga. BC scored all three of its runs off solo shots, including two from Julio Solier and one from Jack Toomey. 

The hard-hitting magic wasn’t enough for the Eagles (36–22, 17–13 Atlantic Coast) to knock off Liberty, however. The Flames (42–19, 21–9 Conference-USA) took a 4–3 win in the opening game of the Athens Regional thanks to two ninth-inning runs, as BC lost the first NCAA Tournament game it has played in since 2023. 

“I thought the difference when I look at it, I could be wrong, I don’t think we got the leadoff guy on until the ninth,” BC head coach Todd Interdonato said. 

After hitting back-to-back RBI singles in the first inning, the Flames maintained a 2–0 lead through the top of the fifth, as starting pitcher Ben Blair dealt seven strikeouts over 7.0 innings pitched. The bottom of the fifth didn’t start much differently for the Eagles, as Carter Hendrickson grounded out to the shortstop on a loaded count. Then, Solier stepped up to the plate. 

Despite leading the Eagles in hits (80), Solier hit only one home run all season. On Friday, though, he caught fire. His first homer of the day flew over the wall in center field, cutting Liberty’s lead to 2–1. He did it again in the bottom of the seventh, sending the ball soaring just over the Georgia logo on the outfield wall to tie the game 2–2. 

“I just like winning. That’s all that matters to me,” Solier said. “I put my praise to God and hit those home runs for the team, not only for me. I play for them. I don’t really play for me.”

While the Eagles—except for Solier, that is—struggled offensively, BC’s defense kept the game in reach. Starting senior A.J. Colarusso recovered after Liberty’s two-run opening frame, and did not allow another score in his 7.0 innings pitched. 

“I thought A.J. in the seventh was electric getting out of there,” Interdonato said. “We were having a conversation about letting him go back out.” 

But Gavin Soares entered in the top of the eighth, and struck out three in another fruitless frame for the Flames. 

After Nick Wang led off the bottom of the eighth with a fly out to center field on the first pitch of his at-bat, Toomey finally broke the 2–2 stalemate. He sent a line drive home run into the corner in right field, giving BC its first lead of the day. That was all the offense the Eagles could muster, but it was enough to carry them into the final frame up 3–2. 

That didn’t last long, though. 

Liberty led off with back-to-back base hits to put two runners in scoring position. An RBI groundout from Jordan Jaffe tied the game 3–3 and placed Riley DeCandido on third base, threatening a go-ahead run. BC looked like it would tag DeCandido out on the following play, as Solier sent the ball to catcher Gunnar Johnson on a fielder’s choice. But the throw flew right of Johnson’s head and DeCandido got home safely, giving Liberty a one-run lead. 

As they had all game, the Eagles struggled offensively in the ninth. Johnson was hit by a pitch, then pinch runner Esteban Garcia advanced to second on a sacrifice groundout from Ben Williams. But back-to-back fly outs from Hendrickson and Solier ended the frame, and the Eagles lost their NCAA Tournament opener. 

“It’s a really good game,” Interdonato said. “It just hurts being on this end of it.”