Aiming for safer play and shorter games, college baseball adopted a significant new bat standard in 2011, replacing BESR bats with BBCOR bats, the latter of which is designed to perform more like wood. Since then, only one Boston College baseball player—Tom Bourdon—has hit at least 10 home runs in a season, which he did in 2012. Fast forward to 2022, and birdball’s Cameron Leary and Joe Vetrano have both already surpassed that mark, with 12 and 11 home runs, respectively, and BC is just halfway through its season.
Riding the bats of Leary, who delivered a solo home run to open the Eagles’ scoring, and Parker Landwehr, who recorded two extra base hits, BC (13–16, 2–10 Atlantic Coast) defeated Northeastern in the Beanpot semifinal 4–2.
Landwehr caught in place of BC’s captain, Peter Burns, who sustained an injury in a loss to Wake Forest on Saturday.
In the fourth inning, Northeastern’s (14–13–1, 1–5 Colonial Athletic) Dennis Colleran came in to pitch for the Huskies’ starter, Jordy Allard. Allard gave up no earned runs on three hits through three innings. He struck out four to give him 24 total strikeouts on the year.
As the bottom of the fourth inning got underway, Leary stepped to the plate as the leadoff man, and on a 3–2 count, he delivered a solo shot to deep right field. Luke Gold followed, doubling down the left-field line. Ramon Jimenez hit a soft single to right-center field next, and Gold slid safely into home plate, evading the tag to tie the game at 2–2 after Northeastern had taken a two-run lead in the top of the inning.
With Jimenez on first and one out, Allard walked Daniel Baruch and advanced Jimenez to second. Sam McNulty walked to load the bases, but Barry Walsh hit into a fielder’s choice, and McNulty was thrown out at second to end the inning tied at two a piece.
The top of the fourth told a different story, with the same two-run outcome.
Luke Delongchamp started on the mound for the Eagles. Delongchamp gave up two earned runs and struck out one. The right-handed pitcher lasted five full innings, and four pitchers in his relief allowed zero runs to add a check in the win column to Delongchamp’s individual, 2–0 record.
With the sun in a blind spot in the top of the fourth inning, Baruch got a bad jump on a popped ball to left center, which dropped for a Corey DiLoretto single. Danny Crossen was next to bat for the Huskies, and the ball returned to Baruch’s position.
But this time around, it went over the fence. Crossen’s two-run homer sailed over Baruch’s leaping glove, establishing the Huskies’ 2–0 lead. But Northeastern’s offense went ice cold from that point on.
While the Huskies made consistent contact at the plate, they either popped up, fouled out, or grounded out on nearly every pitch that came their way. BC’s bullpen closed the game with back-to-back one-two-three innings.
In the fifth inning, Landwehr hit his second extra base hit of the game, blasting an opposite-field shot over the right-field wall to secure the Eagles’ 100th all-time victory over their rivals from down the road. Landwehr sent Gold home, who reached first after getting hit by a pitch.
Featured Image by Steve Mooney / Heights Editor
