GAME 2: W, 14–6

Both offenses took a bit of time to get going in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader between Boston College and Duke, with no runs over the first three and a half innings.

But by the end of the day, the offenses had gotten plenty warm, and Boston College (31–12, 14–7 Atlantic Coast) took down the Duke Blue Devils 14–6 to sweep the series and finish its week a perfect 5–0. It was BC’s fifth ACC series win of the season and extended the Eagles’ win streak to seven games.

“That is the best week I’ve had in my BC career here with this team,” BC head coach Todd Interdonato said. “We played five games in five days, and we won them all, all in different fashions.”

The Blue Devils (22–20, 8–13) got runners in scoring position in each of the four innings, but couldn’t convert on any of those opportunities. They were threatening with runners on first and second in the top of the fourth, but Coltin Quagliano hit a groundout, limiting a potential bases-loaded situation.

Julio Solier hit a 114-mile-per-hour leadoff triple in the bottom of the frame that flew 398 feet to left-center field. Two batters later, Jack Toomey hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Solier and giving the Eagles a 1–0 advantage through four innings.

The Blue Devils wasted no time with their get-back, though, scoring four runs in the top of the fifth before the Eagles had recorded an out. Kaden Smith opened up the Blue Devils’ scoring with a single that scored Jake Lambdin from second base, momentarily tying the game 1–1. In the very next at bat, Matthew Strand cranked a ball over the fence in left field for a three-run homer that gave the Blue Devils a 4–1 lead.

In the opening at-bat of the sixth for the Eagles, sophomore Colin Larson turned on a ball, sending it over the right-field fence and cutting BC’s deficit to three. The blast was Larson’s third home run of the season.

Following back-to-back walks for Ty Mainolfi and Nick Wang, a double steal, and a Toomey walk, the Eagles had loaded the bases for Carter Hendrickson. In that high-pressure spot, Hendrickson lined a ball down the left-field line for a bases-clearing double that evened the score at 5–5. 

After John Kwiatkowski posted a clean top of the seventh, allowing one hit and no runs, Kyle Wolff entered the game as a pinch hitter and whacked a double off the left-field fence on the first pitch he faced. Ben Williams went in to pinch run for Wolff and advanced to third on a passed ball, then Larson walked, and the Eagles found runners on the corners at the top of the order. 

With the game tied 5–5, Solier hit a ball just short of the left fielder, and Williams ran home, claiming the Eagles a 6–5 lead. Despite pushing two runners into scoring position after a Solier steal, Duke pitcher Ben Dean struck out three consecutive batters to end the inning.

Smith hit another RBI to score Lambdin in the top of the eighth, tying the game 6–6. Smith ended the game 3 of 5 from the plate, including three RBIs and a run of his own. After a pickoff attempt to first went awry, the Eagles were able to put out pinch runner Adam Troch at second base to close out the inning.

In the Eagles’ next at-bats, Hendrickson drew a walk, and Luke Gallo followed with his second collegiate home run, giving the Eagles a two-run cushion.

“We have seen [Gallo’s] power show up in intersquads,” Interdonato said. “Now that he’s gotten more confident and he’s recognizing pitches … [he] has really elevated our offense.”

The Eagles weren’t done wreaking havoc in the bottom of the eighth, though. Danny Surowiec got on base after a hit-by-pitch, and Cesar Gonzalez used a bunt single to reach first. With two base runners on, Solier blasted a double over the head of the centerfielder, scoring pinch runner Owen DeShazo from second base and advancing Gonzalez to third. 

Mainolfi hit a two-RBI single up the middle, and Wang picked up another RBI, extending BC’s lead to 12–6. In the next at-bat, Toomey got his bat on a line drive to the right-center gap for an RBI triple, tying the single-season program record for triples in a season (6). Then, Hendrickson put down an RBI bunt single to push BC’s lead to 14–6 before the inning came to an end.

“We were able to string a lot of at-bats together, obviously, putting up eight runs in the eighth innings to go up big and give your closer a huge cushion,” Hendrickson said. “You can’t ask for anything else.”

Although the Blue Devils generated some base runners in the ninth, the eight-run disadvantage was too much to handle. Nine Eagles accounted for a hit, with Solier, Mainolfi, and Hendrickson each collecting multiple base knocks.

GAME 1: W, 4–2

The fireworks weren’t there on a gloomy Saturday afternoon at Harrington Athletics Village. But the Eagles still got the job done, defeating Duke 4–2 to steal the series on Saturday afternoon. 

After posting just one run on Friday, Duke threatened early on Saturday, as a leadoff walk and a single into left field put runners on first and second with no outs in the top of the first. But BC’s defense held strong in a tight defensive battle between the ACC foes. Brady Miller pitched a groundout that turned into a double play, and a Strand flyout to center field got the Eagles out of the jam unscathed. 

The Eagles’ offense kept Friday’s offensive outburst going, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. 

A Solier hit-by-pitch and a Mainolfi single put runners on the corners to open the bottom of the frame. Solier dove home after Toomey reached on a fielding error for BC’s first run of the day. Hendrickson roped another single into left, bringing Mainolfi home and extending the lead to 2–0. 

Duke pitcher Peter Lemke’s struggles didn’t end there. Toomey scored on a wild pitch before Surowiec struck out to end BC’s second three-run first inning in as many days. After a chaotic first, both squads traded hitless second and third innings as the pitchers got back on track. 

The fourth opened with Miller’s fifth and sixth strikeouts, before Strand sent the first pitch of his at-bat over the left-field wall, cutting BC’s lead to 3–1. Miller’s outing ended after 6.2 innings, during which he had eight strikeouts and surrendered five hits and one earned run for his first win of the year.

Hendrickson found himself in scoring position with no outs in the fourth after being hit by a pitch and advancing to second on a passed ball. But the Blue Devils learned from their mistakes—they weren’t going to give up any more stolen bases after the Eagles stole a program-record 14 on Friday. 

Lemke picked Hendrickson off at second base, then Strand caught Surowiec stealing at second to hand BC its third straight scoreless inning. Lemke recovered from his first-inning letup, keeping Duke in the game and rounding out his day with two strikeouts, three hits, and one walk in five innings pitched. 

Miller and Duke’s Jack Hedrick held the bats quiet on both sides in the sixth, but Duke chipped into the BC lead in the seventh as a leadoff double by Collin Anderson, followed by a Michael DiMartini single, put runners on the corners with no outs. Miller fumbled a Duke bunt, allowing Anderson to run home and bringing the score to 3–2 with two runners still on base. 

The Blue Devils tried to take a page out of BC’s book, but it didn’t work. Gonzalez caught DiMartini stealing to notch the first out of the inning. A groundout to first brought Gavin Soares in to replace Miller with two outs and a runner on third, and Soares struck Tyler Albright out swinging in four pitches to preserve the BC lead. 

BC got going again when Larson tallied his second single of the game into right field. Then, the savvy sophomore stole BC’s first base of the day with the top of the order due up in the bottom of the seventh. Solier tacked on a single, driving Larson home and putting the Eagles up 4–2 before Mainolfi grounded into a double play to end the inning. 

Soares gave up a single to open the eighth, but quickly got his revenge, picking RJ Hamilton off at first and getting a roar out of the home crowd. A flyout and a groundout ended the eighth, giving Duke one last hope of a comeback effort in the ninth. 

Soares earned his fourth save of the season, but the Blue Devils didn’t make it easy as Lambdin launched a comeback bid with a leadoff single into shallow left field. Soares recovered quickly, though, retiring the next three Blue Devils with a lineout, a groundout, and a three-pitch strikeout to improve BC’s home record to 17–2.