Birdball Recall: ACC Tourney Still in the Cards
By Quinn Kelly
Coming off a near catastrophic weekend in South Bend in which the Eagles dropped 3 games to Notre Dame and watched the Golden Domers’ lead in the standings increase from .5 games to 3.5 games, Birdball needed a huge weekend against powerhouse and nationally 2nd ranked Louisville. Standing at the edge of the abyss and relegation to the basement of ACC standings, the Eagles pulled off some big upsets and spoiled the Cardinals’ first ever trip to Shea Field.
After capturing the Beanpot Baseball title last Wednesday in Northborough, the Eagles returned home feeling a combination of the effects of momentum and having their backs up against the wall. Entering the series with a 5-11 record in ACC play and sitting securely at the bottom of ACC Atlantic Division standings, the Eags knew that if they wanted to reach their goal of making it to the ACC Tournament, this series with Louisville would be crucial to win. In the first game of the series, they would hand the ball to freshman phenom and recent addition to the Golden Spikes Award watchlist Jacob Stevens to get them off on the right foot. Stevens would do just that.
Day 1: Win 6-1
Stevens started the day by sitting down a red-hot top of the order for the Cards in order, inducing two fly outs and a line out from Corey Ray (.314), Colby Fitch (.405), and Devin Mann (.309). In the bottom of the inning, he would get the run support that he has often lacked this season. The Eagles would send seven to bat, scoring on a combination of a Sciortino single, a Strem single, a Cronin walk, and finally, an Adams RBI walk. This would be enough to rattle the Cardinals, who proved entirely unused to Brendan McKay (7-2, 2.54 ERA) surrendering early runs to a lesser team. After a scoreless second, Stevens would have a bit of a hiccup in the 3rd, watching Colin Lyman reach on a throwing error by Jake Palomaki. After a fielder’s choice and an RBI single by Fitch, Louisville had evened up the score and gotten to Stevens for the first, and only, time.
The Eagles would immediately answer, scoring three in the bottom of the 3rd. Michael Strem got the inning going with a one-out walk. Joe Cronin and Gian Martellini then hit back to back singles to load up the bases for a recently-hot Johnny Adams. Adams would single to right to drive in the last two of his three RBIs on the day. Logan Hoggarth would cap off the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Martellini and bring the score to 4-1.
That would be all the help Stevens needed on the day. He would work out of a little trouble in the 4th and 7th with outs on the basepath, getting a pick-off out in the 4th and a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play in the 7th. In between the two innings was a pair of 1-2-3s. Stevens finished after 7, registering yet another fantastic outing and continuing to make his case as one of the best pitchers in not only the ACC, but the country. His stat line was as follows:
Stevens 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
You really can’t ask for much more from Stevens against the number 2 team in the nation. He has continued to be a stalwart in this rotation. His ERA now sits at 1.02 on the season. Coach Gambino has to be ecstatic that he has hit the jackpot with this freshman from Connecticut.
The Eagles would tack on two more in the 6th via a Gabe Hernandez walk, Jake Palomaki RBI double and steal, and a Michael Strem sac-bunt. Jesse Adams, who has settled quite nicely into his role in the bullpen since his move their prior to the UVA series, finished the game out strong for the Eags, pitching two shutout innings and preserving a 6-1 win for BC.
All said and done, this was probably the best all-around game that the Eagles have played this season, especially given the quality of their opponent. It was a huge start to an extremely important series for BC, and it would prove to give them momentum heading into the Saturday match-up. MVPs on the day: Johnny Adams (2-3, BB, 3 RBI) and Jacob Stevens (stats above).
Day 2: Win 2-1
In the second game of the series, offense would not be as fruitful for the Eagles. This, however, would be remedied by yet another outstanding pitching performance. Saturday’s ace-of-the-day would be Justin Dunn. Dunn would struggle a bit with the top of the Cards order in the first frame, letting the bases load up on a pair of hits and a walk. With two outs, though, Dunn got Will Smith to fly out to center to escape the inning without any damage. He would then lock it down for the next three innings, sitting the Cards down in order in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Dunn headed into the top of the 5th with the score still knotted at 0-0 and the 7, 8, and 9 batters up for Louisville. What should have been another quick and painless inning was spoiled by Danny Rosenbaum, when he launched a 2-2 fastball over the wall in left to give the Cardinals the one-run advantage. It was definitely tough to see Dunn lose one when he had him down in the count like that, especially considering he was in the 7-spot. It was one of those runs that you got the feeling, with the way the Eagles offense had looked to that point, may be enough for Louisville. Nevertheless, Dunn buckled down and got the next three batters to groundout and headed to the dugout down 1-0. The following inning would prove taxing again for Dunn. After a leadoff single and the first steal off Sciortino in what seems like ages, Drew Ellis was on at second with one out. The next play was one that the Eagles will look back to as the reason they stayed in a position to win this game. Devin Hairston roped a 1-1 pitch out to right. Ellis took off from second and was waved on home from third. Hoggarth came up throwing and put one on a line into Sciortino to nab Ellis out at home. A fired up Justin Dunn would then get Blake Tiberi to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning and his outing. Dunn finished with the following stat line:
Dunn 6.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Really a near-identical line to Stevens’s on Friday. You love to see that consistency from your pitching staff. Holding Louisville to 1 run in back to back games is an incredible feat; one that no one has really come close to this year. Super impressive considering the Cards were averaging 8.65 runs/game entering the series.
After Dunn left the game with only the hope of a no decision, the Eagles bats started to go to work. In the bottom of the 7th, they would finally light up the scoreboard. Hoggarth, the hero in the 6th, would start the inning with a single through the left side of the infield. Gabe Hernandez would move him along with a sacrifice bunt. Stephen Sauter would then come in to pinch hit for Dominic Hardaway (who has begun to see a serious increase in action since Casey went down with the hand injury). He would ground out to the shortstop, but Hoggarth managed to get over to third on a ball that was to Devin Hairston’s left. With two outs, Jake Palomaki came to the plate. He would work Louisville pitcher Drew Harrington to a 3-2 count before singling to center, sending Hoggarth home and the Cards starter to the dugout. The Eags would make a little more noise in the inning but end up being unable to get another run across. This would hand Harrington (8-1, team-leading 1.39 ERA) his first no decision of the year. Momentum now rested solely with BC.
After reliever Dan Metzdorf walked the lead-off batter in the top of the 8th, Bobby Skogsbergh came in and sat down the next three Cardinals. The Eagles couldn’t get anything going in the bottom half of the inning and headed to the 9th still tied 1-1. Skogsbergh would give up a lead-off single to Rosenbaum before retiring three straight to give the Eagles the chance for the walk-off in the 9th. Skogs continues to be one of, if not the, best reliever in the Eagles pen. He is consistently reliable and has kept his ERA nice and low, sitting now at 2.10, good for third on the team and best among full-time relievers.
In the bottom of the 9th, the Eagles would turn once again to clutch pinch hitting to get the job done. Scott Braren came up in place of Hernandez and singled to start the inning. Jake Alu then came on to pinch run for Braren. After a strikeout from Anthony Maselli (pinch hitting for Bigras), Palomaki came up and delivered again, singling this time through the right side on the first pitch of the at-bat and sending Alu to third. The game would then be in the hands of Nick Sciortino. Sciortino got down in the count 1-2. He shortened up though and was able to get a hold of one from Zack Burdi, singling through the right side and driving in the winning run for the Eagles. Since returning from injury, Sciortino has been perhaps the most valuable player on the team, impacting games on both sides of the diamond day in and day out. Giving the Eagles the series win here was huge and somewhat took the pressure off of the Sunday matchup. MVPs on the day: Jake Palomaki and Justin Dunn.
Day 3: Loss 6-2
The Sunday finale of the Louisville series is one that Mike King and the Eagles would like to forget. Coming in up 2-0 in the series and with King on the bump, it looked like the Eags had a legitimate shot at sweeping the #2 team in the country. Unfortunately, King didn’t have his best stuff this Sunday and for the second straight series finale, he got rocked a bit.
Troubles started for King in the second. Tiberi and Smith started the inning with a pair of singles. They would be moved over on a sac-bunt from Rosenbaum before Devin Mann would drive Tiberi in with a sac-fly. Louisville wasn’t done there, bringing Smith home on the next at-bat via a Colin Lyman single to right. King would let one more aboard with a walk before striking out Drew Ellis to end a tough inning. Louisville wouldn’t look back from there.
Two innings later, it would be the same part of the order that troubled King once again. The top of the 4th began with Will Smith working a walk. He wouldn’t have to wait long to get back to the dugout, as Rosenbaum took the first pitch he saw from King and smacked it to deep left for a double that scored Smith. King would strike out the next batter, but on a pitch in the dirt third strike, Rosenbaum would advance to third. Two batters later, he would come in to score off a Corey Ray sac-fly. The Eagles now faced a huge deficit, down 4-0.
BC would start to claw its way back in the bottom of the 4th. Sciortino led off with a walk and advanced to second on a Strem fly out. He would later come home on a Johnny Adams RBI single, good for his fourth ribbie of the series. With first and third and two outs, Adams followed up the good with the bad, getting picked off to end the inning and strand Braren at third.
The Cards would immediately get that run back from the Eagles, unfortunately, as Devin Hairston homered to left, tagging King with his fifth run and ending his day. King walked off the mound, the not-so-proud owner of the following stat line:
King 4.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Pretty ugly line here for King. We’ll address it again a bit later though. Just tough for the Eagles to put out their ace and watch as he allows the game to become the only one in the series they wouldn’t have a chance in.
In the bottom of the 6th, the Eagles would eke across their final run, scoring on a combo of a Strem double and a Braren RBI single. This would again cut the deficit to three runs; as close as they’d get it all day. Louisville would get one more off of Zack Stromberg in the top of the 7th to bring the scoring to an end, securing a 6-2 win in the series finale.
Overall, really good series here for the Eagles that somehow manages to leave you with a hint of a bad taste in your mouth after a disappointing Sunday performance. The Eagles now sit at 21-15 with a record of 7-12 in ACC play. While they’re still last in the ACC Atlantic, they are much more poised for a run at the ACC Tournament after this series.
Weekend Lowlights
Something’s off with Mike King. King has had back to back poor starts now after getting shelled in South Bend and again at Shea on Sunday. Over his last two starts, King has pitched a total of 8.2 innings, given up 14 hits, walked 5, and has an ERA of 9.35, bringing his season ERA up almost a full point from 2.52 to 3.47.
Silver Linings: This is Mike King we’re talking about. He will most assuredly figure it out and get back on track. He’ll have a good opportunity to do just so against a less-potent offense in Virginia Tech this coming Sunday.
Weekend Highlights
The rest of the pitching. Really the rest of the pitching was great across the board. No other pitcher gave up more than a run. Stevens and Dunn were both solid again in starting roles and the bullpen did its job throughout the weekend. Look for the Stevens-Dunn-King rotation to be the way for the rest of the weekend series and get yourself ready for some damn good pitching. Good season to get out to the park if you’re on campus.
Johnny Adams has started to heat up. He’s already a top-end fielder, so if he can keep the bat going the way he has, he’s going to be a huge player for the Eagles over the rest of the season. He went 3-10 with a walk and 4 RBIs in the Louisville series and is batting .378 over his last 10 games (14-37) with 8 RBIs. He and the rest of the BC offense, despite two 2-run showings this weekend, have appeared to hit their offensive stride. Here’s to hoping this continues in their upcoming non-conference play and the Virginia Tech series this weekend.
The game against UMass Lowell today has been postponed. Tune in to WZBC Newton 90.3 FM for Wednesday’s game against Bryant at 3 PM. Following that, we will have Virginia Tech for three games this weekend.