BIRDBALL RECALL: ‘Nole Luck vs FSU
By Quinn Kelly
If you thought the 45 mph wind gusts were crazy weather for baseball season, you must’ve forgotten that we’re in New England, where the “four seasons” isn’t just a fancy hotel, but rather, your average week in early Spring. This edition of Birdball Recall will recap just one game, as the Eagles saw an abbreviated weekend schedule due to rain Saturday and snow Sunday.
Boston College played host to 9th-ranked Florida State on Friday afternoon, marking the first conference game Shea Field has played host to this year. Mike King, BC’s ace, took the bump. He would engage in a true rubber match against FSU’s Mike Compton. King took the L here, dropping his record to 4-2 on the season, but had a truly stellar afternoon. Let’s take it through King’s keeping the Eagles in the game against a national powerhouse in the Seminoles:
King and a BC defense that has recently struggled to play an error-free game would start in the field. King pitched well in the first inning, combatting an opening-batter walk with a double play ball for the first of 15 groundball outs he’d procure on the day. His first K of the day would follow, sitting down a top three of FSU’s order that is hitting .373, .370, and .333, respectively. The next three innings would go very smoothly for King as well, as he allowed a single man to reach base in each inning and forced the Seminoles to strand them all. King appeared to be strengthening as the game wore on. In the first and second innings, King’s lone issue was his pitch count. The ‘Noles were working him well, garnering 3 full counts in 7 batters, making sure that their inability to get the offense going was not completely without consequence for the Eagles junior righty. In the third and the fourth, though, King would really settle in and get FSU to return to their swing-early tendencies. FSU would put the ball in play on the first pitch of the at-bat 5 out of 8 times in those two innings. Of the three batters who made it past the first pitch, only one saw more than 3 pitches. A low pitch count through the middle innings would prove pivotal in King’s being able to go deep into this game.
The fifth would be where problems would start for the Eagles. In the top half of the inning, King would snag the first two outs with ease, getting Ben DeLuzio and Darren Miller to ground out. Trouble started when Matt Henderson reached on a single out of the number 9 spot, sending back up the top of the order for the Seminoles. The leadoff man, Taylor Walls, would redeem himself in his second AB with a man on, after failing to bring Darren Miller in from second in the third inning. A double to left center would score Henderson, break the tie, and, ultimately, prove to be the winning run. King would settle himself back down, popping up John Sansone and sending the number two hitter to 0-3 on the day.
While allowing one run isn’t a big deal here for King, the way in which FSU got their run here is truly frustrating. For one, King had the first two men out with the number 9 hitter coming up…a perfect chance to grab a 1-2-3 inning. More stomach-churning for King here, though, has to be the fact that he was up in the count on both Henderson and Walls, who both did their damage with a 1-2 count on them. King’s career ERA of 2.99 sits second all-time amongst Eagles pitchers. He hasn’t kept his ERA so low by making poor pitches in put-away counts. This is a guy who prides himself on his killer instinct with two strikes, as evidenced by his 115 K’s in 152 IP. Being that the Eagles had a chance to score a huge win against the No. 9 team in the country, I’m sure King would give a lot to have those two pitches back.
Frustration would only continue for the Eagles in the bottom half of the inning. A lead-off double from catcher Nick Sciortino put the Eagles in a great position to even up the score. Jake Palomaki would step up next. Palomaki laid down a bunt that found its way right back to Mike Compton, and Compton made the decision to attempt to cut the lead runner down. He fired over to third and got the out call on Sciortino trying to advance. For this beat writer sitting in the stands, it appeared as though Sciortino made it under the tag from Sansone at third base. It seemed as though Coach Gambino shared my opinion (and the opinion of the rest of the Eagles faithful) as he berated third base umpire Timothy O’Toole. As they always do in the grand ol’ game of baseball, the manager’s arguments fell on deaf ears, and Sciortino trotted off the bases and to the dugout, the first out of the inning. Joe Cronin would step up next, fly out to Miller in right, and leave Palomaki standing at first. With two outs and the memory of seeing his first real scoring threat thrown out at third fresh on his mind, Coach Gambino elected to put Palomaki in motion. Cal Raleigh, the Noles’ freshman catcher who’d already thrown out 6 attempting to steal this year, made Gambino and the Eagles pay for the decision, catching Palomaki and sending the Eagles back out to the field. For a BC offense that struggles at times and is going to have to scratch and claw for every run they get in ACC play, it is so frustrating to let a great chance to score evaporate because of a couple of base running gaffes. Even if the call on Sciortino was a tough one, it makes you want to pull your hair out to see the Eags break a golden rule and get thrown out at third with less than two outs. The decision to send Palomaki also isn’t a bad one, necessarily, but I do feel as though with the speed he has, Casey at the plate, and hits as limited as they were, it would have been more opportunistic to let Casey just see if he could do something to get on and move Palomaki over. Being that he had one of the Eagles 3 hits, Casey was one of few on the day who challenged the Noles and would’ve been inherently more dangerous with a man on ahead of him.
That would really be the end of the tale for the Eagles offense on the day, as they would be sat down in order by the FSU bullpen in the 6th, 7th, and 8th, before Mitch Bigras was hit by a pitch to break up the pen’s perfect relief bid. Final tally for BC’s offense on the day: 3 hits (and a FC), 3 walks, and a hits batsman to bring the total to 8 baserunners, all of whom were left stranded, if not cut down on the base paths.
Mike King would have to keep working despite the absence of offense, and he did just that. King kept this one a ball game, giving up two inconsequential hits in the 6th before working a 1-2-3 7th and 8th. Just as we saw in the UConn game, though, troubles in the final frame would seal the deal for the visiting team. A lead-off double would put FSU in a position to get a run; a position they, unlike the Eagles, would capitalize on. King would get one more out, by way of a Dylan Budsby groundout to third, before a second double in the inning, this from Ben DeLuzio, would end King’s outing, and send Gambino out to call upon the services of Brian Rapp to finish out the game. King would exit with the following stat line:
King 8.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2ER, 2 BB, 1K
DeLuzio would come around on an error by Joe Cronin and that, ladies and gentleman, is BC’s 3-0 loss to Florida State.
Lowlights
The Eagles offense. While they put forth a good showing last Wednesday in Amherst, plating 11 in the win over UMass, it would not carry over to this game. The Eags went down in order five (!!) times on the day. While they may feel overmatched in some of these games against great ACC pitching, that is unacceptable in any game. That stat makes getting blanked seem like a secondary problem. In its own right, though, that’s another issue. For as few runs as FSU gives up, they hadn’t shut out anyone prior to Friday this season.
Silver Linings: For as few hits as they had, the Eagles managed to scrounge together 8 baserunners. Similarly to after the UConn game, I’ll say that stranding 7 runners tells me that there is the potential for 7 runs; and the Eagles only needed 4. Sooner or later you have to feel like this offense will start capitalizing more on the men they get on and once they do, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with.
Highlights
First and foremost, Mike King’s pitching. What a job by this kid. Before the game Friday, FSU was 6-1 in ACC play and had scored 67 times in those 7 games. That’s an average of nearly 10 runs a game. To hold their offense to only 3 runs is a true feat, and one that King should be heralded for. He’s the real deal and if you’re someone on campus who doesn’t get to many games, I suggest you clear room for his starts. They’re truly a pleasure to watch. Here’s to hoping that the next time he gives the Eagles 8.1, the offense can reward his efforts and get the W.
The catcher position continues to be a strong suit. Sciortino is back from injury and has picked up where Stephen Sauter left off. Though he didn’t have too great of an effect on the game, it’s worth noting that he had the lone extra-base hit and one of only three hits to begin with. The catcher is always supposed to anchor the team, much like the QB in football, and it appears that the Eagles have a couple guys who can do just that.
Tuesday’s game against Holy Cross has already been postponed, so look for the next Birdball Recall to come after this weekend’s series with UVA. You can catch Anthony Iati, Conor Hawley, and myself, Quinn Kelly, on WZBC Sports’ call of this weekend’s series from Shea Field. For more information, please visit https://www.wzbcsports.com/schedule/.