Abbreviated Year in Review: Baseball

The Eagles saw their 2020 campaign cut short after just 15 games, which featured a hot start for the lineup but shaky pitching en route to a 6-9 record.

Fifteen games. That’s all we got from Boston College baseball in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic shut down sports and the world as a whole. Yet the 15-game sample still featured plenty of twists and turns. The Eagles went 6-9, struggling with pitching, but have a deep lineup that will return in 2021 and bodes well for the future. Here’s an abbreviated season recap, highlighting the best moments and performances.

Best Moment: 39 runs in two games against Fairfield

After a five-game losing streak that featured a weekend sweep to Arizona State and was capped by a weekend-opening loss to North Carolina A&T, BC needed to get back on track. The Eagles did so in a big way against the Stags, who they faced on back-to-back days down in Florida. BC piled up 39 runs on 44 hits and claimed consecutive blowout wins by final scores of 19-6 and 20-1, respectively. It was an eye-opening two games as the Eagles hit .473 as a team, and it didn’t seem to matter who they sent to the plate. The pitching staff continued a strong weekend, too, which was much needed after giving up 38 runs in four games—all defeats—prior to the N.C. A&T loss.

Worst Moment: Tough three-game sweep to Clemson

The momentum from Fairfield didn’t carry over, as they dropped a narrow pitchers duel with N.C. A&T. That led into the first ACC series of the year down in South Carolina, where BC hung around but was unable to come away with a win over a Clemson side it knocked off in last year’s ACC Championship. Friday night saw a pitchers duel between Tigers’ ace Sam Weatherly and the Eagles’ Mason Pelio, but a costly error in the eighth saw Clemson escape with a narrow 4-3 win. Saturday’s game followed a similar script, with an error swinging momentum as the Tigers’ bats woke up and rolled to a 12-5 win. Then, on Sunday, Clemson scored a run in each of the final three innings, erasing a late BC lead and walking off on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the ninth. It was a frustrating series, as the Eagles were in every game but couldn’t come away with a single win.

Offensive MVP: Cody Morissette, 3B

This easily could’ve been Joe Suozzi or Jack Cunningham, but I’ll give the nod to Morissette. The sophomore third baseman was on an 11-game hitting streak when the season was suspended—a stretch that featured seven multi-hit games. His batting average skyrocketed to .448, good for 17th in the country, and he also ranked in the top 100 in both slugging percentage (.655) and on base percentage (.552). Morissette led the team in hits (26) and doubles (6) and was second in runs (14) and tied for the lead in home runs (2). In 73 career games with the Eagles, Morissette has 100 career hits, making him the fastest player in program history to reach that milestone—he beat Tony Sanchez’s record by 11 games. 

Pitching Staff MVP: Joey Walsh, RHP

BC’s pitching staff got off to a bit of a rocky start, posting a 5.77 ERA and 1.85 WHIP that ranked 224th and 265th in the nation, respectively. Fifteen different pitchers appeared as the Eagles attempted to compensate for losing several key relievers and weekend ace Dan Metzdorf from 2019. It could’ve been a lot uglier if not for the efforts of Walsh, who made five appearances out of the bullpen and a pair of starts as an excellent multi-use pitcher. He finished 0-2 with a 3.26 ERA over 19 1/3 innings, working around 16 walks and 11 hits with eight strikeouts. Walsh allowed one earned run in his final eight innings of work, including five strong innings against a tough Clemson team. The redshirt junior also turned in an impressive relief performance against Arizona State, relieving Emmet Sheehan after the sophomore couldn’t make it out of the first inning—Walsh went 4 1/3 important innings in an eventual loss.

Breakout Player: Joe Suozzi, LF

When Suozzi enrolled at BC in fall of 2016, he was a freshman with no scholarship offer and didn’t earn a walk-on spot on the team. He returned as a sophomore after training on his own, made the team, and eventually worked his way into the starting lineup and made 20 starts in the final 23 games of the season. Last year, Suozzi was in a more full-time role, and hit .282/.423/.363 across 48 games and 35 starts. He had more than respectable numbers, slugging three home runs and eight doubles while scoring 30 runs, but Suozzi really took it up a notch these first 15 games of 2020. The senior took on a cleanup role and slashed .414 with eight extra base hits, 14 runs scored, and 16 RBIs. He registered a hit in all but one game this year, drew eight walks, and had eight multi-hit games. 

Three Storylines:

1) Jack Cunningham’s next step

Last season, Cunningham started all 57 games and bumped his batting average by 40 points from the year before while also showing a power surge with 12 doubles and nine home runs. Through 15 games of 2020, we were seeing an even more impressive jump. The senior had five multi-hit performances in the last seven games and saw his season average soar up to .424. Cunningham finished with 13 RBIs, 10 runs scored, and three doubles alongside two home runs.

2) Emmet Sheehan’s potential

A recurring theme of Bird Eye’s View this spring was Sheehan, who was slotted into the Sunday starter role once a spot opened up after Metzdorf’s graduation. I talked with head coach Mike Gambino several times about the young righthander, and there was a consistent theme to our conversations. Gambino had high hopes for the sophomore with an electric pitch mix, and while the first two starts were tough, he flourished against Fairfield and showed flashes of a promising weekend rotation starter in the years to come. Sheehan’s last two starts of the year totaled 11 innings and he allowed five earned runs while striking out 13 with just three walks. 

3) Youth movement

The lineup was stacked with experience, but freshman Luke Gold still managed to slot in seamlessly. Gold drove in 15 runs, second on the team, and hit .246 in his first 15 collegiate games with four doubles and a home run. In the bullpen, Gambino didn’t shy away from throwing young arms. Evan Moore, Jon Campbell Jr., Brian McMonagle, Barry Walsh, and Daniel Baruch all made four-plus appearances. The results were mixed, but overall, first-year players provided strong performances. Moore, who started the final game of the year, struck out eight over 5 2/3 innings and only allowed two earned runs.

Top Three Performances:

*Using ESPN’s hitting and pitching game score stat, which is broken down here.

1) Joe Suozzi (Feb 29 vs. Fairfield)

The day before, Suozzi enjoyed an excellent day at the plate. He narrowly missed top honors by going 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored, four RBIs, and a pair of walks. After Sal Frelick homered to lead off the game, Suozzi hit a three-run homer to center just two batters later. He brought in another run in the second with a single to left, then walked and came around to score in the sixth. Suozzi walked and scored again in the seventh before being pinch-hit for in the eighth.

2) Cody Morissette (March 1 vs. Fairfield)

In the 20-1 bloodbath, Morissette went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs. The sophomore launched a two-run shot to right-center with one out in the first inning, sparking a six-run frame. Then, in the bottom of the third with two outs, Morissette hit another to the same location. He fouled out and struck out in his other two at bats, but the two home run day was the first for a BC player since...you guessed it, Morissette against Clemson in May 2019.

3) Emmet Sheehan (March 1 vs. Fairfield)

The top pitching performance of the season belonged to Sheehan, who bounced back from two shaky starts against Northern Illinois and Arizona State to dominate the Stags. Sheehan entered the game against Fairfield having issued 11 walks across just 3 2/3 innings, but brushed those early-season struggles aside and was simply dominant against the Stags. He retired the first 11 batters he faced and eventually went seven innings of one-run ball. The Darien, Conn. product struck out eight and didn’t issue a walk while scattering five hits. 

What’s Next:

The biggest news right now is what the NCAA decided yesterday, when it voted to approve a blanket waiver for all student-athletes competing in spring sports. This means that the likes of departing seniors in Dempsey, Suozzi, Cunningham, Baldelli, Jacob Yish, and Jake Goodreau will all have another year of eligibility to work with should they choose to take it. Now, it’s not as cut-and-dry as automatically slotting them back into the roster, as things should be plenty interesting. The NCAA lifted the roster cap and won’t count seniors against the allotted 11.7 scholarships. One important note is that the school can give returning seniors a scholarship ranging from zero percent up to the previous scholarship amount—so that could complicate a few things. It’s way too early to speculate, so stay tuned for more on the roster and rule changes as we go.

Image Credits to Boston College Athletics