Eagles' bullpen hit hard in 12-0 loss to UConn
The Huskies struck for five runs in both the seventh and eighth to hand BC a fourth straight defeat.
After being swept by Clemson over the weekend, Boston College traveled to Storrs, Conn., in an effort to bounce back against Connecticut—a team that the Eagles hadn’t beat since 2014.
What started out as a pitchers duel between the Eagles’ Joe Mancini and the Huskies’ Pat Gallagher devolved into a blowout, as UConn scored 12 runs in the final four innings to beat BC, 12-0. The Eagles (12-11, 3-9 ACC) dropped their fourth straight contest, while the Huskies (10-12) have nearly erased a rough start with five wins in its last six games.
Mancini was able to throw four scoreless frames while only surrendering one hit. This was easily his best outing of the season, and was one of the only positives on a rough day for the pitching staff. After taking Mancini out, head coach Mike Gambino turned to Jon Campbell Jr. in the fifth. With two outs in the frame, UConn center fielder Chris Winkel belted a two-run home run off the scoreboard in right to open up the scoring. This score would stand until the bottom of the seventh, when the Huskies would blitz the Eagles’ bullpen for five more runs.
The seventh started with sophomore righthander Max Gieg on the mound, who had just worked a scoreless sixth. After getting one quick out, Gieg ran into trouble, allowing a single and a ground rule double to left center to the next two batters. BC then turned to its bullpen again, inserting Ryan Smith into the game. Smith struggled in his season debut, giving up a run on a wild pitch to his first batter. Later in the same at bat, he gave up an RBI single to Winkel to push the lead to 4-0. Smith was pulled, giving way to Joey Ryan to try and control the damage that the Huskies were incurring during this long seventh frame. After a single, UConn right fielder Kyler Fedko smashed a three-run homer to break the game open at 7-0. Ryan would then go on to retire the next two Huskies, ending the inning.
After the BC offense was retired in the top of the eighth, the Eagles looked to sophomore Daniel Baruch to eat up innings and stop the Huskies barrage. Baruch walked the first batter he saw, and then surrendered two straight singles to bring in another run. Brian McMonagle replaced Baruch after the RBI, but it did not seem to matter who BC put on the mound—the Huskies lineup was cruising.
UConn third baseman Chris Brown welcomed McMonagle to the game with a two-run single that pushed the lead to double-digits. After the single, Winkel smashed his second two-run home run of the day. Freshman John West would come into the game, and retire the first two Huskies’ hitters he faced to finally end the inning.
In the past few weeks, innings like the seventh and eighth have plagued the Eagles. If BC is to turn things around, the bullpen must work on avoiding these so called “blow-up innings” that seem to break the spirit of the entire team. It was noticeable last weekend against Clemson—and in today’s affair—just how quickly a close game can get out of reach. Even though the Eagles’ lineup is regarded as one of the most explosive in the conference, they cannot be tasked with making up massive deficits multiple times a week.
Offensively, BC was shut down by a great five-inning outing from Gallagher and a UConn bullpen that allowed only two hits through four innings of work. The Eagles’ best scoring opportunity came in the top of the fourth inning, as Luke Gold was stranded at third after Gallagher was able to strikeout the hot-hitting Vince Cimini to end the inning.
In total, BC left eight runners on base and didn’t record a hit with runners in scoring position in seven attempts. The usually loud and contagious Eagles’ lineup was outdone by some stellar outfield play by the Huskies. Fedko in right and left fielder Erik Stock both made a handful of difficult plays that took away some extra-base hits from the Eagles. This stellar defense coupled with the elite pitching frustrated the BC offense all day long.
The Eagles have a crucial series up next with division rival Virginia Tech. BC will travel to Blacksburg, Va., looking to get back on track with its first series win since the beginning of March. The Hokies are coming off of a sweep of No. 15 Pittsburgh, and will surely be looking to be ranked in next week’s poll. BC must take two of three from Tech in order to remain over the .500 mark on the year. The series is slated to get started at 1 p.m. on Thursday and will be aired on ACC Network Extra.
Featured Image Courtesy of UConn Athletics