Eagles come up short in weekend finale against North Carolina
Danny Serretti hit a go-ahead triple in the ninth inning for the Tar Heels, who won 5-4 and took the weekend series.
In the rubber match of a weekend series between two evenly-matched teams that had beat up on each other the previous two games, it came down to the final inning.
In the top of the ninth with one out, the game tied, and a runner on second, North Carolina shortstop Danny Serretti—who had already homered on the day—fouled off pitch after pitch from Boston College closer Joey Walsh. Walsh finally missed and left a pitch up and Serretti clubbed it to the fence in right-center for a go-ahead, RBI triple.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Eagles got the game-tying run to third base with two outs, but Tar Heels’ reliever Caden O’Brien got Vince Cimini to groundout to third to secure a narrow 5-4 victory and a weekend series win in the process.
No. 21 BC (11-7, 3-6 Atlantic Coast) head coach Mike Gambino was ejected for arguing about the strike zone in the fifth inning but his departure provided a spark for the Eagles. Trailing by two at the time, BC quickly struck for two runs after his departure to tie the game and it stayed that way until the ninth. The game had the feel of a regional postseason matchup, with plenty of highlight plays on both sides and an intense energy in both dugouts.
“The decision didn’t go today how we wanted it, but this is such a fun team to watch. It’s a fun team to be around. It’s going to be a really fun rest of the season,” Gambino said. “Our guys are invested, they’re fired up, they care. The energy all weekend has been awesome.”
No. 14 UNC (12-6, 8-4) was outhit, 13-9, but was able to bounce back each time the Eagles’ took a lead or rallied. They tied it up twice in the early innings, took a lead in the fourth, then finally broke through in the ninth after being held in check for four innings by long reliever Alex Stiegler.
Stiegler really settled in after entering in the fourth inning. Before him, Eagles’ opener Joe Vetrano gave up a home run in the second to Serretti, then loaded the bases in the second. Gambino turned to Max Gieg, who escaped without giving up a run, but then loaded the bases in the fourth and brought in a run thanks to a hit batsmen.
Stiegler entered and let two of the inherited runners score—on a sacrifice fly and a fielder’s choice—but he struck out Caleb Roberts to end the inning. For the next four innings, Stiegler worked out of trouble and baffled Tar Heels’ hitters. He put two on in the fifth, then struck out two. In the sixth, he struck out two again, with the second ending the inning thanks to catcher Peter Burns throwing out a baserunner. He got another strikeout in the seventh, then fanned two more in the eighth.
“Working quickly, throwing strikes, getting us back in the dugout, giving our offense a chance to get going,” Gambino said about the righthander. “We know that he’s going to give us that veteran presence and nothing phases him. It’s any pitch at any time, any count, any spot. It makes him really tough to deal with.”
BC’s lineup was paced by Sal Frelick, who went 3-for-4 with three runs and a solo home run that was absolutely crushed. He was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second in the seventh inning after Cimini hit a single through the right side. Jack Cunningham (who also drove in two runs), Cameron Leary, and Brian Dempsey all had multi-hit games in the loss.
In a tie game, the Eagles turned to Walsh for the ninth—a day after throwing 24 pitches in a good relief appearance—and he gave up Serretti’s triple. A half inning later, BC was grappling with its second straight weekend series loss.
“The ACC is playoff baseball,” Gambino said. “You know, it usually is in games one through 30 and this year its’s one through 36. It’s going to be a long, hard, grueling season but that’s also what’s going to make it so fun.”