Eagles drop first game of doubleheader, 5-2
The Irish bounced back from a shutout loss to hold BC to just two runs on four hits.
In the first game of its Saturday double-header, Boston College fell to Notre Dame, 5-2. After yesterday’s 10-0 blowout, the Fighting Irish put together a complete team performance to even the series up at a game apiece. The Eagles (16-20, 6-17 ACC) were never able to get the bats going against a tough Notre Dame (19-8, 17-8) pitching staff as they were held to just four hits.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED:
Pelio’s Return to the ACC: BC starter Mason Pelio turned in a solid performance in his first conference outing since April 9. The junior right-hander grinded through six innings of work, giving up three runs and striking out six for his second quality start of the year. After spending much of the first two innings navigating walks and some serious jams, Pelio was able to settle in nicely. His last four innings in the game showed why he has garnered so much attention from the national media and MLB draft scouts.
“Not a great first inning but he settled in and threw the ball great after that,” head coach Mike Gambino said. “He started to command his fastball better and got the changeup going. He really settled in and gave us a chance to win the game.”
In those four innings, he was able to locate multiple pitches for strikes and limit his walks—a recipe for success in ACC play. With limited runners on base, Pelio could take risks with his power breaking balls and high-90’s fastball. In the sixth inning, with his pitch count in the hundreds, Pelio was able to dig deep and keep the Eagles in the ballgame. Even though the game did not go BC’s way, this is an encouraging sign for the Eagles as they will need Pelio to turn in more performances like this if they are to make a run at the ACC tournament.
BC Squanders Chance in the Second: After Notre Dame starter John Bertrand retired the Eagles in the first, Luke Gold led off the second inning with a sharply hit chopper to the right side that was ruled an infield single. Jack Cunningham and Vince Cimini followed that with a pair of walks and just like that, the Eagles had the bases loaded with no outs. Down 3-0 at this point, it seemed as if BC was primed to chip away at that lead and make some noise.
Dante Baldelli stepped to the plate with an opportunity to give BC some life, but instead hit a fielder’s choice to third that led to a force out at the plate. With the bases loaded again, Bertrand threw a wild pitch that bounced off the brick wall behind the plate. Cunningham read the ball in the dirt and broke for home, but was tagged out as the ball had bounced right into the hands of Irish catcher David LaManna. Now with two outs, and runners on the corners, Peter Burns stepped up to the plate trying to avoid disaster. Burns would ground out to the pitcher, and the Eagles came away from a bases loaded situation with no outs with nothing to show for it. This was the best scoring chance BC would have until much later in the game, as Bertrand would calm down and start to cruise.
Eagles’ Bats Silenced by Strong ND pitching: BC hitters that weren’t named Luke Gold had a tough day at the plate. Bertrand and reliever Tanner Kohlhepp turned in nine innings of beautifully pitched baseball, limiting the Eagles to zero hits with runners in scoring position and just four in total. Bertrand’s stuff wasn’t overpowering, as he only struck one batter, but was good enough to force weak contact for six-plus innings. He forced 10 ground outs, two of which were back-breaking double plays. After running into some trouble in the second inning—and coming out unscathed—he was on cruise control until the seventh. Bertrand was locating all his pitches for strikes and not getting into high-ball counts, which allowed him to keep his pitch count down. The graduate student shined, throwing just 75 pitches on the day.
After Bertrand got himself in a jam in the seventh, Notre Dame skipper Link Jarrett turned to the right-hander Kohlhepp. He was able to navigate out of the jam, limiting the damage to just two runs, and shut down the Eagles over the next two innings to complete the two plus inning save. Kohlhepp struck out three over his two and two-thirds and did not allow a base runner.
Play of the Game: Baruch’s Big Catch in the Eighth
Down just one run in the top of the eight, LaManna crushed a towering fly ball to deep left center field. BC left-fielder ran all the way to the warning track and was able to hold onto the ball while crashing into the wall. The catch kept the game close for the time and saved extra bases.
Featured Images Courtesy of Boston College Athletics