Eagles hand No. 6 Notre Dame worst loss of season
Behind three home runs and a 10-strikeout start from Emmet Sheehan, BC rolled to a 10-0 shutout of the Irish in Friday's series opener.
Emmet Sheehan pitched into the seventh in his first Friday night start and was backed with plenty of run support as Boston College snapped a home conference winless streak, pounding No. 6 Notre Dame 10-0.
Sheehan worked around five walks and three hits to strike out 10 across 6 1/3 scoreless for his sixth quality start of the year. Ramon Jimenez, Daniel Baruch, and Cody Morissette all went deep as the Eagles’ (16-19, 6-16 Atlantic Coast) used the longball to break out of an offensive funk. They’d averaged just three runs in their last eight ACC games—seven of which were losses—but scored in five of the first six innings to hand the Irish (18-8, 16-8) its worst loss of the year.
“There was a really good feel in the dugout,” head coach Mike Gambino said. “I’m just really proud of this group. We’ve had some tough luck at times and their attitude is awesome. They’re playing hard and they’re staying together.”
It was an emphatic win, one in which BC reverted to its early-season form. The Eagles jumped all over Notre Dame starter Will Mercer, piling up seven earned runs and two home runs off of him, and had built a decisive 5-0 lead through three innings. A four-run fifth served as a punctuation mark on a dominant series-opening win.
MOMENT’S THAT MATTERED:
Sheehan’s start: The game almost started on the wrong foot for Sheehan and BC as the junior gave up a single, a double, and a walk to load the bases with nobody out. As Gambino noted postgame, the expected runs for a team in that situation—bases loaded, no outs—is 2.3. Instead, Sheehan struck out three straight to strand the runners and give his team a chance to build an early lead.
“I was so proud not just of him being able to make pitches, but his growth and maturity both mentally and emotionally throughout these last couple years,” Gambino said. “To see it there—bases loaded, nobody out—it was deep breath, back to work.”
That trio of strikeouts set the tone for the rest of his start as he set down 10 of the next 11 batters he faced. Sheehan again ran into trouble in the fifth, loading the bases on walks, but got a flyout to escape that jam as well. He left with one out and a runner on in the seventh after throwing 116 pitches, a season-high.
“They’re definitely very selective,” Sheehan said of the Irish lineup. “They’re good at waiting for their pitch. We had a plan going into the game of just pitching my game, which is letting my fastball ride high in the zone and then just mixing both sides of the plate.”
Lineup sparks: Morissette’s home run in the sixth—his first since March 9 when he had two against Maine—was a long time coming. The junior has too sweet of a left-handed swing to not get ahold of them more often and his 2-for-3 day with two walks was a great sign after an injury-plagued March.
The real spark in the lineup was the play of Baruch and Jimenez. Baruch—who earned his first career start in the midweek loss to Rhode Island—went 2-for-4 out of the nine-hole with a solo home run. The Eagles haven’t been able to find a consistent starting left fielder as Chris Galland and Cameron Leary have both logged double-digit starts there, but Baruch fit in seamlessly on Saturday. He preserved a shutout in the bottom of the ninth, too, with an impressive diving catch.
“I’m really proud of Daniel Baruch, the kid kept his head down and just worked and worked and worked,” Gambino said. “He was ready when his name was called. Played great the other night and again today. The boys fed off his energy today too.”
Jimenez, meanwhile, has earned more playing time as of late with Luke Gold day-to-day and he’s made the most of it. After three doubles in three games against Florida State, Jimenez slotted into the six spot and went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and a huge three-run home run in the third.
The duo accounted for half the Eagles’ offense—and four other runs came from the bottom half. Dante Baldelli had a two-run single in the fifth and Peter Burns chipped in with a RBI double of his own.
“You’re starting to see the lineup go a little bit,” Gambino said. “It’s fun to be around. At some point you’re going to get Luke Gold back too so I’m excited about this lineup.”
Home run celebrations, ranked: Thanks to some excellent photography from BC’s John Quackenbos, we’ve got all three home run celebrations captured in some truly great photos. Hats off to the long-time Eagles’ photographer for framing these.
1) Ramon Jimenez
Michael Marzonie (in red) was busy on Friday night. Excellent elevation in this one and the supporting crowd is great. Pure joy in the dugout there from the likes of Barry Walsh.
2) Daniel Baruch
I came close to putting this one first, too. Daniel Baruch has hops. He’s cleared Marzonie and is basically leaping into his chest at this point. Quick note: Baruch won a Rhode Island basketball state title as a junior.
3) Cody Morissette
It’s hard to put this one last—they’re all great. The supporting crowd is great here, whether it’s Jimenez beaming or freshman Patrick Roche looking up.
I chose to include this ranking because, like Gambino noted, Friday’s win felt different. The Eagles were playing much looser and had more energy than some previous games and they only built as the game went on. They’ve got a chance at a top-10 weekend series win now and they’ll play two games on Saturday.
All images courtesy of Boston College Athletics
For that performance alone, Emmett Sheenan needs a worthy nickname. Throwing "Extra Strikeouts" into the mix, but BC nation can surely do better.