Eagles leave 10 runners on base in 7-3 loss to Louisville
No. 13 BC took an early 3-0 lead but the bats went silent as the 10th-ranked Cardinals pulled away on Friday night.
After the first inning and two-thirds, No. 13 Boston College was seemingly in control against No. 10 Louisville. The Eagles, despite leaving two runners on base in each of the first two frames, had a 3-0 edge, had forced Cardinals’ starter Michael Kirian to throw 58 pitches already, and ace Mason Pelio had needed just eight pitches to quickly work through a 1-2-3 first inning.
That’s when things started to unravel. Louisville hit for the cycle—as a team—in the second inning, stringing together a home run, a triple, a double, two singles, and a walk for a four-run inning en route to a 7-3 victory on Friday night.
Lucas Dunn had a double and scored two times, Kirian bounced back to strike out seven over five innings for his third win, and reliever Adam Elliott spun four scoreless frames with five strikeouts in the win for the Cardinals (9-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast).
The Eagles (9-3, 2-2) left 10 runners on base, failing to make the most of big chances. The game was always within striking distance—the Cardinals didn’t tack on two final insurance runs until the eighth—but BC struck out a season-high 12 times and couldn’t push across a run after the second.
In the first inning, the Eagles staged a two-out rally, with Cody Morissette and Luke Gold hitting back-to-back singles. Jack Cunningham followed with a chopper to short, but the ensuing throw pulled first baseman Alex Binelas off the bag and his throw to the plate wasn’t in time—after a lengthy replay review—to get an aggressive Morissette.
After Pelio worked a quick 1-2-3 inning, BC was right back up against Kirian and he labored through what would be a 20-plus minute half inning. Cameron Leary reached on another error, this time charged to Kirian after he couldn’t pull in a throw while covering first. Kirian got two outs—on 14 pitches—before another throwing error, this time a two-base one, scored a run. Next, Sal Frelick stepped up and crushed the first pitch he saw to the warning track in center for a RBI triple. Morissette followed by drawing a walk, but in setting the tone for the rest of the game, both him and Frelick were ultimately left in scoring position.
In the home half of the second, Pelio got a strikeout to set down his fourth batter in a row, but the wheels promptly came off. The junior right-hander surrendered a home run down the right field line to Cameron Masterman, followed by a triple to left from Levi Brown and a RBI double into right-center from Dunn. Trey Leonard followed with a single, but he was thrown out trying to go to second after BC’s Peter Burns made an excellent play to cut off a wild throw from Leary in left. That was a big second out, but the Cardinals tied it on Pelio’s fifth wild pitch of the year and took the lead for good on Cooper Bowman’s single.
It seemed like the Eagles had an answer as they loaded the bases against Kirian in the third with one out, but Louisville’s converted reliever got Dante Baldelli swinging and froze Brian Dempsey on an 0-2 pitch for another strikeout. Pelio didn’t run into trouble again until the fourth, with a first-and-third situation, but a heads up play by Morissette on a stolen base attempt saw him throw out a runner at the plate.
Kirian struck out the last two batters he faced in the fifth to end what was ultimately a strong start. Pelio, meanwhile, was pulled in the bottom of the inning after issuing two walks. Joey Walsh inherited what would become a bases-loaded situation after falling behind 2-0 on Masterman and opting for an intentional walk. Walsh got a forceout at the plate before walking in a run, but escaped further damage with a big strikeout.
It became a bullpen duel the rest of the way between Louisville’s Elliott, who’d started the previous few weekends, and Walsh. Elliott stranded a runner at third in the sixth, picked off a pinch-runner in the seventh, and left a runner on second in the eighth. Walsh, meanwhile, retired six of seven at one point before being touched up in the eighth inning.
A throwing error from Morissette brought across another Louisville run, then Christian Knapczyk sealed the scoring ledger with a RBI single through the left side. The Eagles’ went 1-2-3 in the ninth inning, ending the game on back-to-back punchouts.
It was a frustrating day at the plate for BC, who went just 3-for-18 with runners on base and an even worse 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position. The Eagles were able to make Kirian labor early, but couldn’t land a final punch and instead he was able to bounce back and nearly turn in a quality start. Elliott was in complete control of BC’s lineup, too, with Baldelli the only player to get a hit off of him.
UP NEXT: The Eagles will have to shake off the tough at bats and season-high strikeout numbers, though, as they face right-hander Glenn Albanese on Saturday. Albanese is making his first start since Feb. 20, but struck out seven and didn’t issue a walk in that game. BC counters with Emmet Sheehan—who looks to improve on a tough start down in Auburn last weekend—and first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Images Courtesy of Boston College Athletics and Louisville Athletics