Eagles' pitching staff implodes in 20-5 loss to N.C. State
The Wolfpack built an early 8-0 lead against BC starter Mason Pelio, then added a 10-run eighth against the bullpen.
On a picture-perfect Friday afternoon in Brighton, Boston College took on North Carolina State in the ninth annual ALS game in remembrance of Pete Frates ‘07. The Wolfpack would take down the Eagles by a score of 20-5, as the BC pitching staff was unable to keep a relentless N.C. State offense at bay.
The Eagles (14-14, 6-10 ACC) must go back to the drawing board, as the entire team struggled to execute all day long. Meanwhile, the Wolfpack (12-11, 4-12) will look to ride this momentum to a series win this afternoon.
The N.C. State lineup banged out 18 hits en route to the blowout, handing BC its most lopsided loss of the season. Terrel Tatum was the leader for the Wolfpack, as he registered four hits and two runs batted in. Eight N.C. State players recorded at least one hit and a run batted in. The entire lineup was firing, as almost every ball was barreled up and was in a gap.
Wolfpack starter Reid Johnston also had a fantastic day, going six and two-thirds while striking out seven Eagles. Johnston was attacking BC hitters by locating his mid-90’s fastball effectively and flipping in his offspeed for a strike anytime he needed to. N.C. State—who entered with similar bullpen struggles as the Eagles—leaned on Johnston, as he threw a whopping 110 pitches. BC was never able to get into a groove against Johnston or the rest of the N.C. State staff, tallying five runs on just five hits. The Eagles finally scored their first runs in the bottom of the sixth, as Cody Morrissette, Luke Gold, and Jack Cunningam all had RBI’s on three consecutive at-bats.
Meanwhile, BC starter Mason Pelio struggled as he was charged with seven earned runs on 106 pitches across six and two thirds innings of work. After a quick top of the first where Pelio flashed his full arsenal to fan two, he would run into some trouble in the second. Pelio gave up a leadoff single to Wolfpack shortstop Jose Torres and a bunt single to designated hitter Tatum to start the inning. After getting the next batter to ground out, a single by Devonte Brown would bring in Torres making it 1-0 in favor of the Wolfpack. With runners now on first and third and only one out, Pelio had gotten himself in quite the jam. During the next batter, a failed pickoff attempt that ended up in right field would allow another run to score, extending the N.C. State lead to 2-0. Leadoff hitter Austin Murr would then hit a sac fly to deep right, scoring Brown to make it 3-0.
Things wouldn’t get much better for Pelio in the third. Already with a three-run lead, N.C. State left fielder Jonny Butler ripped an 0-2 pitch into right-center field for a leadoff triple. Butler would then score on a Luca Tresh single that brought the lead to 4-0. After quickly retiring the next two batters. Wolfpack third baseman Vojtech Mensik would come to the plate with a runner on first. Mensik proceeded to crush his second home run of the season, making it 6-0.
Pelio would work a clean fourth, highlighted by a fantastic double play turned by the Eagles middle infield tandem of Cody Morrissette and Brian Dempsey. In the fifth, a leadoff walk would come to hurt Pelio, as a Tatum two-out single to right brought in Butler, pushing the lead to 7-0. The Wolfpack would scratch another run across in the sixth, as right fielder Devonte Brown would work another leadoff walk off Pelio. Brown would steal second, move to third on a fielder’s choice, and eventually score on a sacrifice fly by Murr.
Jon Campbell Jr. would come in to relieve Pelio for the top of the seventh inning. After retiring the first batter, Tresh would hit the second NC State homer of the day, seizing back any momentum and making it 9-3. This Tresh homer seemed to be the nail in the coffin, as N.C State never looked back from there.
After Campbell surrendered a walk and a single to the next two Wolfpack hitters, Eagles’ head coach Mike Gambino would turn again to the bullpen, bringing in Joey Ryan with two on and one out. Ryan would hit the first batter he saw to load the bases, and a fielder’s choice to Dempsey at short would bring in the tenth run of the day for the Pack, bringing the lead back to seven.
After another quiet inning by BC in the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles would use three different pitchers in the top of the eighth inning. The Eagles bullpen imploded, allowing ten runs on eight hits in a half inning that lasted nearly half an hour.
“The pitching staff is close to putting it together,” Gambino said after. “But they live on the edge and it can turn into this.”
The Eagles will need Emmet Sheehan to continue pitching great in order to bounce back and even up the series in this afternoon’s game. BC will need a solid start of at least six innings from Sheehan in order to minimize the amount of innings the bullpen has to pitch. The game will be at 1 p.m. on ACC Network Extra and ESPN+.
Featured Image Courtesy of BC Athletics
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