Eagles stung late in midweek loss to UMass
The Minutemen took the lead on a wild pitch in the eighth and handed BC a 3-2 defeat.
Maybe it was a hangover after an 11-run, homestretch-defining outburst in a series-clinching win against Miami on Sunday. Or maybe it was the fact that Massachusetts hadn’t won a home game against its in-state rivals since 2013.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t pretty. Boston College was held to just two runs on six hits, squandering a strong midweek start from right-hander Joey Ryan as the Eagles fell to the Minutemen, 3-2.
BC (19-23) twice erased one-run deficits, setting the stage for some late inning dramatics. With the game knotted up at two in the bottom of the eighth, Eagles’ left-hander Joe Vetrano gave up a single and a double. BC head coach Mike Gambino went to the bullpen and brought out trusted closer Joey Walsh, who issued an intentional walk and then got a groundout to get the second out.
There was no holding the Minutemen (13-26) off the board, though, as Walsh tried to throw a low strike three and instead it skipped past catcher Parker Landwehr to the backstop. The go-ahead run came in for the hosts and reliever Tucker Wittman tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to hand the Eagles their sixth one-run loss of the season.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Efficient Ryan: It was Joey Ryan’s first start in over a month, but the freshman right-hander needed just 71 pitches to go six innings. He allowed two runs, one earned, on seven hits with three strikeouts. Most notably, Ryan didn’t issue a walk after totaling 11 (and nine hit batsmen) in his previous 18.1 innings this season.
Ryan pounded the strike zone, even after his defense let him down on occasion and he was forced to throw more pitches. He was in cruise control for much of the second half of his outing, save for being ambushed by the Minutemen’s first hitter of the fifth inning. UMass second baseman Aidan Wilde clubbed the first pitch he saw from Ryan over the right field fence for what was at the time a go-ahead solo home run.
Quiet lineup: Save for Peter Burns getting the start behind the plate, it was the exact same lineup that racked up 11 runs on Sunday. Against UMass, though, the Eagles’ were missing their punch. They didn’t seem comfortable against Minutemen starter Max LeBlanc, a freshman who had thrown more than four innings just once this season.
LeBlanc struck out a career-high eight over six innings of two-run ball, allowing just four hits and three walks. He didn’t give up his first run until the fourth—Cody Morissette doubled and came around to score after a few infield ground balls—and his second run was hardly his fault. With two on and two out, LeBlanc got a ground ball to third, but UMass third baseman Josh Petrucci couldn’t make a play on it and it skipped into the outfield to let a run score.
The fact that one of the Eagles’ two runs scored was the product of the other team failing to make a play in the field surely doesn’t reflect positively. The 11 strikeouts was worrisome, too, as the Minutemen entered averaging a tick over eight per game.
UP NEXT
There’s no time to get down after a tough midweek loss, though, as an even bigger test awaits this afternoon: Bryant. The Bulldogs are always near the top of the Northeast Conference and this year is no different. Bryant is in first in the NEC (15-3) and has a strong 19-10-1 record on the year. They’ll post a big test for the BC pitching staff, as the Bulldogs are slashing .302/.385/.445 as a team and have only heated up as the year’s gone on.
Featured Images Courtesy of UMass Athletics
I always enjoyed Max LeBlanc on "Friends", and appreciate the sacrifices he has made to hone his pitching skills while earning a degree.