Five-run first paces BC to blowout win over Miami
The Eagles hadn't won two in a row since early March, but are now poised to take a weekend series against Miami.
A high-octane Boston College offense continued to hum, piling up nine-plus runs for the fourth time in its last five games as the Eagles rolled to a 13-0 victory over visiting Miami on Friday night. BC cruised to its most lopsided win of the season behind six shutout innings from Emmet Sheehan and six different hitters registering multi-hit games.
“Boys swung the bat great from top to bottom,” head coach Mike Gambino said. “We just put great at bats together, all the way through. Cody had three hits, Luke had two, Jack had two—just top to bottom everybody swung the bats great.”
Sheehan was effectively wild, keeping Miami (23-14, 14-13 Atlantic Coast) from making any solid contact while racking up nine strikeouts. He hit two batters and walked three while needing 116 pitches to go six innings, but held the Hurricanes’ lineup to just one hit. Lefty Joe Vetrano finished off the shutout with three one-hit innings, continuing an impressive stretch from the freshman.
The Eagles (18-21, 7-18) jumped on Hurricanes’ starter Alejandro Rosario early, staging a five-run rally with two outs in the first inning. RBI singles by Jack Cunningham and Vince Cimini accounted for BC’s first two runs before Dante Baldelli lined a three-run home run to straightaway center field.
Cody Morissette and Luke Gold brought in runs with singles in the second against Rosario, who then gave up another run in the fourth on an infield single from Cunningham. The second-year starter was roughed up for the third time in his last six starts, eventually exiting having given up eight runs on 11 hits.
“We’ve seen over and over with this team that it’s a really good lineup and they continue to show that,” Gambino said.
Miami reliever Nicholas Regalado slowed the Eagles’ torrid bats somewhat. He gave up an unearned run in the fifth on a Sal Frelick sacrifice fly after a passed ball, but tossed a 1-2-3 sixth. Regalado quickly ran into trouble in the seventh, giving up a RBI single to Frelick before exiting with two on and two out. His replacement, Alex Munroe, promptly gave up a three-run home run to Morissette to cap the scoring.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Finding a groove: After missing a seven-game stretch earlier in the year and a few others, Morissette is finally finding his rhythm at the plate and he’s quickly proving why he was so high on draft boards coming into the year. Morissette went 3-for-5 with four runs, four RBIs, and the aforementioned home run. The junior has a six-game hit streak and is hitting .423 (11-for-26) during it.
“How about what he’s looked like the last week and a half?” Gambino said. “He’s finally getting back. Kid had a fracture in two knuckles and just plays through it, all he wants to do is help the team. He played himself into health.”
Impact on both sides: Right fielder Dante Baldelli has been one of the most consistent hitters in the Eagles’ lineup, despite hitting seventh or ninth in the order. Like Morissette, he’s been raking at the dish lately, turning in his third straight multi-hit game on Friday. Baldelli went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs, three RBIs, and a walk, raising his season average to a career-high .311 in the process.
He also turned in a fantastic diving catch on a line drive to right field in the third, one that kept the Hurricanes from staging any kind of two-out rally.
“That diving play he made in the third was a huge spot,” Gambino said. “It doesn’t seem like it at the end of the game when it’s 13-0, but that could have turned into something. Then he just keeps swinging the bat, he’s doing a great job.”
Six shutout: Sheehan turned in yet another strong start as he’s only continued to establish himself as the team’s ace. He didn’t even have his best stuff, Gambino noted, but was still able to limit contact and racked up nine strikeouts.
“I know it sounds crazy because he went six innings, one hit, no runs, but he wasn’t as sharp as we’ve seen him,” Gambino said. “That’s pretty amazing.”
“His fastball with the ride at the top of the zone is just devastating and he can also throw it at the bottom of the zone so he can work up and down,” he added on what lifted Sheehan to another strong start. “Then, he can change speeds with the changeup and breaking ball and it just becomes a really deadly combination.”
UP NEXT
Mason Pelio (3-5, 6.66 ERA) opposes Hurricanes’ right-hander Alex McFarlane (1-0, 3.50) in Saturday’s 3 p.m. ET game in Brighton. Pelio has struggled for much of the 2021 campaign, but is coming off of his first quality start of the season. He tossed six innings of three-run ball against Notre Dame last weekend, working around four walks while picking up six strikeouts.
Featured Images Courtesy of Boston College Athletics