Midweek: Eagles outlast visiting Holy Cross in slugfest with a combined 30 runs
It took three hours and 57 minutes and BC piled up 19 hits, 11 walks, and beat the Crusaders, 18-12.
No. 21 Boston College’s Brian Dempsey beat out a two-out, run-scoring infield single in the fourth inning to break a 3-3 tie with Holy Cross, and it proved to be the start of an offensive outburst that carried the Eagles.
They tacked on five runs in the fifth, five more in the sixth, and overcame some struggles on the mound to beat the visiting Crusaders, 18-12, and snap a three-game losing streak in the process.
Dempsey went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two walks out of the leadoff spot, Vince Cimini reached base all six times he came to the plate, and Cameron Leary added four RBIs out of the six-hole for BC (10-5, 2-4 Atlantic Coast). Holy Cross (0-1), despite outhitting the Eagles, 19-18, and staging a late rally—it scored nine runs in the final four innings—couldn’t keep up.
Cimini, through three games, has filled in admirably for the injured Cody Morissette. Against the Crusaders and hitting fifth, Cimini went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two walks, three runs, and a RBI. Through three games in a starting role, the sophomore is 6-for-10 with three extra base hits and has played excellent defense at second base.
“Vince has done a great job,” head coach Mike Gambino said. “Cody is arguably the best pure hitter in the country, so everybody would like to have him in the lineup, but Vince is doing a great job. We’ve got a roster of guys who can step in and fill in.”
Dempsey’s strong game was another good sight for Gambino and the Eagles. The graduate student was hitting .339 when last year’s season was cancelled but has had less consistency in the early going. A move to the leadoff spot and some film work has seemingly righted the ship, as after going 0-for-9 in the first two games against Louisville, he had a two-hit game on Sunday and was excellent at the plate against Holy Cross.
“I think hitting in the four-hole was a little bit new to me,” Dempsey noted. “I tried to get a little more aggressive than I had to be at times, but getting back into the leadoff spot I’m able to be the player that I’m used to being—just kind of gritty and trying to work counts and get on base for guys.”
BC was patient at the plate throughout the game, drawing 11 walks to just one strikeout. The Eagles were constantly creating chances and took advantage of three Holy Cross errors in the win. While the offense was humming despite facing 10 different Crusaders on the mound, the same couldn’t be said about the pitching staff.
In what was a traditional bullpen day, only Joey Ryan (2 IP) didn’t give up a run. Alex Stiegler labored through two innings, allowing three runs on five hits with a pair of wild pitches and a hit batsmen. Jon Campbell Jr. worked in and out of trouble in his two innings, leaving the bases loaded at one point before giving up a run. Joe Mancini was hit hard to the tune of seven earned runs—on six hits, a walk, and a hit batsmen—in just an inning and a third. Even Charlie Coon gave up a run in the ninth after allowing the first three batters to reach.
“We’ve got to clean some stuff up,” Gambino noted. “We’ve got a staff that we believe in and we just have to execute a little bit better. You saw it a couple times, either when it’s falling behind and having to fight back or not executing with two strikes. There’s guys out here that can do it and guys that we believe in their stuff.”
The 12 runs was the most allowed by the Eagles in a victory this year, but they still won by six. They had contributions from up and down the lineup as all but one batter registered a hit but everyone reached base at least once.
After falling behind 1-0, BC’s Luke Gold clubbed his team-leading sixth home run, a two-run shot in the bottom of the first. The Crusaders took a 3-2 lead and lead entering the fourth, but catcher’s interference with the bases loaded tied it and Dempsey followed with a single to put the Eagles’ ahead.
In the bottom of the fifth, the floodgates started to open. Leary hit a two-run single and Dempsey added a bases-loaded, three-run triple into the right field corner. In the sixth, Leary and Dante Baldelli hit back-to-back RBI singles before Chris Galland—hitting out of the nine hole—clubbed a two-run double. Sal Frelick followed with a RBI single and the Eagles were suddenly up by 10.
Holy Cross started to battle back, cutting into the deficit with a three-run seventh, but Leary answered with a RBI sacrifice fly in the home half. The Crusaders added four more in the eighth to make it a four-run game, but RBI doubles from Gold, Daniel Baruch, and Cimini extended the lead back to a comfortable seven.
“Today we had a really good scouting report on these guys,” Cimini said. “We knew they were going to try and attack the zone so I just kept my sights inside the zone, tried to put the barrel on the ball.”
The biggest question moving forward is how can the pitching staff take the next step and avoid turning games into slugfests. However, with guys like Cimini stepping up and Dempsey finding his offensive prowess again, the Eagles are showcasing their offensive depth. It’s a lineup that can likely hold its own with most teams in the country.
“I think we’re an incredibly deep team this year,” Dempsey added. “We’ve got a lot of really good players and you’re kind of seeing that right now with Vin. I’ve seen it in intrasquad and bubble games and everything, he’s just a really good ballplayer. We didn’t lose a beat when he came into the lineup.”
Featured Image courtesy of Boston College Athletics