Month-by-Month: April

Close, but not quite—several potential momentum-building weekends slipped away.

This is the third piece of a four-part series that will look at each month of the 2021 season in depth. Included is a schedule recap, hitter and pitcher of the month, and other notes from that portion of the year. Stay tuned for player-by-player year in reviews as well as other longer-form pieces. For February, click here, and for March, click here.

Entering April, Boston College was just a game above .500 and had fallen to 3-9 in conference play. The Eagles needed to right the ship quickly, but the month proved to be anything but positive. BC went just 6-10, the product of four one-run losses and a porous bullpen.

The month featured two of the most frustrating series to watch on the season: Virginia Tech and Notre Dame. The Eagles took a game in each of them, but left wins on the table and in the case of the former, had a clear shot at sweeping the Hokies but dropped the series. Paired with a sweep at the hands of eventual Omaha-bound North Carolina State and another weekend series loss to Florida State, BC dug a deep hole in the conference standings that it was unable to get out of.

There were highlights—the dominant Friday wins over Notre Dame and Miami, as well as a gutsy Sunday victory over Florida State—but the month as a whole was a difficult one.

Games

• MIDWEEKS: The Eagles opened the non-conference schedule on a high note, handing eventual NCAA Tournament team Northeastern a 5-3 loss behind an excellent outing from Joe Mancini. A few weeks later due to weather posing all kinds of problems, they dropped a 6-4 decision to Rhode Island on a night that was marked by a downpour and a late Rams comeback. The third and final non-conference game was a rematch with Holy Cross and the Eagles didn’t let the Crusaders hang around this time, cruising to a 13-2 win.

• If you have to pick the most frustrating series of the year, you might point to the weekend in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech. Badly needing to get their feet under them, the Eagles got a vintage start from Mason Pelio to take the first game, 7-3. The next two, however, were practically the season in a nutshell. Emmet Sheehan threw a gem in the second one only to see the bullpen blow a three-run lead and lose on a walkoff, 6-5. Then, in the rubber match, Virginia Tech tied it up at three in the middle innings and took the lead—for basically the first time all weekend—in the eighth to win a narrow 4-3 game.

  

• Another brutal three-game set followed against North Carolina State. The Wolfpack opened the weekend with a dominant 20-5 win that included a 10-run eighth inning. On Saturday, Sheehan was sharp again, but Joey Walsh inherited two runners on and a two-run lead and promptly surrendered three runs en route to a 5-4 loss. The Eagles’ lineup went quiet on Sunday as they squandered a strong start from Alex Stiegler and the bullpen removed any doubt in a 7-0 defeat.

• A road trip to Tallahassee without Mason Pelio followed and BC was dealt a 10-2 loss in the series opener, the product of a pair of grand slams from Florida State hitters. Then, Sheehan was outdueled by the Seminoles’ Bryce Hubbart on Saturday in a 5-1 loss. The Eagles were able to salvage the weekend and snap a five-game skid by winning a rain-soaked finale, 5-3, behind an excellent relief performance from Walsh.

• I’ll correct what I said earlier—the series with Notre Dame was even more frustrating. Facing off against the top team in the ACC and a future postseason national seed, the Eagles cruised to a dominant 10-0 win behind Sheehan, who shifted easily into the Friday night role. Then came a dreaded double-header where the Irish gave the Eagles’ two difficult losses. First, it was a 5-2 setback in which Notre Dame led from the first two innings on. Then, in the second one, BC had a historically bad effort from the bullpen, squandering a nine-run lead as the relievers gave up 12 runs in the eighth inning in a 13-9 loss.

  

• The month wrapped up with a win over Miami—setting the stage for the team’s first conference weekend win to open May. The Eagles rolled to a 13-0 shutout behind another strong Sheehan start and a great day at the dish. More on that in the May recap!

Team Stats

Record: 6-10, -8 run differential

Hitting: 5.5 R/G, .261/.345/.380, 94 OPS+, 10 HR, 10 BB%, 23 K%

Starting Pitching: 87.1 IP, 4.12 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 4.67 FIP, 10 BB%, 25 K%
Bullpen: 53.1 IP, 7.59 ERA, 2.06 WHIP, 6.18 FIP, 16 BB%, 17 K%

Monthly Awards

Hitter of the Month: Dante Baldelli, RF
.365/.424/.462, 115 OPS+, 8 R, 13 RBI

If you were to pick someone at the start of the year to lead the team in average for a month, you probably would’ve gone through quite a few names before settling on Baldelli. The fifth-year’s averages over the last four seasons had been .085, .235, .221, and .255. In 2021, though, Baldelli was one of the most consistent bats in the lineup and finished as one of just four qualified batters with an average above .300. His best month was April, as he almost hit .370. He did that despite a pair of shaky weekends against FSU and N.C. State, managing to drive in six runs against Notre Dame and totaling five hits in the Virginia Tech series.

Mechanically, I just kept working with Coach [John] Murphy. He has been huge for me—especially in these last two years—as we have been working as much as possible to get both my swing and approach as consistent as it can be. — Baldelli in an interview with Bird’s Eye View’s contributor Andrew Kynes.

Honorable Mentions:

• Cody Morissette, 2B — .310/.388/.517, 118 OPS+, 4 2B, 2 HR, 11 R, 14 RBI

Morissette was limited to just 10 games in March thanks to a hand injury, but bounced back to play in all but one game in April. He wasn’t at his peak form yet—see his May stats for that—but was still one of the most reliable contributors in a lineup that struggled to push across runs consistently. He hit both his home runs against rival Notre Dame as part of a four-hit weekend, bouncing back admirably from a tough two-game set against Florida State. The junior led the team in RBIs for the month and was second in runs, hits, and stolen bases.

• Sal Frelick, CF — .311/.419/.361, 101 OPS+, 15 R, 4 SB

Baldelli, Morissette, and Frelick were the only three regulars to hit .300+ over the course of the month. Frelick, naturally, led the team in runs scored (15) and got on base at a .419 clip. He drew 11 walks to 11 strikeouts over the course of the month and posted a 101 OPS+ on what could be characterized as a “down” month.

Pitcher of the Month: Emmet Sheehan, RHP
2-1, 31 IP, 46 K, 2.61 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 3.23 FIP, 11 BB%, 35 K%

Sheehan entered the 2021 campaign looking to take the next step and after an up-and-down month of March, he kicked it into another level in April. Sheehan slid effortlessly into the Friday night starter role and more than held his own against the top arms in the ACC. Here’s a run-down of his starts—he went six-plus innings in every one, turned in three quality starts, and had nine-plus strikeouts in four of six.

It was an impressive run from the junior as he faced off against some of the conference’s top lineups and stayed effective. He closed the month strong, blanking Notre Dame and Miami on consecutive starts and striking out 19 while allowing just four hits over 12.1 innings.

Since [Auburn], I’ve just been in attack mode all the time, just going out there to beat each batter while staying aggressive. — Sheehan in an interview with Bird’s Eye View’s contributor Andrew Kynes.

Honorable Mention:

• Alex Stiegler, RHP — 25.2 IP, 21 K, 3.16 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 4.38 FIP

Each weekend, the Eagles listed the Sunday starter as “TBD” due to the fact that they were always ready to pull Stiegler into a big spot earlier in the weekend. In April, Stiegler never strayed from the rotation, making four Sunday starts and averaging 6 1/2 innings per appearance. His best start came against N.C. State where he pitched into the eighth and gave up just three runs while striking out 11. Stiegler also turned in quality starts against Virginia Tech and Notre Dame, but unfortunately finished the month with a tough-luck 0-1 record.

Monthly Quotables:

“We always know that we’re a great second half team. We just always are. We did it in ‘16, ‘17, and ‘19. We know that when April hits we start rolling. In 2016, with less weekends left, we were 5-11. Then we won our last four weekends. This year, we have six weekends, we have more time.” — Gambino looking ahead after the Virginia Tech weekend loss.

“There was a really good feel in the dugout. I’m just really proud of this group. We’ve had some tough luck at times and their attitude is awesome. They’re playing hard and they’re staying together.” — Gambino after the 10-0 win over Notre Dame.

“How do you talk about an inning like that? We got to throw more strikes and execute our pitches and we didn’t do any of that stuff.” — Gambino after the bullpen meltdown in the weekend-ending loss to Notre Dame.

“I was happy and proud of them. Their effort, their energy, and their commitment hasn’t wavered. Obviously they’re frustrated with the results but there’s no hint of hanging their head, quitting, or feeling sorry for themselves.” — Gambino after a 13-2 win over Holy Cross.

Featured Images Courtesy of BC Athletics