A Deacon beatin' on Beacon

By Jessica Isner Assoc. Sports Editor

The baseball team capped off a stellar weekend on Sunday with an 11-5 defeat of Wake Forest in Chestnut Hill. Apparently, Saturday night's 17-inning marathon didn't fatigue the Eagles, who exploded for 18 hits in the afternoon.

Boston College's Dan Houston improved his record to 3-4 after a six-inning performance, which featured four runs on just six hits and three strikeouts.

Houston outlasted the Demon Deacons' Charlie Mellies, who lasted just four innings and surrendered six earned runs on 10 hits.

With the win, the Eagles gained sole possession of eighth place in the ACC, and in contention for a spot in the ACC Championships in Jacksonville, Fla.

"We just got to continue to play well and get better. But the big thing is that we still control our own destiny," said BC head coach Mikio Aoki.

Mike Belfiore and Eric Campbell each managed three hits on the afternoon, and Belfiore and catcher Harry Darling each registered three RBIs.

Houston hit a rough spot early on, beginning the first inning by administering walks to Ben Terry and Brett Linnenkohl. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Houston then surrendered consecutive singles to Allan Dykstra and Dustin Hood, allowing Wake Forest to jump out to an early 2-0 lead.

After striking out Weldon Woodall, Houston allowed another single and a third run scored. He walked one more batter before inducing a groundout and a flyout to end the inning.

In the bottom of the inning, the Eagles could not capitalize on a double by Campbell.

After beginning the second inning with another walk, Houston settled down quickly, benefiting from a double-play grounder to short and a flyout.

The offense picked him up in the bottom of the inning, managing two runs on a sacrifice bunt by Darling, which scored Joseph Ayers, and a single by Ryan Hutchinson.

The inning was cut short when Hutchinson was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double.

Houston started the third with a hit batsman and then administered another walk, but retired the side to get out of the inning unscathed.

The Eagles came back with a huge inning and surged out to a 6-3 lead, initiated with a leadoff double from Belfiore.

After Tony Sanchez flied out, Campbell and Mike Augustine put together consecutive singles to score Belfiore.

Jared McGuire drove Campbell in with a double to left-center, and then Ayers singled to score Augustine.

In the top of the fourth, Houston allowed a leadoff single to Cory Hindel before retiring Eric Williams on a flyout.

He then allowed a single to Terry, but with two on and one out, he struck out Linnenkohl looking and induced from Dykstra a flyout.

Houston continued to dominate in the fifth inning, registering his first 1-2-3 inning of the afternoon, which was capped off by his third strikeout.

The Eagles managed to grab three more runs from Wake Forest relief pitcher Alex Wiesner in the bottom of the fifth.

Ayers lined a one-out single to left field then stole second before Peter Frates singled.

Darling came through with an RBI single, and Belfiore brought both men home with a single to center.

In the top of the sixth, the Demon Deacons managed to cut the deficit to 9-4 when Houston walked Hindel, who advanced on a double by Williams and scored on a groundout by Terry.

Geoff Oxley replaced Houston to start the seventh inning and administered two walks to lead things off, but he retired the side to get out of the jam.

BC tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the inning, initiated by a leadoff double from Ayers, who scored on a double to right center by Darling.

Darling advanced to third on a groundout by Hutchinson, then scored on another single by Belfiore.

James MacDonald relieved Oxley to finish out the afternoon on the mound for the Eagles.

After notching a 1-2-3 eighth inning, he ran into a little bit of trouble in the ninth, when he hit the leadoff man with his first pitch of the inning.

He settled down to induce a lineout and a flyout to center, but then Andy Goff reached on a fielding error by Hutchinson.

MacDonald was touched for an unearned run after allowing a two-out single to Tyler Smith, which scored Dykstra.

On Saturday, the Eagles and Demon Deacons engaged in a 17-inning marathon with the Eagles walking off with a 4-3 victory at Campenelli Stadium in Brockton, Mass.

BC starter Terry Doyle was spectacular, allowing one earned run and six hits in nine innings of work, while striking out 12.

His counterpart, Wake Forest pitcher Garrett Block, was up to the task, allowing eight hits and two earned runs while striking out seven in ten innings of play.

After Wake Forest pulled ahead for a 3-2 lead in the top of the 14th inning, BC answered quickly to extend the game.

Jared McGuire led off the inning with a triple, and Joe Ayers followed him with a single to tie the game at 3-3.

In the bottom half of the 17th inning, Tony Sanchez knocked a single to left field, and Eric Campbell followed him with a double off the wall in center field to score the winning run for the Eagles.

On Friday, the Eagles notched the first win of the series, again, in dramatic fashion.

Trailing 4-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth, BC put the first two runners on base courtesy of back-to-back singles by Eric Campbell and Mike Augustine.

After Jared McGuire struck out, Joe Ayers singles up the middle to make it 4-3.

Peter Frates was hit by a pitch from Wake Forest reliever Josh Ellis to load the bases, and then Ellis hit pinch hitter John Spatola to tie the game at 4-4.

Ryan Hutchinson drove home the winning run with a ground ball to the shortstop, which allowed Ayers to score from third.

"We got three pretty good pitching performances this weekend, and our (bullpen) came and did a really good job ... I think that's been a huge difference, some of the things that got away from us earlier in the year," said Aoki. n