Baseball Blitzes Bryant, But Can't Run With UConn

The Boston College baseball team has no issue with beginning each game, scoring first in 14 of its 16 contests thus far. The team is a disappointing 7-9 during this stretch, though, largely due to its tendency to give away the lead in the later innings. During a two-game road stint against UConn and Bryant University this week, the Eagles split the series and demonstrated their inability to hold on to leads, but they also showed what they are capable of doing when they do.

On Wednesday afternoon, BC set aside its recent pitching struggles and rode the arm of Taylor Lasko and three home runs to defeat Bryant in Smithfield, R.I., 8-2. Usually a pitcher reserved for the bullpen, Lasko was called upon for the spot start because of the horrendous 7.64 team ERA entering the contest. The sophomore righty was not overpowering, only mowing down two Bulldogs, but he had great control and didn't allow Bryant to capitalize on one breakout inning.

BC opened up the box score in the second when outfielder Robbie Anston singled to center with the bases loaded, scoring John Spatola and Andrew Lawrence. Anston, who has a .391 batting average thus far, went two for five on the day.

In the bottom of the third, Bulldog Tim Norton crushed a solo shot to right that halved BC's advantage. Rather than folding in the threat of adversity, Lasko thrived by retiring nine of the next 10 Bryant players to step into the batter's box.

BC's offense took it from there. Matt Hamlet, Anthony Melchionda, and Mickey Wiswall all trotted the bases and paved the way for six more runs between the fifth and eighth innings. Thirteen hits in total for the Eagles, including a three-for-three, one-RBI performance by Lawrence, was their highest total output since an 18-14 win over Florida International March 10.

The bullpen took over in the seventh inning for BC, and allowed one run on three hits over the final three frames to close out the victory. Lasko earned his first win as an Eagle.

On Tuesday afternoon, in contrast, BC lost to UConn due to its inability to produce such a complete performance. Despite three Eagle runs in the top of the first, senior pitcher Dane Clemens was rocked, and the offense's bats were shushed, giving the Huskies a comfortable 8-4 victory at J.O. Christian Field in Storrs, Conn.

Initially, the game looked promising for the Eagles, as UConn starting pitcher Robert Van Woert was wild early. Hamlet was hit by a pitch, then advanced to second when Van Woert's next toss to home went beyond the catcher's mitt. The UConn righty surrendered an RBI single to Wiswall, the team leader in RBIs, giving BC the first score of the contest. Melchionda was also beaned, and Spatola walked to load the bases. With two outs, shortstop Brad Zapenas singled to left to score Wiswall and Melchionda. Despite registering just two hits, the Eagles had a 3-0 cushion heading into the bottom of the frame.

Clemens threw many more strikes across the plate than his rubber counterpart, though he didn't fare any better. Husky Pierre LePage led off the first with a double, which was promptly followed by shortstop Nick Ahmed's blast over the left-centerfield wall, cutting BC's lead to one. The pulverizing didn't stop there, as UConn took a 4-3 advantage off two RBI singles by L.J. Mazzilli and Joe Pavone, respectively.

In the bottom of the third, Clemens gave up consecutive doubles to Pavone and Billy Ferriter for UConn's fifth run. Just one inning later, Ahmed tallied another RBI, his third of the day, and two more Huskies reached base safely without recording an out. Reliever Geoff Oxley replaced Clemens and inherited his teammate's base runners, but he couldn't bail out the starter. The Huskies added two more insurance runs, stretching the lead to 8-3.

Clemens' final line consisted of 10 hits, two walks, and eight earned runs over three-plus innings, ballooning the starter's ERA to a dismal 9.20. While another BC starter was thoroughly pummeled, Oxley and fellow bullpen arms Hunter Gordon and Jay Jeannotte silenced the opposing bats the rest of the way, combining for five scoreless innings and allowing just six UConn batters to reach base safely.

BC's missing bats prevented a comeback. Aside from a Spatola home run to left in the fifth, his sixth of the year, there was little pop in the aluminum for the Eagles. In three of the last four frames, BC failed to put a runner on the base paths, and it recorded a measly five total hits in the match-up.