In its second weekend of play, the Boston College baseball team traveled to the inaugural Auburn Classic over the weekend and came away with a 1-2 record despite John Spatola's three home runs. Missouri, Florida Atlantic, and host Auburn also participated in the Classic.
As badly as the Eagles' bats struggled against Florida Atlantic, they erupted against the Missouri Tigers on Sunday en route to winning their final game of the Classic by a score of 14-6. Spatola led the Eagles with a career day, as he knocked in seven RBI, which came off two home runs and a double. Anthony Melchionda went three for five, Robbie Anston added two triples, and Marc Perdios hit his first home run since 2008.
Starting pitcher Anthony Del Colle continued to struggle on the mound, as he gave up three runs in only 1.1 innings of work. The freshman's ERA rose to 54.00 after Sunday's game. BC's relief staff, though, comprised of Kevin Moran, Nate Bayuk, and Chris Kowalski, kept the Tigers from running away with it. Moran gave up three runs over 4.1 innings, and Bayuk and Kowalski combined for 3.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Saturday's game featured Mike Dennhardt of the Eagles taking on Mike Gipson of the Florida Atlantic Owls, a member of the Sunbelt Conference. The Eagle offense had trouble getting off the ground, as Gipson gave up only two runs on six hits and struck out four. Anston scored both runs for the Eagles, one in the first and one in the third, on his way to a four-for-four day.
Dennhardt, meanwhile, could not match Gipson's prowess on the mound. He allowed seven runs on four hits and three walks in only two innings of work. This outing went radically different than his previous start when he shut out Tulane the previous weekend on only two hits. He moves to 1-1 on the season.
The Eagle defense made three errors in the game to help out the Owls, and BC lost by a final score of 13-2. The loss marked the first time BC has lost three straight games since a series against NC State in 2008.
Friday's contest featured an extra-inning match-up with the Auburn Tigers, who finished 10th in the SEC last season. Pat Dean, who replaced JB MacDonald as the team's ace this season, gave up five runs and 11 hits while striking out four in seven innings. After giving up only two runs to the Tulane Green Wave the weekend before, Dean's ERA jumped to 4.50 after Friday's outing.
For the third time in four games, BC jumped on the scoreboard first as Anston and Matt Hamlet led the game off with singles and scored on a Mickey Wiswall double down the right field line. Wiswall went two for three with four RBI, and Hamlet also contributed two hits. The Eagles trailed by one until Spatola hit a homer, his first of the weekend and third of the season, to tie the game in the seventh.
Auburn, however, rallied behind an offensive showcase from Brian Fletcher, who went three for five on the day with two home runs, including the game-winner, which came off Kowalski in the 10th inning. With the walk-off home run, he moved to ninth on Auburn's all-time list. The Tigers won 6-5.
The Eagles emerged from the Auburn classic with a 1-2 record in the tournament, dropping them to 3-3 on the season. Through six games, Anston leads the offense with a .462 average, while fellow captain Spatola leads the home run race with five. Three-hitter Mickey Wiswall leads the team in RBI (11), while Spatola and Melchionda follow with 10 apiece.
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