Pitching Staff Shelled As BC Drops Two In Miami

Last season, the Boston College baseball team opened ACC play by stunning the No. 6 Florida State Seminoles down in Tallahassee, stealing two wins in the best-of-three weekend series. Looking to replicate a strong start in conference play, the Eagles traveled to Coral Gables where the No. 13 Miami Hurricanes (10-4, 2-1 ACC) hosted them in a three-game series. This year, however, the Eagles dropped two out of three games to the hosts, dropping their record to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in ACC play.

The series stood at 1-1 entering Sunday afternoon's game at Alex Rodriguez Park. BC shot ahead to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, with a pair of sacrifice flies from first baseman Anthony Melchionda and shortstop Brad Zapenas driving in a run apiece.
Freshman designated hitter Matt Watson singled in a run to finish out the first inning.

The Hurricanes were quick to respond in the bottom half of the frame, though, with a four-run rally. Miami drew an unearned run from a fielding error by Melchionda, followed by an RBI single by Harold Martinez, and a two-run triple by Frankie Ratcliff.

From then on, it was all Miami, as the home team continued to add insurance runs throughout the rest of the game, ringing up BC starting pitcher Mike Dennhardt for four earned runs and 11 hits through five innings. The Eagles scored a lone run in the fifth inning off a single by Melchondia. The first baseman finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs, but it was not enough to stop an 11-4 final score in favor of the Hurricanes.

Junior Kevin Moran took the mound for the Eagles as the starter for Saturday evening's game. Moran has moved from the starting closer role to the third starting pitcher position. "The issue is going to be commanding the strike zone and making good quality pitches," said head coach Mik Aoki of Moran before game two.

Moran managed to hold the Miami lineup to two runs through the first four frames, but the Hurricanes had a breakout fifth inning. Ratcliff homered on a 3-1 count, a two-run shot that increased his team's lead to 4-1. The Hurricanes scored two more runs off a fielder's choice and a sacrifice fly by Zeke DeVoss to close out the inning, leading 6-1.
Broad's solo home run in the bottom of the eighth brought the final score to 7-1.

BC's lone run came in the top of the first, when Melchionda singled to drive in outfielder Robbie Anston, who hit 2 for 3 on the night. After this brief burst of offense, Miami starter Jason Santana silenced BC's bats for the rest of the night, finishing with eight strikeouts and holding the Eagles to five total hits through six innings.

The first game of the series was clearly BC's best outing. Led by starting pitcher Pat Dean, the Eagles started the series off right on Friday night. The junior left-hander struck out nine batters, a season high, over eight innings, shutting out a Miami team that averaged 9.9 runs per game before Friday.

"By and large, that was the story of the night," Aoki said.    

Miami's starting pitcher, Chris Hernandez, nearly had a night as successful as Dean's, holding BC's lineup to five hits while his own team managed six off of Dean.

Watson provided the offensive firepower for the Eagles, smacking two doubles. The first came in the second inning, when the freshman hit a shot to center field, which allowed sophomore Zapenas to score from second base. Later, in the fourth inning, Watson's second double of the night brought home Melchionda and Zapenes, who earned his second run of the night. Matt Brazis relieved Dean in the ninth inning and put the Hurricanes away scoreless, earning his second save of the season.

"We're looking for a little bit more offensive output," Aoki said. "But this is the ACC, and Hernandez is an outstanding pitcher. For us to go out there, we knew it was going to be a low scoring game with two of the better pitchers of the ACC."

The Eagles had trouble mustering runs all series, getting outscored 18-8 and out-hit, 29-18, over the series. Still, Dean's stellar performance on Friday is something the Eagles can look to for success against one of the nation's elite teams.

"Pat was really on his game, and when's he's on his game, there's nobody out there in college baseball that he can't compete against," Aoki said.