In the top of the fifth inning of Boston College baseball’s contest against Florida State, Evan Moore stared down the plate with two outs and the bases loaded, looking to keep BC’s 3–1 lead intact.
He made the pitch to Florida State’s Jaime Ferrer, who barely made contact, hitting a slow ground ball to the mound. Moore rushed to the ball and threw an overhand toss that slipped out of his finger tips, high over first baseman Nick Wang’s head and into foul territory, allowing for two runs to score—completely shifting the momentum of the game in the Seminoles’ favor.
“When they jumped us, we were two outs ready to get off the field,” BC head coach Todd Interdonato said. “Obviously the come-backer back to the mound was a tough play.”
Despite five straight wins for BC (16–12, 5–8 Atlantic Coast) entering Friday’s showdown, the reemergence of poor pitching and fielding errors that plagued them at the start of the season proved to be too much for the Eagles to overcome, leading to a 12–4 series opener defeat to Florida State (25–4, 6–4 Atlantic Coast). The Eagles wore special uniforms to honor Welles Crowther for the first of three games to be played during Red Bandana Weekend at the ballpark.
“To come here as soon as you get the opportunity to be a part of BC, you know Welles’ story and then to be a part of BC baseball, you know Pete’s (Pete Frates) story,” Interdonato said. “It’s just amazing that this institution has two people like that, and the fact that we’re able to represent them both means a lot.”
The score remained tied at 0–0 entering the bottom of the third inning. But what first appeared as a pitching duel between Michael Farinelli and Jamie Arnold quickly changed.
Senior catcher Parker Landwehr provided a spark with a single up the middle in the bottom of the third. Then, a Sam McNulty bunt led to a throwing error by Arnold, allowing two men on base for the Eagles. Another sacrifice bunt by Patrick Roche advanced the runners to second and third, bringing up Cameron Leary.
On the second pitch of Leary’s at bat, Arnold left a fastball high in the zone, which resulted in a towering three-run home run over the left field wall to hand BC a 3–0 lead. The homerun marked Leary’s 38th as an Eagle, catapulting him to the second highest total in program history.
“I think he has handled success as mature and as professional as anybody I’ve been around in the last few years,” Interdonato said in reference to Leary’s achievement. “That’s what’s most impressive.”
Although Farinelli pitched through the first three innings unscathed, the Seminoles were quick to respond. Ferrer crushed a line drive home run to left field in the top of the fourth inning, and BC’s defense was put to the test in the top of the fifth.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Moore committed the game-changing error, making the game 3–3. One batter later, Marco Dinges singled on a line drive to right field, driving in two runs to give the Seminoles a 5–3 edge.
The onslaught continued into the sixth inning, where with the bases loaded and two out again. James Tibbs III scorched a line drive single to left-field, adding two more runs to the Seminoles’ tally. Just as it seemed as though it could not get worse for the Eagles, Ferrer walked up to the plate with two men on base. He waited for the pitch and launched his second home run of the contest, busting the game wide open by a score of 10–3. The Seminoles would tally another run in the seventh by virtue of a Max Williams ground ball.
“The five run inning, that kind of seemed to put the nail in the coffin, I mean, we were two outs and nobody on and went back to back walks, so I think that’s a little more self-inflicted,” Interdonato said. “They obviously are a dangerous offense, so they punish you for mistakes.”
Arnold shut down the Eagles’ bats, allowing no runs from the fourth through the seventh inning.
“His fastball is an elite pitch,” Interdonato said of Arnold. “We talked about how we wanted to attack his best pitch, and that was it, and I thought we had some good swings on him early.”
Once Arnold was taken out of the game, BC finally generated some offense, scoring one run in the eighth inning courtesy of a Wang RBI double. At that point, though, it was too late for the Eagles to mount any sort of comeback.
Drew Faurot provided the icing on the cake for the Seminoles, blasting a solo home run to right field in the 9th inning, handing the Eagles a 12–4 defeat.
“I just think we have to look at the things that we can do better, the things that we did well, and the things that we can control,” Interdonato said.
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