Boston College baseball could not score for the first five innings of its Sunday game against Stanford.
Although there’s no good time for a team to be stuck in an offensive rut, such a situation is particularly unfavorable to start off the series-deciding game of an in-conference matchup.
No matter how unfavorable the situation was, though, it is what the Eagles (23–25, 10–16 Atlantic Coast) found themselves in.
And despite turning things around late in the matchup—as BC finished the game on a 7–0 scoring run—such a start put the Eagles in a hole that eventually ended in an 11–7 loss to Stanford (23–20, 8–18) on BC’s Senior Day.
The game started positively for the Eagles as Kyle Kipp pitched a strikeout from Trevor Haskins. But it quickly—very quickly—went downhill from there.
Temo Becerra stepped up to the plate, and before Haskins had time to even reach the dugout following his strikeout, Becerra was slamming a home run into left field to put Stanford’s first run of the afternoon on the board.
BC’s 1-2-3 outing in the bottom of the frame didn’t make matters any better. The top of the sixth did not just maintain what was already shaping up to be an uneven matchup, though. It decided the game.
The inning led off with Kipp giving up a double, a walk and a single—all in a row. Then, JJ Moran’s RBI groundout pushed Stanford’s lead to two. A two-RBI single followed, a sacrifice fly from Becerra scored another runner, and another RBI single gave the Cardinal its fifth run of the inning.
At that point, BC head coach Todd Interdonato sent JD Ogden to replace Kipp on the mound. But Ogden, too, struggled. Consecutive wild pitches from Ogden advanced a runner to third, then allowed him to score, sending Stanford out of the inning up 6–0.
Stanford tacked on another three runs in the top of the third. Ogden gave up two hits and a walk before being pulled for Dylan Howanitz. Howanitz gave up consecutive singles, one of which brought in another run, before eventually ending the inning with a lineout to second base.
BC managed two singles in the bottom of the inning, but two strikeouts and a groundout from Jack Toomey rendered those hits useless.
Stanford scored another run in the top of the fourth as Jacob Burnham took over at pitcher. But that was the last run the Cardinal would score all game, as that inning began what would become a significantly improved pitching performance from BC.
Finally, the Eagles got something going when Josiah Ragsdale led off the sixth with a double, then stole third as Toomey struck out swinging.
An error from Stanford allowed Beck Milner to reach base and scored Ragsdale shortly after, putting BC’s first run on the board. An RBI single from Vince Cimini late in the inning scored Milner, cutting BC’s deficit to 11–2.
The entire seventh inning was a quick one, as only one batter from either team reached base and Tyler Mudd pitched a 1-2-3 top half of the frame.
The top of the eighth was not as clean a performance from Mudd, but the Eagles escaped without allowing another run. In the bottom of the inning, RBI singles from Cimini and Magpoc, plus an RBI flyout from Patrick Roche, cut the deficit to six heading into the final frame.
Mudd delivered two quick outs, but was pulled for senior Aidan Harrington. Harrington delivered, pitching a strikeout to the only batter he faced.
In the bottom of the frame, a double from Milner and a two-RBI homer from Kyle Wolff threatened the Cardinal’s once-massive lead. A single from Esteban Garcia kept the momentum going, but Cimini’s flyout left the Eagles with two outs on the board.
Stanford changed pitchers and, despite Garcia stealing second successfully, Adam Magpoc’s flyout to left field ended the game with a loss for the Eagles.
Soares’ immaculate inning retired the top of the Stanford batting order in no time, and the Eagles offense repaid him with three runs in the bottom of the inning.
“[Pitching coach Ryan Forrest] and I – we were actually thinking about Joe Ry[an] in the eighth,” BC baseball head coach Todd Interdonato said. “And then Gavin punched the side in the seventh and we were like ‘I’m not willing to take him out’ – neither is [Forrest].”
Soares pitched a career-high four innings and walked off the mound in the ninth after recording the game’s final out and the win for BC (23–25, 10–16 Atlantic Coast). Kyle Wolff hit a 2-RBI in the eighth and Esteban Garcia floated a RBI single to bloat the lead and beat Stanford (23–20, 8–18 Atlantic Coast) 6–2.
“That fastball and that breaking ball – the curveball that he’s got – is just a real, true downer,” Interdonato said. “When he can combine that riding fastball with that downer, he’s pretty deadly, and that’s what he did today.”
Cimini knocked in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. He hit a sharp line drive foul in the at-bat before grounding a RBI single over the pitcher’s mound and into center field.
“Vince’s swings have been really good lately,” Interdonato said. “They’ve been really compact. He hit that ball really hard to left [field] that the dude made the sliding play on and doubled-off Esteban at second. And then, his next at bat, stung that ball up the middle.”
Wolff was hit by a pitch that advanced Gunnar Johnson to second base before the Cimini single. The hit-by-pitch allowed Johnson to score without a challenge and made Wolff the all-time leader in BC program history for hit-by-pitches.
Patrick Roche turned a hit-by-pitch into BC’s tying run, too, and scored from second base on a ground ball to third baseman Trevor Haskins.
“We talked pre-game about trying to be aggressive and trying to make a play,” Interdonato said. “Last weekend with Miami, we lost two one-run games, close and late. You just feel like you’re close, and the only way you break through is by being aggressive. Pat put it on the field with that, and it worked out.”
BC claimed extra bases on two Stanford wild pitches and tied the program single-season stolen base record on Josiah Ragsdale’s steal of second base in the first inning. BC sits at 113 stolen bases on the season.
“We looked it up maybe three [or] four weeks into the season,” Interdonato said. “I didn’t know if we’d get there. If it helps us win, great. If it doesn’t help us win, then it doesn’t matter.”
BC started the weekend off on a sour note, as it suffered a 2–0 shutout loss on Friday afternoon at the hands of the Cardinal.
The only runs of the game were scored off an RBI single from Haskins in the third inning, and off an RBI double from Charlie Saum in the final frame. The loss came despite a generally consistent pitching performance from BC, as A.J. Colarusso pitched 7.1 innings, allowing just six hits and one earned run while pitching 10 strikeouts.
Ogden gave up the other run, as he gave up a single and a double in the top of the ninth that doubled Stanford’s lead.
BC was ultimately unable to get offensively charged at any point throughout the game, erasing the Eagles’ pitching performance, which yielded 12 total strikeouts.
BC hit the ball just three times through the entire game, notching no extra-base hits, 13 strikeouts, and walking only three times.
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