Virginia baseball head coach Brian O’Connor stuck with starting pitcher Jay Woolfolk through the first inning of Wednesday night’s ACC Tournament game between Boston College and the Cavaliers.
Based on how the game played out, some might say that was a mistake.
Josiah Ragsdale led off the first inning by reaching first on a catcher’s interference call, and things only went downhill from there for No. 6-seed Virginia.
Ragsdale went on to steal second and Patrick Roche walked immediately after. Then, both stole bases to put runners on second and third for BC with no outs on the board. A two-RBI double from Jack Toomey scored both of them, giving the Eagles their first lead of the night.
That was just the beginning. The Eagles had scored five runs by the time the inning was over, thanks to an RBI single from Gavin Johnson and a two-RBI double from Adam Magpoc. BC was rolling.
The Cavaliers (32–18, 16–11 Atlantic Coast) hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning but found themselves playing an unsuccessful game of catch-up for the remaining eight innings, allowing the Eagles (28–28, 11–19) to walk away with a 12–8 win and advance to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
Woolfolk finally came out of the game in the top of the second, when the Eagles continued capitalizing on his struggles. He finished the game with seven runs—three unearned—allowed in 1.1 IP.
But his replacement, Bryson Moore, was put into a rough situation with two runners on base and just one out. Sam McNulty and Roche stole bases in unison shortly after Moore took the mound, and Johnson walked then advanced on a wild pitch to score both of them.
Like it had in the first, Virginia responded in the bottom of the second. But once again, the Cavaliers had just dug too deep of a hole to begin with.
For all of Virginia’s pitching struggles, it’s not as if the Eagles were playing a picture-perfect game on the mound. Brady Miller walked four batters in the bottom of the second alone and gave up consecutive RBI singles. Luckily for BC, a double play early in the frame limited the damage and sent the game into the third with the Eagles leading 7–4.
Moore’s pitching and Virginia’s defense faltered in the top of the fourth, when Roche hit a double, stole third, then scored as Toomey reached on a Cavaliers throwing error.
After Moore walked Johnson, Virginia opted to bring out its third pitcher in four innings.
Esteban Garcia cracked an RBI single to score Johnson, and Virginia changed pitchers once again. Alex Markus came in and was ultimately able to end the inning with the Eagles up 9–4.
While it seemed that the Eagles were in control, that was not true for long—the bottom of the sixth swept BC’s comfortable lead away.
Kyle Kipp was pitching at the start of the frame. When he walked a batter to load the bases after a dropped pop fly and a single, BC head coach Todd Interdonato pulled him, sending in John Kwiatkowski.
Kwiatkowski was put in a tough situation, and it showed. He gave up four runs including a 3 RBI home run into left field that cut BC’s lead to just one run.
It was the top of the eighth that defined the game. Like it had in the early frames, pitching struggles and defensive errors plagued the Cavaliers. A hit-by-pitch, a throwing error, and a wild pitch all helped BC work its way up to a 12–8 lead.
After that, the Eagles’ defense went to work, led by pitcher Cesar Gonzalez.
The freshman right-hander closed out the game cleanly, allowing three hits, no runs, no walks, and six strikeouts in three innings of work, sending his team to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
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