BC BASEBALL Clinches Spot in Beanpot Championship

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BC BASEBALL Clinches Spot in Beanpot Championship
Casey homers in 2-for-4 day

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GAME INFORMATION
Score: Boston College 5, Northeastern 1
Records: Boston College (9-17) at Northeastern (11-15)
Location: Friedman Diamond in Brookline, Mass.

BC HIGHLIGHTS

Junior Donovan Casey went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double. He has logged a team-leading 11 multi-hit games this season.

Sophomore right-handed starter Jack Nelson threw a career-high five innings without allowing a run. He struck out three, walked one and allowed just one single.

Sophomore Jake Alu extended his career-long hit streak to six games on a 2-for-4 day.

Sophomore lefty Zach Stromberg pitched three shutout innings of relief and struck out a career-high five. He walked one batter and gave up just one hit.

KEY PLAYS

With the Eagles up, 1-0, senior Chris Balogh stepped to the plate as pinch hitter with the bases loaded and doubled to bring in two more run.

The Eagles got two insurance runs in the ninth to take a five-run lead and Nelson and Stromberg combined for eight scoreless innings with just two hits and two walks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Casey started the game with a home run over the left-field fence to get the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

The Eagles added two more in the seventh off reliever RHP Tom Githens. With one down, Alu legged out an infield single and stole second to move into scoring position. Freshman Brian Dempsey was hit by a pitch and the Huskies went to the bullpen for righty Kyle Murphy. He walked freshman Jack Cunningham to load the bases for Balogh, who doubled to right to score two. Casey walked to reload the bases but Murphy got back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the jam.

BC added two more in the ninth with RHP Tyler Brown on the hill. With one down, sophomore Dominic Hardaway singled up the middle and then stole second and third. Senior Johnny Adams hits a two-out double down the left-field line to plate Hardaway. Senior Michael Strem hit a bloop single to right to bring in Adams to give the Eagles a five-run lead before a groundout ending the inning.

The Huskies got on the board in the ninth with sophomore RHP John Witkowski pitching. He allowed a lead-off walk to pinch hitter Jake Farrell. Farrell moved to second on a grounder to short and pinch hitter Zach Perry plated the lone NU run on a single up the middle. Perry was the second out on a chopper to short off the bat of Max Burt. As Burt tried to steal second with Pat Madigan at the plate, Madigan was called for batter interference as sophomore catcher Gian Martellini tried to throw down, ending the game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Balogh is 4-for-9 as a pinch hitter in 2017. His double was his first extra-base hit of the season.

The Eagles improve to 57-35 all-time against Northeastern, including going 2-0 this season and winning the last six meetings.

Hardaway’s hit was the first of the season for the sophomore, who returned for a hand injury earlier after missing the first 17 games. The stolen bases were also his first of 2017.

For the fourth time this season, the BC pitching staff allowed three hits or less.

BC is 3-1 when hitting a home run in a game.

Freshman Jack Cunningham‘s career-long, five-game hit streak came to an end but he extended his on-base streak to six games after drawing a walk.

BEANPOT FACTS

The Eagles are now 36-16-1 all-time in the Beanpot and have won the last three games.

They are 15-6 against the Huskies in the Boston-based tournament.

BC is now 18-8 in first-round games and 8-1 against the Huskies in semifinal games.

BC will play in the Beanpot title game for the 21^st time since the inception of the tournament in 1990. The Eagles have won a tournament-high 11 titles, including the last two and three (2011, 2015, 2016) under seventh-year head coach Mike Gambino.

Boston College will face Harvard on Wednesday, April 19 in the championship game. The consolation game between Northeastern and Massachusetts will start at 3 p.m. and the championship game will start 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Tickets are $10 for admission to both games and proceeds benefit the Pete Frates #3 Fund.

UP NEXT
The Eagles host No. 4 North Carolina in a three-game, conference series beginning on Friday, April 7 at 2:30 p.m. The games will be the first true home contests for the Eagles.

-BC-