BC: Rapp Strikes out 10 but Eagles Fall to Army

Box Score (PDF) | Photo Gallery | Postgame Interview (VIDEO)

CARY, N.C. – The BC baseball team fell, 11-1, to Army West Point on Sunday afternoon at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, N.C. Senior right-handed starter Brian Rapp tied a career high with 10 strikeouts, but the Eagles (4-5) allowed a six-run seventh to the Black Knights (6-4), which changed the outcome of the game.

With the Eagles trailing by one heading to the bottom of the seventh, three BC pitchers issued two intentional walks and two walks and gave up three hits to allow Army to go up by seven. The Black Knights tacked on three more in the eighth to walk away with the win.

Six different Eagles logged hits while senior Mitch Bigras recorded the only BC RBI. Classmate Jake Palomaki stole his 43^rd career base, tying for fifth all-time in the Boston College record books.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Army West Point 11, Boston College 1
Records: Boston College (4-5) vs. Army (6-4)
All-Time Series: Army leads, 2-0
Location: USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, N.C.

BC HIGHLIGHTS

• Senior RHP Brian Rapp tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts over 5.1 innings. He allowed five hits, two runs and walked three.
• Senior Mitch Bigras logged the Eagles’ only RBI of the day.
• Sophomore Jack Cunningham extended his hit streak to career-long four games on a 1-for-2 day with one walk.
• Senior Jake Palomaki was 1-for-3 with his 124^th career walk and 43^rd career stolen base. He leads BC in the record books for walks and is tied for fifth for swipes. He has reached base 293 times in his career, now ninth all-time at Boston College.
• Freshman Chris Galland was 1-for-3 with a run scored and stolen base. He extended his career-long hit streak to five games and in his four career starts, he is 8-for-14 with eight runs, five RBIs, and four stolen bases.

KEY PLAY

• In a one-run game, Army scored six in the seventh to take a commanding 8-1 lead off three different BC pitchers.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Army struck broke the scoreless tie, scoring two in the fourth. A walk and a double down the third-base line put two in scoring position before Rapp got the first out swinging. Trey Martin knocked one to short to allow the first run in. Anthony Giachin followed with a single up the middle to give Army a 2-0 lead.
• The Eagles got one back the following frame. With one out, Galland hit a fielder’s choice but stole second to move into scoring position. Bigras singled to right to plate Galland to cut the lead to one.
• BC threatened in the sixth with runners on second and third with one out after Palomaki walked and stole second and junior Jake Alu‘s hit one to left that got lost in the sun. Army starter RHP Sam Messina got a strikeout and groundout to get out of the jam.
• The Black Knights broke the game open in the seventh, scoring six runs to take a commanding, 8-1 lead. Junior left-handed reliever Zach Stromberg started the inning with a strikeout, but after allowing a base hit to Jacob Hurtubise, an errant throw to first got away, allowing a runner on third. Drake Titus singled to right off senior LHP Carmen Giampetruzzi to give Army a 3-1 lead. The Eagles intentionally walked two to keep a double play intact but two more walks plated two more. Redshirt freshman LHP Joey Walsh got a shallow fly ball for the second out before giving up a single up the middle to score two. Junior catcher Gian Martellini ended the inning with his second caught stealing.
• Army added to its lead in the eighth, scoring three more runs. A single, walk and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out. John McKenna and Matt Hudgins hit back-to-back singles to make it 10-1. Junior RHP Jack Nelson came into the game and got a fly ball for the second out but a single up the middle scored another Black Knights run. Nelson ended the inning with a strikeout.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

• Army improves to 2-0 against BC in the all-time series. The only other meeting came in 2009 in the Austin Regional.
• Sophomore Jake Goodreau tallied his first hit of the season with a pinch-hit single in the ninth.

• Sophomore Brian Dempsey‘s four-game hit streak came to an end in the game. It also marked the first time he did not reach base safely in 2018, ending an eight-game streak.
• Galland’s five-game hit streak ties for the longest of the season for the Eagles. Martellini was on a five-game streak entering the game but did not tally a hit to extend it.

UP NEXT
The Eagles return to action on Tuesday, March 6 with a 4 p.m. game at UNC Asheville. The team will face former BC pitching coach Scott Friedholm (2011-14), who is now leading the Bulldogs.