BC BASEBALL: BC Falls in Rubber Match

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Boston College baseball team held a one-run lead going into the eighth inning, but allowed two to score and fell, 5-4, in the rubber match to Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon at Frank Eck Stadium.

Freshman Chris Galland (Sudbury, Mass.) broke Boston College’s single-season stolen base record with his 28^th swipe of the season. He is 28-for-29 on the stolen-base path and has reached base safely in the last 18 games, tying the longest streak of the season for the Eagles (15-28, 6-18 ACC).

Senior right-handed starter Brian Rapp threw seven innings and allowed just four hits, three runs and three walks with three strikeouts. He stranded three in scoring position after reaching with less than two outs.

The Fighting Irish (20-24, 11-14 ACC) scored the game-winning run the only time they had multiple runners on base.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Notre Dame 5, Boston College 4
Records: Boston College (15-28, 6-18 ACC) at Notre Dame (20-24, 11-14 ACC)
Location: Jake Kline Field at Frank Eck Stadium in South Bend, Ind.
Series: Notre Dame wins the series, 2-1

BC HIGHLIGHTS

• Freshman Chris Galland broke Boston College’s single-season steals record with his 28^th in the third. He leads the ACC and is third in the nation. He also logged an RBI single to extend his on-base streak to 18 games, tying for the longest of the season for any Eagle.
• The Eagles recorded two steals in the game to bring the season total to 83, which is tied for third on the school’s team record list.
• Sophomore Dante Baldelli was 1-for-3 with a run, walk, hit by pitch and he stole his 17^th base of the season, tying for 10^th on the Eagles’ single-season record list.
• Senior right-hander Brian Rapp went seven innings in his 11^th start of the season. He allowed just four hits, three runs, and three walks and struck out three. He allowed just a run in the first and two in the fourth, stranding three in scoring position after reaching with less than two outs.
• Sophomore Brian Dempsey drew three walks and recorded two sacrifice hits in the game. With 12 on the season, he is tied second in BC single-season record books and his 19 career sac hits are tied for seventh all-time. He has reached base in 38 of the Eagles’ 43 games this season.
• Senior Jake Palomaki tallied one hit and drew one walk. He has reached base in 39 of the Eagles’ 43 games this season, including the last nine, and has a hit in 30 of contests.
• Sophomore Joe Suozzi tied a career high with three hits on the day, including a double. He has reached base safely in the last eight games and has 12 hits, 10 runs and four RBIs in that span.

KEY PLAYS

• The Eagles had a one-run lead in the eighth, but the Irish scored two to take the lead on one hit, two walks, a hit batter and an error.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Irish got on the board in the bottom of the first when Jake Johnson drew a one-out walk and Nick Podkul doubled off the wall in left to drive him in.
• The Eagles took the lead with a three-run third. Baldelli led off with a double to center and Palomaki moved him over with a deep fly ball to right field. Galland knocked one to right center to tie the game at one. After stealing second, Galland scored on an RBI single by sophomore Jack Cunningham. Junior Gian Martellini doubled off the wall in center and senior Anthony Maselli was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two down, Dempsey drew a two-out walk to bring in Cunningham and give BC a 3-1 lead.
• Notre Dame tied the game at three in the fourth on a two-run, two-out home run by Eric Gilgenbach.
• BC retook the lead the following inning. Suozzi led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Dempsey and scored on a sac fly by junior Jake Alu.
• Notre Dame took the lead in the eighth with Rapp out of the game. Junior LHP Zach Stromberg started with a strikeout but hit the next batter. Classmate RHP Thomas Lane walked two to load the based and with redshirt freshman LHP Joey Walsh on the mound, Niko Kavadas knocked one to left. Galland made a diving attempt, but couldn’t come up with the ball, allowing the tying run in. Gilgenbach grounded one to short, which was bobbled by Palomaki, allowing the go-ahead run to score. Walsh forced a grounder to third and Alu stepped on the bag and threw to first for the 53 double play to end the inning.
• The Eagles put the tying run on in the ninth as Dempsey drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a tapper back to the mound, but a fly ball to right ended the game.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

• Notre Dame improved to 30-14 in the all-time series against the Eagles.
• Lane pitched in all three games, allowed two hits, two runs and two walks with three strikeouts in the series.
• The Eagles left 14 men on base in the contest, tying a season high.

NEXT UP
The Eagles host Holy Cross on Tuesday, May 1 at 5:30 p.m. at the Harrington Athletics Village at Brighton Fields.