BC Baseball Returns to Bethune-Cookman for Three

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston College baseball is back on the road this weekend for a three-game series at Bethune-Cookman. The Eagles return to Daytona Beach, Fla. for the second time in three seasons as the series gets underway Friday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

BC is 3-0 to start the season for the first time since a 7-0 start to the 2016 season. The Eagles received votes in this week’s NCBWA Top-30 poll after sweeping Jackson State; Boston College’s first sweep since 2017 vs. Notre Dame and first sweep on the road since 2010 at NC State. Senior LHP Dan Metzdorf and junior RHP Matt Gill each pitched seven innings of two-hit ball with no earned runs on opening weekend. The BC offense averaged 9.0 runs per game with freshman Sal Frelick hitting a team-leading .545 (6-for-11) with six RBI and a home run. He was successful on five stolen base attempts; leading an Eagles team that was 16-for-16 on the bases. Sophomore left fielder Chris Galland swiped three bags, scored three runs, drove in three and hit .286 (4-for-14).

Bethune-Cookman won its opener vs. Florida Gulf Coast behind strong, but has lost three in a row, including a midweek match-up vs. Florida International, to enter the weekend at 1-3. Anthony Maldonado provided five innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts last Friday. Jordan Pinto got the win with two scoreless innings and Brandon Wilkes put up two shutout frames for the save. Shortstop Joseph Fernando has hit a team-best .308 (4-for-13) through four games with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored. As a team, the Wildcats are only hitting .192 and averaging 4.0 runs per game, while opponents have hit .333 and scored at a rate of 11.8 runs per contest.

The Wildcats lead the all-time series over the Eagles, 4-3, including a 3-2 record in Daytona Beach. The first match-up between the two sides was an 8-2 Bethune-Cookman win in Winter Park, Fla. Each of the last five contests has been played at the Wildcats home park. Boston College won both games in 2011 as shortstop Brad Zapenas combined to go 5-for-10 with three runs and an RBI.

Coming off its 17th MEAC championship and NCAA Regional appearance in 21 years, Bethune-Cookman hosted BC on opening weekend in 2017. The Wildcats, who went on to win an 18th conference title in 22 years by season’s end, swept the series with three one-run wins. The Eagles led the opener 1-0 heading to the ninth and had a chance to add to its lead, but the drawn-in Bethune-Cookman infield prevented BC from scoring. In the bottom half, the Wildcats tied the game on an RBI-triple by Demetrius Sims and walked off a batter later on Nate Sterjevski’s RBI-single. Bethune-Cookman clinched the series with a 6-5 Saturday win and finished off the sweep, 3-2, behind a 10-strikeout performance from Anthony Maldonado as the bullpen held off BC’s ninth-inning rally.

Dan Metzdorf became the first opening day starter to pitch seven innings or more with no earned runs since Mike King vs. NIU (2016). Sal Frelick was the first BC freshman to homer in his debut since Gian Martellini in that same game vs. NIU (2016). Going further back in the record books, BC started two freshmen (Frelick and Cody Morissette) for the first time on opening day since the Eagles put Chris Shaw, Logan Hoggarth and Joe Cronin in the lineup in 2013.

Boston College is 23-24 in season openers on record and 4-5 under head coach Mike Gambino. The Eagles opened 2019 with a 7-3 win over Jackson State on the road. Sal Frelick went 3-for-4 with his first career home run and two stolen bases. Dan Metzdorf earned the win in seven innings of two-hit ball with one unearned run.