BC Knocks Off Clemson in Extras, get season-high four HRs in 7-5 win

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DURHAM, N.C. – The BC baseball team rallied for two runs in the 11thinning to defeat Clemson, 7-5, in its ACC Championship opener at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The 12-seed Eagles hit a season-high four home runs, moved to 30-26 on the season and will play top-seeded Louisville Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Senior designated hitter Gian Martellini (Johnston, R.I.) got the top of the 11thstarted with a single to right field. He was lifted for freshman pinch-runner Lucas Stalman (Bedford Hills, N.Y.), who was sacrificed into scoring position and scored the go-ahead run on a sharp grounder to first off the bat of freshman catcher Peter Burns (Reading, Mass.).

Freshman second baseman Cody Morissette (Exeter, N.H.) led the BC lineup with two home runs in a 3-for-6 game. Trailing by a run after two, Morissette stepped to the plate with a runner aboard and two gone. He quickly put BC in front with a two-run shot to right for his third home run of the season. An inning later, the Eagles added to their lead with a solo home run by junior right fielder Joe Suozzi (Glen Cove, N.Y.).

Boston College went up top for the third inning in a row as Morissette bested his previous effort with a solo home run to right that left the stadium. Junior shortstop Brian Dempsey (Potomac, Md.) added some insurance for the Eagles with a solo home run over the wall in left to put the game at a 5-2 score in the eighth.

The Eagle bullpen surrendered the three-run lead in the bottom of the eighth on two hits, two walks, and a hit batter. Redshirt-sophomore lefty Joey Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) entered with a two-run lead, the bases loaded and two outs. Clemson (33-24) tied the game against him with a two-run single by second baseman Jordan Greene.

Walsh (5-6) stayed on to force extras with a perfect ninth, including two strikeouts. He pitched through all six outs in extra innings to earn the win in a 3.1-inning appearance.

Freshman right-hander Mason Pelio (San Diego, Calif.) found himself in trouble early; walking the first two batters of the game. He got out of the jam with a fly ball double play and an inning later limited the Tigers (33-24) to an unearned run on a leadoff single and an error as he got a double play in the infield. Pelio went six innings, allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits and four walks with three strikeouts.

DETAILS
Score: Boston College 7, Clemson 5
Records: Boston College (30-26), Clemson (33-24)
Location: Durham Bulls Athletic Park (Durham, N.C.)
Attendance: TBA

QUOTEABLES
Mike Gambino, Head Coach:
“I was proud of the boys. Heck of a ball game. That’s what you expect to see when you come to the ACC Tournament — two teams going after each other. Clemson’s a really good team. We saw really good arms. Mason [Pelio] threw the ball great and I was just proud of the way this lineup kept coming and kept coming. These boys are fun to be around right now.”

BC HIGHLIGHTS

  • Morissette blasted a 1-2 pitch into the right-field seats to flip a one-run deficit into a 2-1 BC lead in the third.
  • Suozzi lifted the Eagle lead to 3-1 in the fourth with a solo shot off the top of the wall behind the fence in deep left-center to the right of the “Blue Monster”.
  • Morissette hit his second home run of the game in the fifth with a solo shot that left the stadium to deep right field.
  • Pelio struck out back-to-back batters in a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth.
  • Dempsey pushed the BC lead to three runs with a solo home run in the eighth.
  • In the 11th, Martellini led off with a base hit and was Stalman, who was sacrificed to second, was called on to pinch run. Burns grounded a ball sharply to first that got through to plate Stalman with the go-ahead run.
  • Baldelli increased the Eagles’ lead to two in the 11th with a base hit through the right side.

GAME NOTES

  • Baldelli recorded his eighth multi-hit game of the season and third in the last five games.
  • Dempsey hit his third home run of the season for his 20th multi-hit game of the season. BC is 14-6 in Dempsey’s multi-hit games.
  • Morissette hit his third home run of the season for his 21st multi-hit game of the season.
  • Morissette became the first Eagle to homer at the ACC Championship since Mickey Wiswall vs. Florida State (5/28/10).
  • Morissette added his fourth home run of the season for his first multi-home run game.
  • Morissette became the first Eagle to homer twice in a game since Jake Palomaki vs. Notre Dame (5/19/17).
  • Pelio made his seventh start of six innings or more this season.
  • Suozzi hit his third home run of the season for his ninth multi-hit game of the season.
  • BC is 4-6 all-time in the ACC Championship.
  • BC is 11-21 when the opponent scores first.
  • BC hit a season-high four home runs after previously hitting three long balls at North Carolina (4/20).
  • BC is 1-2 in extra innings this season and last won in extras against Wake Forest (5/7/16).

UP NEXT
BC takes on No. 7 and top-seeded Louisville tomorrow at 11 a.m. to wrap up play in Pool A. Senior lefty Dan Metzdorf (Burlington, Mass.) gets the ball for the Eagles.

Team Statistics

PITCHING
WJoey Walsh (5-6)
L: SPIERS (2-5)

Boston College LogoBoston College

BATTING
HR: Cody Morissette 2; Brian Dempsey 1; Joe Suozzi 1
RBI: Cody Morissette 3; Brian Dempsey 1; Joe Suozzi 1; Dante Baldelli 1
SH: Joe Suozzi 1
BASERUNNING:
RUNS: Cody Morissette 2; Brian Dempsey 1; Lucas Stalman 1; Joe Suozzi 1; Chris Galland 1; Dante Baldelli 1

Clemson LogoClemson

BATTING:
2B: DAVIDSON 1
RBI: GREEN 2; WILKIE 1; HALL 1
SF: WILKIE 1
BASERUNNING:
RUNS: GREEN 1; WILKIE 1; FAIREY 1; HALL 1; GREENE 1
HBP: MAJKOWSKI 3

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