Eagles Walked Off at No. 23 Clemson in series finale to Tigers

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CLEMSON, S.C. – The Boston College baseball team was walked off by No. 23 Clemson in a 7-6 loss in front of 4,130 at Doug Kingsmore Park on Sunday afternoon. The Eagles are 5-9 on the season and 0-3 in the ACC, while the Tigers moved to 12-3 and 3-0.

A leadoff-walk led to Clemson’s game-tying run in the eighth and game-winning run in the ninth. First baseman Davis Sharpe drew the leadoff walk in the ninth and pinch-runner Sam Hall stole second. He was then sacrificed to third and scored on a softly hit groundball to short with the infield drawn in to complete the weekend sweep.

BC overcame a one-run deficit after the first and second innings with two runs scored in both the second and third innings. Senior first baseman Jack Cunningham (South Riding, Va.) forced the first tie of the game at 1-1 with a leadoff home run to right in the second. An inning later, back-to-back doubles sophomore catcher Peter Burns (Reading, Mass.) and senior center fielder Dante Baldelli (Cumberland, R.I.) made it 2-1 Eagles.

Clemson punched back in the home half of the second with a two-out, two-run double ripped past third off the bat of second baseman Elijah Henderson. Boston College Eagles answered once more in the top of the third with a two-out, two-run single by freshman second baseman Luke Gold (Ballston, N.Y.).

The Tigers went to their bullpen in the third to avoid RHP Spencer Strider facing Cunningham for a second time. Despite lefty reliever Mat Clark striking out Cunningham, a double steal by sophomore third baseman Cody Morissette (Exeter, N.H.) and senior left fielder Joe Suozzi (Glen Cove, N.Y.) put two runners in scoring position.

Strider (0-0) lasted just 2.1 innings and allowed four runs on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts. All three BC starting pitchers outlasted their CU counterpart on the weekend as sophomore right-hander Emmet Sheehan (Darien, Conn.) went four-plus. He surrendered four runs on seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts and was lifted with two on and nobody out in the fifth.

Redshirt-junior lefty Joey Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) limited the Tigers to a run in the fifth on a bases-loaded double play. Walsh was charged with a run of his own in the seventh on a sacrifice-fly and ultimately gave up three hits and walked three with one strikeout.

Junior lefty Will Hesslink (Shelburne, Vt.) walked the only batter he faced in the eighth and was immediately lifted. Right fielder Dylan Brewer, who drew the walk, scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly hit by third baseman Bryar Hawkins.

Right-hander Carson Spiers (3-0) got the win in 1.2-scoreless innings. He allowed two BC singles in the top of the ninth but kept the Eagles off the board. Freshman RHP Jon Campbell Jr. (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) took the loss in 0.1 innings. Campbell dropped to 1-2 on the season.

DETAILS
Score: No. 23 Clemson 7, Boston College 6
Records: Boston College 5-9, 0-3; Clemson 12-3, 3-0
Location: Doug Kingsmore Stadium (Clemson, S.C.)
Attendance: 4,130

BC Highlights

Cunningham tied the game in the top of the second with a leadoff home run to right.
Back-to-back two-out doubles by Burns and Baldelli made it 2-1 BC in the middle of the second.
The fourth lead change of the game came when Gold produced two runs on a two-out single to left in the top of the third.
With the bases loaded and nobody out in the fifth, BC added to its lead with a Gold sacrifice-fly and a Jimenez RBI-single through the left side.
Clemson cut the BC lead to one in the seventh, but only one as a double to left did not score the runner from first as Suozzi fired to Gold, who relayed home to Burns at the plate to tag out the runner on a bang-bang play.

GAME NOTES

The Eagles trail the all-time series vs. the Tigers, 10-36, and are 5-19 all-time at Clemson; having lost 10 in a row at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
BC is 0-6 against ranked opponents this season.
BC is 1-5 when the opponent scores in the first inning and 1-4 when the opponent scores first.
Baldelli tallied his fifth multi-hit game of the season and 25^th of his career.
Cunningham hit his second home run of the season and 11^th of his career.
Cunningham notched his eighth multi-hit game of the season and 34^th of his career.
Gold matched a career-high with three RBI.
Morissette extended his career-best hit streak to 10 games and set a career-best reached base streak at 14.
Morissette, who totaled a career-high four hits, collected his seventh multi-hit game of the season and 29^th of his career.
Morissette hit his third double of the series, sixth of the season and 26^th of his career.
Suozzi recorded his eighth multi-hit game of the season and 23^rd of his career.
Suozzi registered the first two-stolen base game of his career.