Boston College Baseball: Sheehan Strikes Out 15 in Series Opener

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PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Junior right-hander Emmet Sheehan (Darien, Conn.) struck out 15 batters in seven innings, but the Boston College baseball team fell to No. 16 Pittsburgh, 3-1, at Charles L. Cost Field on Friday evening. The loss dropped the Eagles to 19-24 overall and 8-20 in the ACC, while the Panthers clinched a spot in the ACC Championship and lifted their record to 21-12 and 15-10.

Sheehan struck out the side in the first and didn’t allow a hit until the fifth when he stranded two runners on base. Working with his first lead of the game, he ran into his first bit of trouble in the sixth. A leadoff-hit batter came in to score the tying run on a double by right fielder Nico Popa, who came around with the go-ahead run on a double by left fielder Ron Washington Jr.

Pitt added an insurance run against Sheehan (5-4) in the seventh; despite three more strikeouts for the BC starter. A one-out hit-by-pitch was followed by two hits, including a RBI-double by third baseman Sky Duff.

Right-hander Mitch Myers (4-4) outdueled Sheehan; going 7.1 innings with just one run on four hits and three walks to go with four strikeouts. The Eagles got their one run off the Pitt starter in the fifth as a wild pitch scored graduate first baseman Jack Cunningham (South Riding, Va.), who doubled. Myers stranded the bases loaded in the inning.

The Panthers got an additional insurance run against the BC bullpen on a solo home run by second baseman David Yanni in the eighth. The Eagles put the tying runs on base in the ninth with two walks and a single by junior center fielder Sal Frelick (Lexington, Mass.), but Jordan McCrum induced a game-ending double play for his fifth save of the season.

Boston College managed just five hits on the night, getting the leadoff man on base once. The Eagles were 1-for-7 with a runner in scoring position and 0-for-3 with the bases loaded as all three opportunities came with two outs.

DETAILS
Score: No. 16 Pittsburgh 3, Boston College 1
Records: Pittsburgh 21-12, 15-10; Boston College 19-24, 8-20
Stadium: Charles L. Cost Field
Attendance: 250

BC Highlights

Sheehan struck out the side in the first on 11 pitches.
Cunningham hit a one-out double in the fifth and scored from third on a wild pitch.
After back-to-back singles in the fifth, Sheehan stranded both runners with a pop-up and strikeout.

Game Notes

Cunningham hit his 10^th double of the season and 34^th of his career.
Frelick singled in the ninth to keep his 14-game hit streak alive.
Morissette hit his eighth double of the season and 34^th of his career.
Sheehan’s scoreless-innings streak ended at 18 in the sixth.
Sheehan struck out a career-high; the most by an Eagle on record (2005-present) and most since Dan Metzdorf’s 13 vs. Virginia Tech (2018).

UP NEXT
Boston College and Pittsburgh wrap up the series with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Junior right-hander Mason Pelio (San Diego, Calif.) goes to the hill in the opener for the Eagles.