BC Bird Ball: Eagles Hold on to One-Run Win Over Miami

Read Time:3 Minute, 22 Second

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The BC baseball team hit four home runs in its ACC opener and held on for a 12-11 win over Miami at Mark Light Field on Friday night. The Eagles moved their overall record to 6-6, while the Hurricanes fell to 9-4.

BC led 12-6 heading into the last of the ninth. Miami had three hits and a run in before a pitching change and the first out of the inning was recorded. Three straight hits cut the lead to two and the Eagles traded a run for an out on a sacrifice-fly that trimmed the lead to one with two away and put the tying run on third. Graduate righty Henry Leake (Burbank, Calif.) then shut the door on a strikeout.

Sophomore right fielder Cameron Leary (Bethpage, N.Y.) and junior second baseman Luke Gold (Ballston, N.Y.) each homered twice. Gold gave BC an early three-run lead with a three-run blast in the top of the first. Leary homered in back-to-back at-bats in the second and fourth innings before Gold launched his second of the night in the sixth.

Leary finished the game 4-for-4 with two doubles, five RBI, three runs, and a walk. Gold went 4-for-5 with a double, four RBI, and three runs.

Senior right-handed pitcher Joe Mancini (Fairfield, Conn.) outlasted Miami lefty, Carson Palmquist. Mancini went 4.2 innings and allowed five runs on seven hits and five walks with five strikeouts. He stranded six base runners and saw the final two runners he left on base stranded when sophomore RHP John West (Shrewsbury, Mass.) entered in the fifth.

The Eagles used four pitchers, all of whom gave up two or more runs. West (1-1) claimed the win with two runs on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings.

Palmquist (3-1), who had allowed just two runs in his first three starts, was knocked around for 10 runs, nine earned, on nine hits, and four walks with just two strikeouts.

DETAILS
Scores: Boston College 12, Miami 11
Records: Boston College 6-6, 1-0; Miami 9-4, 0-1
Stadium: Mark Light Field
Attendance: 3,010

BC HIGHLIGHTS
·       Gold staked BC to a three-run lead with a home run down the left-field line in the first.
·       McNulty hit a leadoff single in the second and came all the way around to score after the ball was kicked in right field.
·       Leary lifted a three-run home run to left to make it 7-2 in the second inning.
·       Walsh went up and brought back a potential three-run home run in center field to end a threat and preserve a three-run lead in the third.
·       In the fourth, Leary hit his second home run of the night; this one off the scoreboard in left field.
·       Honeyman beat out a two-out, infield single to short in the fifth and scored on a Leary double.

GAME NOTES
·       BC is 6-11 all-time in ACC openers.
·       The win marked only the third for BC in Coral Gables in 20 tries and the first since game two of the 2016 Coral Gables Super Regional.
·       The Eagles have scored 10 or more runs in five games this season and four of the last five games.
·       Gold hit two home runs for the second time in his career. He has three home runs on the season and 13 in his career.
·       Leary homered twice in a game for the third time in his career. He has six home runs on the season and eight in his career.
·       Leary recorded a career-high four hits in his third multi-hit game of the season and seventh of his career.
·       Joe Vetrano’s season-long hit-streak ended at 11 games.

UP NEXT
Game two of the series is Saturday at 7 p.m. on ACC Network. Freshman right-hander Sean Hard (Mahwah, N.J.) goes to the mound for the Eagles.