Wang Homer Lifts BC to Beanpot Victory

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BRIGHTON, Mass. – Sophomore third baseman Nick Wang (Newton, Mass.) hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to give No. 11 Boston College a 5-4 win over Harvard and claim the Beanpot Championship at the Harrington Athletics Village on Tuesday night. The win marked the 15^th Beanpot title for the Eagles, who have won back-to-back championships for the sixth time in tournament history.

Boston College (22-9) led 3-0 through three innings after junior first baseman Joe Vetrano (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) and junior second baseman Patrick Roche (Milton, Mass.) hit back-to-back home runs. The Crimson (11-17) answered in the fourth with four runs on three hits and four free passes, but the Eagles’ bullpen limited the damage with an inning-ending double play that came with the bases loaded.

In the sixth, graduate catcher Peter Burns (Reading, Mass.) walked and junior right fielder Travis Honeyman (Massapequa, N.Y.) singled to set the table. The duo moved up on a wild pitch and Burns scored the game-tying run on a RBI-groundout hit to the right side by Roche.

Harvard put together a two-out rally in the ninth as three straight batters reached to load the bases, but BC sophomore right-hander Julian Tonghini (New Canaan, Conn.) got his second strikeout of the inning to leave the bases full. Wang then led off the bottom half and drilled a 2-0 pitch over the fence in left-center.

Tonghini (2-1) got the win in one inning of work. Crimson RHP Callan Fang (2-3) took the loss.

DETAILS
Score: No. 11 Boston College 5, Harvard 4
Records: Boston College 22-9, Harvard 11-17
Stadium: Harrington Athletics Village
Attendance: 631

BC HIGHLIGHTS
·       The Eagles built on a 1-0 lead with back-to-back homers in the third from Vetrano and Roche.
·       Burns and Honeyman set the table in the sixth to produce the game-tying run on a Roche RBI-groundout.
·       Wang led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off home run to left-center.

GAME NOTES
·       BC claimed its 15^th Beanpot Championship all-time and back-to-back title.
·       BC has won back-to-back Beanpots on six occasions; most recently three in a row from 2015-2017.
·       BC is 43-18-1 all-time in the Beanpot.
·       BC won its third game by walk-off this season.
·       Honeyman stole two bases to push his season total to nine and career total to 14.
·       Leary hit his fifth double of the season and 17^th of his career.
·       Roche hit his third home run of the season.
·       Vetrano hit his ninth home run of the season and 22^nd of his career.
·       Vetrano and Roche became the first Eagles to hit back-to-back home runs since Vetrano and Parker Landwehr against Pittsburgh (4/10/22).
·       Wang hit his sixth home run of the season; the first walk-off home run by an Eagle since Dante Baldelli against Virginia Tech (3/24/18).