Vetrano, West Lead BC to Doubleheader Sweep of the Irish

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BOSTON – The No. 21 Boston College baseball team swept its day-night doubleheader against Notre Dame on Saturday, punctuating the twin bill with an 8-4 victory over the Irish in the 11th Annual ALS Awareness Game at Fenway Park.

The story of game two was junior right-hander John West (Shrewsbury, Mass.), who delivered another dominant starting performance for BC. Throwing a career-high seven innings, West allowed just three runs on four hits, striking out four and walking two to earn the win on his career night. West threw just 75 pitches over seven frames of work, including 65 percent for strikes.

Junior first baseman Joe Vetrano (Shrub Oak, N.Y.), who homered earlier in the day as BC picked up a 7-2 win on campus, torched a two-run homer 407 feet into dead center in his first at-bat. Notre Dame got one back in the fourth, but Boston College responded with a six-run sixth inning, punctuated by Vetrano’s third home run of the day, and second of the game, this time sending it 116 miles per hour off the bat, 407 feet into the right-field seats.

The Eagles opened the scoring in game one, as junior right fielder Patrick Roche (Milton, Mass.) plated the first run with a RBI single to the opposite field, putting BC up 1-0 after a long at-bat. The Irish got the run back with a solo home run from Brady Gumpf in the second inning, but the game would not be tied for long.

In the bottom of the third, graduate catcher Peter Burns (Reading, Mass.) singled and Roche got aboard after a hit-by-pitch. With two on and nobody out, Vetrano launched a three-run, 395-foot home run, sending it 112 MPH off the bat to put Boston College up 4-1. Freshman left fielder Cohl Mercado (Ocean View, N.J.) extended the lead later that inning on an RBI single to bring home Vince Cimini. Leading 6-2 in the bottom of the eighth, senior Daniel Baruch (Cranston, R.I.), who entered as a defensive replacement in right, added insurance on a solo home run for his second long ball of the season.

Number-one starter, graduate RHP Chris Flynn (Naugatuck, Conn.) got the nod in the early game and delivered a gem, throwing seven innings of two-run ball, walking none, striking out six, and allowing just six scattered hits. Fellow graduate RHP Andrew Roman (Monson, Mass.) finished off the Irish over the final two frames, fanning one over two shutout innings to force the rubber match in game three.

DETAILS
Score: No. 21 Boston College 7-8, Notre Dame 2-4
Records: Boston College 34-17, 16-14 ACC; Notre Dame 30-22, 15-15 ACC
Stadium: Harrington Athletics Village (Game One), Fenway Park (Game Two)
Attendance: 403 (Game One), TBA (Game Two)

BC GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

Walsh and Burns set the table in the first with a walk and single before Roche drove in the first run of the day on a base hit through the right side.
Two on, nobody out, Vetrano broke a 1-1 tie in the third with a three-run home run to left. Mercado added a two-out, RBI-single to complete a four-run inning.

BC GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

Burns singled and Vetrano homered to straightaway center to get the Eagles on the board in the bottom of the first.
Leading 2-1 in the sixth, Vetrano drilled his second home run of the night; a three-run shot down the right-field line.
The Eagles totaled six runs in the sixth as Mercado added a two-run single and scored on a wild pitch.
John West pitched a career-high seven innings in his game-two start, earning the win.
Joe Vetrano went 2-4 with two HR and five RBI

GAME NOTES

BC matched its program-best record in ACC play at 16-14.
BC’s 34-17 overall record matches the best all-time record through 51 games, first set in 2005.
Flynn made his fifth start of six innings or more and second of seven innings; matching his season-high vs. Florida State (3/18).
Vetrano hit his 16th and 17th home runs of the season to push his career total to 30 and move him into fourth and a tie for third in single-season and career home runs, respectively.
Vetrano became the first Eagle to homer at Fenway Park since Joe Cronin in the 2015 Beanpot Championship game.
Vetrano homered in both ends of a doubleheader for the second time this season, having previously done so against Clemson.
Vetrano homered twice in a game for the fourth time in his career.
West threw a career-high seven innings with four strikeouts.

UP NEXT
Boston College learns its ACC Championship on Saturday. The schedule comes out on Sunday with games beginning as early as Tuesday next week from the Durham Bulls Athletics Park in North Carolina.