Boston College Splits with NJIT as Postseason Resume Takes a Hit

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On Sunday afternoon, doubleheader baseball was on tap at Harrington Village in Newton, MA, as the Boston College Eagles hosted the NJIT Highlanders of the America East. The twin bill proved to be a “good news, bad news” tale for both programs.

For the Highlanders, playing non-conference baseball at this stage of the season wasn’t ideal, forcing them to spend the day scoreboard-watching their conference rivals while they played. For the Eagles, there was little to gain from winning, but losing either game would deal a serious blow to their RPI, which sat at #25 when the day began.

Game 1: Highlanders Hold On

The opener featured a matchup between Brady Miller for the Eagles and NJIT ace Josh Willits. While the Highlanders had not been a power-hitting team this spring—collecting only 20 home runs as a team heading into the weekend—they made Miller pay with the long ball.

Rowan O’Connor got things started in the first, taking Miller deep for a 368-foot solo shot to give NJIT a 1-0 lead. They extended that lead in the second when Cole Campbell launched a 412-foot bomb, his third of the year. Later in the inning, an RBI single from Sheehan O’Connor scored Dillon Cam to make it 3-0.

Boston College chipped away in the third on a sacrifice fly from Nick Wang, scoring Ben Williams. In the fourth, the offenses truly woke up. Kyle Wolff crushed a 417-foot solo homer to pull BC within one, and Colin Larson doubled home Williams to tie the game at 3-3. Larson would later score on a Julio Solier groundout to give BC their first lead at 4-3.

However, NJIT responded by knocking Miller out in the fifth with a five-run outburst. RBI singles from Campbell and Brody Levin ended Miller’s day (4.1 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 5 SO). He was replaced by Cesar Gonzalez, who was greeted by Dillon Cam with a massive three-run home run to left, his second of the year, making it 8-4.

BC mounted a late charge against Willits, with Ben Williams hitting a two-run ground-rule double to cut the lead to 8-6. Tate Riordan entered in relief for NJIT, allowing one run in the sixth on a Luke Gallo RBI single, but he locked things down from there. Riordan earned the win (5-2), throwing 4.1 innings of one-run ball. Gonzalez took the loss (5-1) despite a strong relief effort. The 8-7 victory marked NJIT’s second win over a ranked opponent this season.

Game 2: Eagles Bounce Back

In the nightcap, Boston College turned to ace AJ Colarusso. Though he only went three innings on 32 pitches, he showed why he anchors the staff, allowing just two hits and no runs while striking out four.

The Eagles’ offense gave him early support, tagging NJIT starter Brandon Peterson for two runs in the first. Solier walked, stole second, and eventually scored on a Kyle Wolff base hit. Wolff then scored himself on an Esteban Garcia double to the gap for a 2-0 lead.

The Highlanders fought back in the fourth against Tyler Mudd. Rowan O’Connor hit his second home run of the day (his 7th of the year), followed two batters later by a Connor Rippo solo blast to tie the game at 2-2. NJIT briefly took the lead in the fifth on another O’Connor RBI single, his fifth hit of the doubleheader.

BC finally put the game away with a three-run fifth inning. A leadoff walk to Danny Surowiec and a Soldier RBI single tied the game at 3-3. Nick Wang then doubled to left-center to score Solier, giving BC a 4-3 lead and chasing Peterson. Gunnar Johnson greeted reliever Anthony Anzaldi with an RBI double to push the lead to 5-3.

The Eagles added an insurance run in the sixth to secure the 6-3 final. Tyler Mudd earned the win (4-3), while Gavin Scares pitched a clean ninth to register his fifth save of the season. Peterson took the loss (2-3).

The Road Ahead

Despite the split, Boston College (36-17, 17-10) saw their RPI drop from 25 to 29. They will look to bolster their postseason resume when they wrap up the regular season at home against #3 Georgia Tech starting Thursday.

NJIT (16-28, 6-15) now heads to Baltimore to finish their season against UMBC, hoping their scoreboard-watching results fall in their favor.