Leary Grand Slam Secures Weekend Series

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 17 Boston College baseball rallied late, beginning with a grand slam from junior left fielder Cameron Leary (Bethpage, N.Y.), in a 9-4, series-clinching win over No. 16 North Carolina at Boshamer Stadium on Saturday night. The win marked the first series win for the Eagles over the Tar Heels as they improved to 26-12 overall and 11-9 in the ACC.

Trailing 2-1, Leary homered off the fourth UNC pitcher of the inning to straight away center field for his 10^th home runs of the season. BC tacked on four more runs in the ninth with two-run doubles by junior right fielder Travis Honeyman (Massapequa, N.Y.) and sophomore shortstop Sam McNulty (Cambridge, Mass.).

Graduate catcher Peter Burns (Reading, Mass.) led off the game with a double and scored on a sacrifice-fly by junior first baseman Joe Vetrano (Shrub Oak, N.Y.). UNC right-hander Connor Bovair held the BC bats in check for the remainder of his 7.1-inning outing, but hit a batter in the eighth that opened the door for the Eagles to take the lead as the Tar Heels brought in three relievers behind him against three batters that all reached.

The Tar Heels (25-14, 9-9) challenged BC graduate right-hander Chris Flynn (Naugatuck, Conn.) immediately by loading the bases with nobody out. Flynn escaped the jam unscathed, but UNC tied the game an inning later on a one-out walk with the bases loaded. Flynn turned in four innings of one run ball on four hits and four walks with three strikeouts.

Junior lefty Charlie Coon (Duxbury, Mass.) got the win in two-third of an inning of relief in the seventh; stranding an inherited runner in the process as he moved to 1-0. Junior RHP Joey Ryan (Norwood, Mass.) entered with BC up 5-2 in the eighth and got the save, his second, with two runs against on four hits and a walk.

DETAILS
Score: No. 17 Boston College 9, No. 16 North Carolina 4
Records: Boston College 26-12, 11-9 ACC; North Carolina 25-14, 9-9 ACC
Stadium: Boshamer Stadium
Attendance: 2,991

BC HIGHLIGHTS
·       Burns hit a leadoff-double in the first and scored on a Vetrano sacrifice-fly.
·       The Tar Heels loaded the bases with no outs in the home half of the first before Flynn retired three straight batters to leave them loaded.
·       In the bottom of the fourth, Flynn made an acrobatic stop off the mound on a groundball and threw from his seat to first for the out. After a single, Burns ended the inning by throwing out a base stealer at second.
·       The Eagles loaded the bases with one out in the eighth and Leary hit a grand slam to center off the fourth pitcher of the inning.
·       Cimini and Burns set the table in the ninth on free passes and scored on a double into the left field corner by Honeyman. McNulty added a two-run double to make it a four-run inning.

GAME NOTES
·       BC is 3-11 when trailing after seven this season.
·       Burns hit his sixth double of the season and 15^th of his career.
·       Honeyman hit his 13^th double of the season and 22^nd of his career.
·       Leary hit his 10^th home run of the season and 28^th of his career, which ties him for fourth most in BC history with Brian Durkin (1999-02).
·       Leary hit the first grand slam by and Eagle since Honeyman at Virginia Tech (3/11).
·       Leary became the first Eagle to homer in back-to-back games since Wang vs. Harvard (4/11) and Dartmouth (4/12).
·       Leary notched his ninth multi-hit game of the season and 26^th of his career.
·       Roche recorded his 11^th multi-hit game of the season and 16^th of his career.
·       Ryan registered his second save of the season and fourth of his career.
·       Vetrano posted his 12^th multi-hit game of the season and 31^st of his career.