Birdball played well and finished 2-1 out in the desert
Boston College baseball wrapped up its first weekend of play on Sunday. They participated in the MLB Desert Invitational in Arizona, playing Ohio State, Kansas State, and Cal, finishing with a 2-1 record.
On Friday, they beat the Ohio State Buckeyes by a score of 9-2 behind three long balls and strong pitching from John West and Tyler Mudd. West started the game and threw four innings, giving up two runs and striking out six batters. Mudd entered in relief of him and went five scoreless, striking out five and earning the win.
With the Eagles trailing in the second inning, John Collins doubled to left field, scoring Vince Cimini and Cameron Leary to give BC its first lead of the 2024 season. BC scored again in the second on a solo home run from Nick Wang. Ohio State scored in the third, making the score 3-2, but wouldn’t score again.
In the top of the sixth, Vince Cimini homered to left and Chris Markovich scored on a throwing error. Parker Landwehr hit BC’s third solo homer of the game in the eighth. With two runners on, Cohl Mercado singled to score Cimini, Kyle Wolff hit a sac fly, and Mercado scored on an error, making the score 9-2.
Cimini and Collins both had two hits, with Cimini also scoring twice and Collins collecting two RBI. Left fielder Cameron Leary walked three times and Barry Walsh and Nick Wang both walked twice.
On Saturday, the Eagles faced off against No. 24 Kansas State, dropping a close one 6-4. A.J. Colarusso got the starting nod for BC and pitched well. He went four innings, giving up two runs on three hits and striking out eight batters.
But the Eagle offense was stymied for most of the game and trailed 5-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning. After singles by Nick Wang and Kyle Wolff and a walk by Cameron Leary, the bases were juiced for Vince Cimini. He belted a pitch to left center field for a grand slam, already his second homer of the season. But BC didn’t score again and lost to the Wildcats.
BC’s final game of the weekend came against the Cal Golden Bears, who were 2-0 in the MLB Desert Invitational. It was a high-scoring affair that ended in a 12-10 Boston College win.
The Eagles started fast, scoring five runs in the first two innings. In the top of the first, Barry Walsh and Nick Wang walked before Kyle Wolff singled to bring Walsh home. A sac bunt by Cameron Leary put runners on second and third for Vince Cimini, who scored Wang on a ground out. Parker Landwehr singled next to drive in BC’s third and final run of the inning. In the second inning, Walsh was hit by a pitch and Wolff hit a home run to left field, putting the Eagles up 5-0.
Cal scored twice in the fifth inning thanks to a home run by Caleb Lomavita, but the Eagle offense didn’t take that sitting down. Cam Caraher led off the sixth with a walk and advanced to third on a single by John Collins. Caraher then scored on a sacrifice bunt by Sam McNulty. Walsh also laid down a bunt to move both runners up 90 feet and Wang drove home Collins with a sac fly to left. Wolff finished off BC’s scoring with a double that allowed McNulty to score from third.
With Boston College leading 7-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning, disaster struck. The Golden Bears scored five runs on six hits, one hit-by-pitch, one walk, and one balk, leaving BC clinging to a narrow 8-7 lead.
Luckily, Birdball answered back, scoring four runs in the seventh inning. Landwehr singled and Caraher was plunked to give the Eagles runners on first and second. With two outs, Walsh singled to drive in both runners and Wang hit his second home run of the season to give BC a 12-7 lead.
Cal scored three more runs of their own in the bottom of the inning on a bases loaded walk and two sacrifice flies, but the Bears didn’t any closer and BC walked away with their second win of the young season.
Both Parker Landwehr and Kyle Wolff had three hits and Wolff also collected four RBI. Nick Wang had two hits, two walks, and three RBI and Barry Walsh had his first two hits of the year, while also driving in two runs.
Birdball starter Michael Farinelli pitched four scoreless innings and struck out seven. Jordan Fisee entered the game in the seventh and recorded the last nine outs of the game to earn the win.
All things told, Boston College baseball is off to a good start in 2024. They’ll be back in action starting next Friday, February 23, when they’ll travel to Arlington, Texas to play the 16th-ranked Texas Longhorns in a three-game series.