Following last weekend’s series against Virginia, Boston College baseball (21-25, 8-19) couldn’t right the ship this week. They lost to a sub-.500 UMass Lowell team and were swept by Louisville, which extended BC’s losing streak to six games.
The UMass Lowell River Hawks rolled into Chestnut Hill on Tuesday with a 19-22 record and held the Eagles offense down just enough to force BC back to a losing record. The River Hawks scored four runs in the first inning on two two-run home runs. The Eagles cut the deficit in half in the second inning on a single by Sam McNulty, but UMass Lowell scored another run in the third to take a 5-2 lead.
Birdball scored once in the fifth but the River Hawks did the same in the sixth and the eighth innings and led the ballgame 7-3. But Boston College rallied back in the bottom of the eighth inning. Vince Cimini drove in a run on a single to right and Nick Wang scored on a groundout by Adam Magpoc. With runners on first and third, the Eagles engineered a double steal and Magpoc scored from third, making the score 7-6. Unfortunately, the Eagles couldn’t complete the comeback and lost by just a run.
BC started its second-to-last ACC series of the year on Thursday against the 26-18 (10-11) Louisville Cardinals. Pitching was again a problem for the Eagles, and BC allowed 13 hits and 12 runs to the Cardinals in a 12-7 loss.
Louisville scored five runs in the first, three runs in the sixth, and four runs in the eighth. The Eagles on the other hand managed to score all seven of their runs in the seventh inning. The highlight of the game for BC came in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded, two outs, and Cameron Leary at the dish. The lefty turned on an 0-1 pitch and sent it over the right field fence for a grand slam, putting the Eagles within one, 8-7. But BC pitching allowed four runs in the next inning and the game ended in a 12-7 score.
Friday’s game was much different than Thursday’s offensive showcase, but the end result was similar: Boston College lost 3-0. Despite strong pitching performances from John West and Tyler Judd, only three Eagles batters had hits and the offense was never a factor. On the bright side, West went seven innings, striking out four and giving up just two runs. Mudd threw the final two innings and allowed just one hit and one run.
Another pitching battle ensued in Saturday’s series finale, but the Eagles offense failed to support their pitchers and the team lost their sixth game in a row by a score of 5-3. BC actually took the first lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Nick Wang, but that lead didn’t last long.
The Cardinals broke through with two runs in seventh and three in the eighth and led BC 5-1 entering the ninth inning. BC scratched across two runs in the frame but couldn’t finish the comeback and lost 5-3. The Eagles were held to just four hits in the entire game. BC’s starter Michael Farinelli ended up taking the loss, although he only gave up two runs in 6.1 innings and struck out three.
Boston College baseball is now 21-25 with an 8-19 ACC record with just one conference series remaining and the Eagles hold a two game lead over Notre Dame for sixth place in the Atlantic Division. Birdball will return to action next Saturday as they begin a two game series against Maryland.