Entering the weekend, Boston College baseball was riding a three-game win streak, with two wins coming over Pepperdine last weekend and one over Bucknell on Friday.
But just a year ago, the Eagles were in a near opposite position. After winning its first game of the 2022 season, BC went 1–4 over its next five games.
This year, the Eagles (5–1) continued their hot streak, defeating Rutgers (2–4) 6–4 on Sunday and Canisius (2–2) 3–0 on Saturday. Throughout this five-game stretch, BC’s offense found its form, averaging nine runs per game.
In Sunday’s contest against the Scarlet Knights, Joe Vetrano opened the scoring in the top of the first inning with a sacrifice double play to put the Eagles up 1–0. Rutgers responded quickly with a run in the bottom of the first and second inning to take a 2–1 lead.
Despite facing a deficit, BC did not crack under pressure like it did in its first game of the season. The Eagles responded with two runs of their own in the top of the third inning with RBI singles from Patrick Roche and Nick Wang to retake a 3–2 lead. Vetrano added his second RBI of the game with a single through second base to give BC a two-run cushion.
Still, Rutgers would be silenced. The Scarlet Knights tacked on two runs with a homer in the fifth inning and a Jordan Sweeney double that scored a run in the sixth inning. Despite its offensive success, Rutgers’ pitching—which has plagued it to start the season—let it down once again.
Roche provided the final lift for BC with a double that drove in the Eagles’ fifth run in the top of the sixth inning and a sacrifice fly ball that scored their sixth and final run in the eighth inning.
Although BC’s pitching was shaky at times, Eric Schroeder secured his first win of the season with two earned runs through four innings, and Andrew Roman allowed two hits and no runs in the final three innings.
On Saturday, the Eagles’ pitching corps carried them in their matchup against Canisius, as BC won its first game of the weekend with a 3–0 shutout victory.
Right-handed pitcher Chris Flynn started the game and earned his second win of the season, notching 10 strikeouts in six innings throughout the contest. The Golden Griffins managed only three hits against Flynn.
The game remained scoreless until the sixth inning when Cameron Leary blasted a home run to center field to give BC a 1–0 lead. The home run marked Leary’s second of the year.
Barry Walsh followed with a single to the right side, sending Wang to third base. Adonys Guzman then grounded into a double play, but it allowed Wang to score BC’s second run of the game.
The final blow was Vetrono’s solo home run in the top of the seventh inning, giving BC a three-run cushion that was enough to secure the win.
Relief pitcher Julian Tonghini replaced Flynn in the seventh inning and continued BC’s shutout performance. The right-hander allowed zero hits and zero runs and struck out three batters in the victory to earn the save.
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