BRIGHTON, Mass. (March 22, 2023) – For a while on Wednesday afternoon, it looked like it was time for the Sacred Heart University baseball team to pick up its first-ever win against an ACC program. The Pios hammered out 12 hits to plate seven runs in the first four innings, and led No. 17/20 nationally ranked Boston College, 7-3, through five innings.
Then, the bats went quiet. Following a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, Sacred Heart (9-8) did not record another hit until the top of the ninth inning. Meanwhile, BC (15-4) put together a four-spot in the sixth to tie the game, and eventually walked things off in the last of the ninth. Vince Cimini provided the game-winning single, as the Eagles rallied for an 8-7 victory.
Things got going in a hurry at Pellagrini Diamond on Wednesday, as both teams tallied three in the first. In the top half, an error and a pair of bunt singles loaded the bases for Robert Farruggio (Fairfield, Conn.), who got SHU on the board before the first out was recorded, with a sacrifice fly to left. After a hit batter re-filled the bases, Zack Kovalchik (Archbald, Pa.) yanked a two-run single through the left side to make it a 3-0 game.
The Pios would leave a pair in scoring position though, as a sign of some costly missed opportunities to come. In all, SHU left 12 men on base in the game, including eight in scoring position.
BC responded to tie the game in the bottom of the first. A pair of singles and a wild pitch set the stage for Patrick Roche and Cameron Leahy, who provided an RBI single and a sacrifice fly, respectively. Later in the frame, with two outs and the bases loaded, Adonys Guzman pulled the second pitch through the left side for a game-tying single. Right-hander Nick Kane (West Hartford, Conn.) stranded the bases full to keep the game tied.
Sacred Heart used two in the second and two more in the fourth to stake out what looked to be a promising 7-3 lead. In the second, the Pios again loaded the bases with nobody out, and plated runs on sacrifice flies by Ryan Donnelly (Fairfield, Conn.) and Tim McGuire (Portsmouth, R.I.). In the fourth, two singles and a sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third for Farruggio, who made it a three-RBI day by pulling a line drive over the head of the third baseman for a two-run single.
Meanwhile, Kane worked into and out of trouble in the second and worked around a one-out error in the third. Right-hander David Aufiero (Glen Head, N.Y.) faced the minimum over his two innings of work to get the Pios through five, but then fellow right-hander Jacob Wiberg (Exeter, N.H.) ran into trouble in the sixth.
A one-out single by Owen DeShazo cut the lead to 7-4 and brought the tying run to the plate with two men on. Wiberg struck out Cohl Mercado on five pitches for the second out, and then struck out Joe Vetrano as well, but the ball got away from catcher Joe Cilea (Colts Neck, N.J.), to load the bases and prolong the inning.
Roche made the miscue hurt, as he followed with the game's lone extra-base hit, a two-run double down the left-field line to pull the Eagles within a run. A wild pitch to the ensuing batter brought home the tying run.
The game stayed stuck on 7-7 through the eighth, but then BC struck for the win in the last of the ninth. Working against first-year right-hander Mitch Hawkins (Southbury, Conn.) – who had retired six of seven batters while throwing scoreless seventh and eighth frames – the Eagles got the leadoff man on, as Roche knocked a single back through the middle. Roche stole second and took third on a passed ball, at which point head coach Pat Egan issued an intentional walk to put runners at the corners with one out, and then turned to right-hander Tyler Briggs (Franklin, Conn.) out of the bullpen.
Briggs locked into an eight-pitch battle with Cimini with the game hanging in the balance. Cimini got ahead in the count 2-1, then fouled off four consecutive pitches, before driving the next pitch in the air and deep enough to center field. At a minimum, it was a game-winning sacrifice fly off the bat, but the ball cleared the pulled-in SHU outfield and fell for a single, and BC escaped with the 8-7 win.
Hawkins (2-1) suffered the loss, despite not surrendering an earned run. He allowed two hits over 2.1 innings, walked one, struck out two and was charged with the unearned run in the ninth. Right-hander Andrew Roman (1-0) threw a scoreless top of the ninth for BC, allowed one hit, and picked up the win.
SHU returns home this weekend for a three-game NEC series against Maryland Eastern Shore. With wet weather forecasted for Saturday, changes are expected to the currently-published schedule.
