Clemson Sweeps BC In Weekend Series
April 19, 2011
By Greg Joyce
On Friday afternoon, Clemson (22-13, 9-9 ACC) came into Chestnut Hill to begin a three game series against the Boston College (13-20, 6-11) baseball team. 28 hours later, the Tigers left Shea Field with a three-game sweep under their belts. The Eagles suffered defeats in all three games, by scores of 9-2, 7-5, and 9-2.
“In terms of the series, it puts us in a little bit of a tough spot,” head coach Mike Gambino said. “Getting swept in this league is tough.”
The series was supposed to be played over the course of three days, but the heavy rain predicted for Saturday night threatened to cause poor field conditions for Sunday’s game. Due to the forecast, the two teams played a doubleheader on Saturday.
In the final game of the series on Saturday, the Eagles turned to their bullpen to pitch them through the game. They got off to a rough start, as Matt Alvarez allowed three runs in the top of the first inning, and that ended up being all the offense the Tigers would need in the game, en route to a 9-2 victory. BC committed four errors in the game.
“I thought we got a little bit sloppy,” Gambino said. “You’re not going to beat many teams in the ACC when you make four errors.”
Five other BC pitchers combined to pitch the final eight innings, but they were unable to stop the bleeding. The Eagles made it as close as 3-2 in the bottom of the second inning. It started when Mike Sudol knocked in Kyle Prohovich on a RBI triple off the wall that nearly went out of the park. Marc Perdios sent Sudol home with a ground out that made it a one-run game.
But that was as close as the home team would get in the game, as Clemson’s Jonathan Meyer pitched seven strong innings only allowing five hits, and the Tiger offense continued to knock around the BC bullpen.
In the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, BC was led by Garret Smith’s career-high four-for-four performance at the plate, but it wasn’t enough, as the Eagles dropped the 7-5 decision.
“We had our opportunities late and scrapped and scrapped and couldn’t get the hits,” Gambino said. “The game came down to they got the hit, we didn’t. For the two or three opportunities we each had, they got it done, and we didn’t.”
Starting pitcher John Leonard was strong for BC through the first six innings, only allowing three runs. He ran into trouble in the seventh inning though, when he let up three runs off six straight hits by the Tigers.
The Eagles had taken the early lead in the first inning when Smith drove in Brad Zapenas with the first of his three RBI doubles in the game.
After Clemson tied it at one in the third, the Eagles responded with two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Smith knocked in Tom Bourdon with another RBI double, and Zapenas later came in to score on a fielder’s choice, giving BC the 3-1 lead.
The Tigers made it 7-3 in the rocky seventh inning for Leonard. A comeback attempt by the Eagles began in the bottom of the eighth. Smith knocked in his third run of the day when he hit another double, scoring Matt McGovern. Anthony Melchionda then singled to make it first and third, which was followed by a RBI single by Andrew Lawrence to cut the lead to 7-5. But the rally stalled after that, as the next three batters were shut down to end the inning.
On Friday afternoon, the Eagles again depended on multiple arms out of the bullpen to combine for nine innings of pitching. Lawrence threw the first two frames for BC, letting up two solo home runs to give Clemson the 2-0 lead early.
In the bottom of the third, the Eagles started to chip away at the lead. McGovern and Smith began the inning back-to-back singles, followed by a Melchionda walk. Lawrence then hit a fielder’s choice to bring in a run and put runners on the corner with one out. But BC could not manage any more runs, as Sudol grounded into a double header to end any scoring threats.
BC pushed another run across the plate in the fifth inning. Melchionda drove in McGovern on a RBI double to tie the game a two. But from then on, it was all Clemson.
The Tigers scored seven straight runs without any BC response, giving them the 9-2 lead which stood as the final score of the game.
The bright spot on the weekend for BC was two of its batters continuing their hot streaks. Smith went six-for-12 in the series, while McGovern finished five-for-14. He has been on a tear lately, and now has 21 his in his last 39 at bats.
“I don’t even want to talk about it cause of how well he’s swinging the bat,” Gambino said. “Honestly, he’s not going to hit .500, I know that. But this is not a fluke streak he’s on. The kid’s a really good hitter. It’s a really simple, compact swing. The kid’s a really good player and a really good hitter.”
