Eagles Fall to NC State in ACC Tournament

Tuesday, May 23

Louisvlle, Ky.

3 PM

Boston College

25-27

NC State

34-22

Boston College

NC State

Eagles Fall to NC State in ACC Tournament

May 23, 2017 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF) Photo Gallery Postgame Press Conference (VIDEO)Postgame Quotes (PDF)

BC will finish the season against North Carolina on Wednesday

GAME INFORMATION
Score: NC State 6, Boston College 1
Records: Boston College (25-27) vs. NC State (34-22)
Location: Louisville Slugger Field in Louisville, Ky.

BC HIGHLIGHTS

Junior Jake Palomaki scored the Eagles' only run of the day and he logged two hits on bunt singles.
Sophomore Gian Martellini tallied a base hit up the middle in his first at bat. He has at least one hit in 42 of the 51 games played this season.
Sophomore Jake Alu went 1-for-2 with two walks. He has a hit in 19 of the last 22 games and extended his hit streak to a career-long nine games
Junior Donovan Casey was 1-for-4 with a stolen base. He has reached base safely in the last 13 games and has a hit in the last eight.
Senior Johnny Adams recorded his 10^th double of the season in the ninth. He has reached base safely in the last 13 games.

KEY PLAYS

The Wolfpack scored three in the first to take an early lead.
BC loaded the bases in the sixth with no outs but a double play only pushed across one run and the Eagles stranded runners on first and third.
NC State blasted a three-run home run in the seventh to extend the lead to five.

HOW IT HAPPENED

State started the scoring in the first, loading the bases with three straight singles. Sophomore right-handed starter Jacob Stevens got a strikeout swinging for the first out but Brett Kinneman hit a high chopper back to the mound to plate a run. Will Wilson hit a blooper to right to score two more before Stevens forced a grounder to second to end the inning.
Stevens got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth to keep the Pack at bay. He walked the first two batters before Evan Mendoza tried to lay down a sacrifice. Stevens fielded the bunt and went to third to get the lead runner but he walked the next batter to load the bases. He forced a popup and a fly ball to get out of the jam.
The Eagles scored one in the sixth and chased NC State starter RHP Johnny Piedmonte from the game. Palomaki reached on a bunt single and Casey followed with an infield hit. Senior Michael Strem drew a walk to load the bases and Palomaki crossed the plate on a groundout double play.
Sophomore right-hand reliever John Witkowski gave up a three-run homer to Kinneman with two outs in the seventh to give the Wolfpack the 6-1 lead. After a grounder and strikeout, two Pack batters reached on a base hit up the middle and a walk. It was the first runs allowed since the first inning.
BC loaded the bases in the ninth as junior Mitch Bigras drew a one-out walk and Adams followed with a double to the corner in left field. Freshman Brian Dempsey was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs but a fly ball ended the game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Stevens started his 16^th game of the season, tied for first on BC's single-season list.
The Eagles move to 3-5 in the ACC Tournament, falling in the first-ever postseason meeting with NC State.
The loss to the Pack is the first of the season for the Eagles after they swept the regular-season series. BC has won eight of the last 12 meetings between the two squads but it is 14-23 all-time and 0-2 on neutral territory.
The Eagles did not record an error for the 23^rd time in 2017. The team's .975 fielding percentage is currently fourth all-time in BC record books.
The Eagles' season-long, six-game win streak came to an end.

UP NEXT
The Eagles continue with pool play in the ACC Baseball Championship, taking on No. 2 seed North Carolina at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Regional Sports Network (Full Coverage: http://theacc.co/base17rsn), NESN Plus locally, and ACC Network Extra (http://es.pn/2pDc9NW).