Boston College Athletics
BC Weekly Diary With The Baseball Team
March 11, 2002 | Baseball
March 11, 2002
An up-and-down week for the Eagles.
Prior to this trip, we set a goal for a undefeated Florida trip, just as we had done last year. We felt that this week could be a great way to rebound from three difficult losses in California. However, things did not work out as we planned. We played six teams in seven games and ended with a 5-2 record. This trip though, resulted in us learning a lot about ourselves as players and more importantly showed us what type of team we can be.
We opened the week with an exhibition game against the Red Sox. This night is always special because for that night we are major league baseball players! During batting practice we converse with the Red Sox players. This gives us the opportunity to meet some of our idols, such as Nomar Garciappara, Manny Ramierez, Rickey Henderson, and Pedro Martinez. After all the pre-game festivities it was game time. We took the field with all intention to win the game and allow this to be a needed boast to our team morale after last weekend. Though we ended up losing the game, 2-1, it was a solid game all around. We out hit the Red Sox 7 to 4, played great defense, and our pitching was outstanding. We definitely put a scare into the Red Sox! It was now time to play the games that count.
Our first opponent was No. 24-ranked Florida International University. Still excited about the way we played against the Red Sox, we came out ready to play. We rode the arm of our workhorse pitcher Mark Sullivan who gave us 7.1 outstanding innings. This was a huge lift to our team as our offense finally broke through and ended up scoring 10 runs for a 10-3 final score. This was a huge win for our program! We had finally beaten a team with national recognition. I feel this game was a direct result of our confidence being lifted with the way we played against the Red Sox. Things were off to a great start!
The next game against Duquesne was a major test to see how we would respond after a huge win. Just as we had done in California we didn't handle success the way we need to. We showed signs of fight throughout the game, but we just flat out did not come to play. Duquesne ended up beating us 8-4. This was a heartbreaking lose especially after the win against FIU. Duquesne is a team we need to beat in order to gain a birth in the NCAA tournament.
Once again we would have another test on our hands in our next three games against Lehigh twice and St. Bonaventure. How would we respond to a devastating lost? These teams are on the same caliber as Duquesne and are teams we need to beat. This is exactly what we did and finally got a winning streak going. We had turned things around after the loss to Duquesne.
Our next game we faced off with Manhattan. We again did not deal with the success of our last three games well. We came out flat and got beat. Now we enter the last game against Yale focused to come home on a winning note. It was a battle from the start and by the middle of the game we found ourselves down 9-3 and in search of something to get us going. We came out determined in the bottom ninth as we loaded the bases with no outs. We put together strong at-bats that resulted in key walks, and huge hits. We battled back and scored seven runs, for a unbelievable 10-9 win. After the game, coach (Pete) Hughes gave the game ball to the whole team. This simple gesture is going to be an important building block for the rest of our season. We need to stick together through all of our challenges as we continue to work towards a successful season.
