Boston College Athletics
Baseball Kicks Off Season at no. 10 Auburn
February 20, 2004 | Baseball
Feb. 20, 2004
This Weekend Boston College kicks off the 2004 season, visiting the 10th-ranked Tigers of Auburn for a three-game series, Feb. 20-22, in Auburn, Ala.
Preseason The 2004 baseball squad has been decorated more leading up to this season than in any other year of the modern era. Baseball America ranked Boston College 38th in its preseason poll. The Eagles cracked the magazine's top 100 in the 2001 preseason poll, ranking 100th but did not place within the top 50 in the 2002 or 2003 preseason polls (Baseball America did not list top-100 preseason lists in those years). The Eagles received the second-highest ranking by a BIG EAST school in the 2004 preseason poll. The only other sub-30 rankings that the Boston College program has experienced occurred in the 1960s when Collegiate Baseball listed the teams: 1961 - 3rd, 1963 - 30th, 1966 - 25th and 1967 - 6th. More recently, BC received votes in The Sports Weekly Feb. 10 poll before enjoying a six-week run (Feb. 17-Mar. 24) receiving votes in the NCBWA.
Light on Lambert Junior Chris Lambert earned Baseball America's Preseason All-America Second Team honors; the Manchester, N.H. native was one of two BIG EAST players mentioned on any of the three teams and the only BIG EAST hurler recognized. The right-hander had already been named to the 2004 Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball preseason All-American Third Team, marking the second consecutive year that he has received preseason All-America honors.
BIG EAST BEST by Baseball America Baseball America picked the Boston College baseball team to finish second in the BIG EAST. The Eagles were picked to be one of two squads to represent the BIG EAST (seventh in the conference power rankings) at the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Chris Lambert earned recognition in several individual categories. He was named the conference's Preseason Pitcher of the Year and top prospect. In addition to a spot on Baseball America's all-conference team, the preseason Second-Team All-American was also voted the conference hurler who possesses the Best Fastball and the Best Breaking Ball. In 2003, Lambert posted an 8-2 record for a 2.71 earned run average in 79.1 innings of work. For the second consecutive year, Baseball America named Drew Locke to the preseason all-conference team and as the league's Best Pure Hitter. Locke did not disappoint last year, hitting .354 as a sophomore in 2003 with 20 extra-base hits for a .540 slugging percentage. Junior Kevin Shepard landed among the league's top-10 prospects, rounding out the list at 10th. In 2003, Shepard pitched to the country?s 38th best ERA of 2.44 in 70.0 innings. Conference Coaches' Count Boston College junior Chris Lambert earned BIG EAST Preseason Pitcher of the Year, and the Eagles were picked to finish third (79 points) in the 11-team conference, according to a vote by the league's coaches. BC collected its second straight third-place preseason vote.
Summer Loving A host of Boston College players engaged in summer league play around the country, earning awards for their efforts. Chris Lambert, who played for the Chatham Athletics in the Cape Cod Baseball League, finishing with a record of 3-3, 56 strikeouts and 2.12 ERA; won the league's John Claffey New England Top Prospect Award. Josh DiScipio received New England Collegiate Baseball League accolades in the form of the MVP prize at the All-Star Game. As a member of the Concord Quarry Dogs, he was named to the NECBL First Team for the second consecutive summer. DiScipio finished the season, hitting .316 in 38 games played. Jason Delaney, an outfielder for the Chatham Athletics of the CCBL, earned the team's Most Improved Player Award after he hit over .250 (12-for-47) in the second half of the season.
Spring in Boston, Summer on the Cape Five Eagles played in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League this past summer. In addition to the aforementioned Chatham Athletics teammates Chris Lambert and Jason Delaney, Ryan Morgan was a member of the Western Division champion Bourne Braves where he hit .233 for the Braves with 15 RBI (second on the team) and three home runs (tied the team best). Both Kevin Shepard and Drew Locke played for the Wareham Gatemen. Shepard amassed a 2-1 record in 31.1 innings pitched for a 1.72 ERA, striking out 25 while surrendering only 20 hits. Locke batted .262 with four runs scored and two runs driven in. He hit in eight of 14 games played, highlighted by three multi-hit games.
2003 Eagles The 2003 Eagle squad finished with the program's second-highest win total (33 with 21 losses), while completing a 13-11 record in the BIG EAST, landing them fifth overall. Four Eagles qualified for conference postseason honors including Drew Locke, who picked up regional distinction and Chris Lambert, who earned District I Player-of-the-Year honors. Senior Josh DiScipio and left-hander, Kevin Shepard, received third-team All-BIG EAST accolades. BC returns seven of eight positional starters and all but one starting pitcher, a staff of hurlers which featured the nation's 23rd lowest ERA (3.66) in 2003.
In Good Company As a team and as individuals, you can find BC among the best of the nation in 2003. TEAM No. Category 23 Earned Run Average (3.66, 449.7 IP) 31 Double Plays Per Game (1.02 per game, 55)
INDIVIDUALS No. Player Category 38 Kevin Shepard Earned Run Average (2.44, 70.0 IP ) 59 Chris Lambert Earned Run Average (2.71, 79.7 IP ) 73 Matt O'Donnell Earned Run Average (2.82, 67.0 IP ) 61 Ryan Leahy Toughest to Strikeout (13.4 at bats)
Coach Hughes Now in his sixth season as head coach of the Eagles, Pete Hughes has elevated the Boston College baseball program to unprecedented heights. Prior to Hughes' arrival, BC averaged 13 wins a season over 35 years. In the past five seasons under Hughes, the Eagles have averaged 30 wins per year, culminating into a BC school victory standard of 35 in 2000. Since Hughes took over in 1999, the victory totals are not the only aspect of BC's program to rise, the Eagles' final RPI improved from 166 in 1998 to 79 at the end of Hughes' inaugural season (1999). Since the initial surge, the RPI's have levelled off well below 100 in the past four seasons: 2000-69th; 2001-88th; 2002-73rd; 2003-81st. Coach Hughes is a two-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year (2000 and 2002) and was also awarded the Division 1 Northeast Regional Coach of the Year in 2000. The success of the 2003 squad is the latest example of Hughes' managerial wizardry. The Eagles finished with the program's second-highest win total (33-21), while completing a 13-11 record in the BIG EAST. Four Eagles qualified for conference postseason accolades, including Drew Locke, who picked up regional distinction and Chris Lambert, who earned District I Player-of-the-Year distinction. In 2002, the Eagles posted 30 wins - second most in school history - and entered the final weekend of the regular season with a shot at the BIG EAST regular season championship. For the second time in three years, Hughes was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year, and pitcher Chris Lambert became the first pitcher in conference history to earn both the BIG EAST Rookie and Pitcher of the Year awards. The Eagles finished with 29 wins in 2001 and while that team did not make the BIG EAST tournament, it did feature five players named by the conference to the first, second or third teams. Hughes outwitted the sophomore jinx in his second year here at BC (2000). Included in his list of accomplishments is BIG EAST, New England and ABCA/Diamond Division I Northeast Region Coach of the Year after guiding the Eagles to a school-record 35-20 mark and its second-ever appearance in the conference tournament, in which the Eagles finished third. The only other time an Eagles' squad made it to the 17-year old BIG EAST tournament was 1991. The 2000 squad shattered the previous school record for wins, set in 1999 during Hughes' inaugural season with Boston College. During the 2000 season, Hughes tallied his 100th career coaching victory with a two-game sweep of Vermont on April 12. In such a short time, Hughes' presence has greatly impacted the Boston College program. He guided his teams to back-to-back all-time single-season win improvements (nine) in his first two seasons (17-23-1 in 1998 to 26-21-1 in 1999 and 35-20 in 2000)
HEAD COACHING RECORD Year School Record Pct. 1997 Trinity 19-19 .500 1998 Trinity 33-11* # .750 1999 Boston College 26-21-1# .552 2000 Boston College 35-20 # .636 2001 Boston College 29-22 .569 2002 Boston College 30-25 .545 2003 Boston College 33-21 .574 Totals (Six seasons) 205-139-1 .598
*Regular season SCAC champions # Established a school record for victories. PROJECTED STARTERS (last season in a nutshell)
Jason Delaney, Jr., LF Hit .283 with 19 of his 49 hits going for extra bases with 32 RBI that ranked second on the squad ...Hit safely in 29 games, 12 of which were multi-hit efforts ...Was named BIG EAST Co-Player of the Week on April 29 and Northeast Regional Player of the Week by College Baseball Insider after going 14-for-22 (.636) with two home runs, seven RBI as the Eagles went 5-1 and won a Beanpot Championship ...In that span, had back-to-back four-hit games (the final one of which saw him hit for the cycle against Seton Hall (4/27).
Josh DiScipio, Sr., 2B Named to the BIG EAST Third Team ...Started and played 52 games ...Batted .317 with 63 hits in 199 at bats, knocking in 20 runs and topped the team with 63 hits (tied for ninth in BC's Record Books) ...Was second among regular starters in batting average and stolen bases (13) ...Hit safely in 42 of 52 games played ...In 17 games, had two or more hits with three hits in each of four contests (St. Bonaventure, Villanova, Virginia Tech, Seton Hall) ...Batted .344 in conference competition with 25 percent of his hits (8 of 32) going for extra bases; hit safely in 22 of 24 conference games, tabbing a hit in the final 20 games vs. 2003 BIG EAST opponents ...Strung together a 24-game hitting streak from April 3 - May 11 when he batted .396 (38-for-96) with 19 runs scored ...Part of the BC double-play combination that ranked 31st nationally, averaging 1.02 double plays per game.
Mike Flynn, Jr., RF Started 35 of 43 games played ...Batted .270 (34-for-126) with 22 runs scored and 15 runs driven in ...Hit safely in 23 games, highlighted by nine multiple-hit games ...Twice, he powered three hits in a game: Hartford , a 3-for-4 effort (3/29) and Rhode Island, a 3-for-5 performance (4/25) ... Knocked in two runs versus Valparaiso (3/8) and Seton Hall (4/27).
Garrett Greer, Sr., C Started 42 of 47 games played ...Went 29-for-117 (.248) with 22 runs scored and 20 RBI. Hit safely in 22 games, including seven multi-hit games. Both of his home runs occurred in conference action: St. John's (5/10) and West Virginia (5/17) ...Four times he drove in two runs: St. Bonaventure (3/8), CCSU (3/27), Pittsburgh (5/4) and WVU (5/17) ...Against West Virginia (5/16), powered a triple ...As a catcher, he threw out 27 of 73 runners attempting to steal (37%) ...Rated a Top Newcomer in the BIG EAST by Baseball America, after transferring from Georgia State University.
Chris Lambert , Jr., RHP (game 3) Lambert earned many postseason awards last season, including: ABCA All-America Third Team, ABCA Northeast Region First Team pitcher, NCBWA District I Player of the Year, ECAC All Star and BIG EAST First Team ...Posted an 8-2 record and a 2.71 earned run average in 79.1 innings of work last spring ...The right-hander tied for the league lead in strikeouts (88), while ranking fifth in ERA, tied for fourth in wins, second in opponent batting average (.216), fifth in innings pitched and second in complete games (seven) ...His last seven appearances were complete outings, and he won his final four BIG EAST starts, including a one-hitter against Pittsburgh on May 4 ...Lambert earned BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week honors three times in 2003.
Ryan Leahy, Sr., SS Leahy ranked 61st in the country in the toughest-to-strikeout category with only 14 strikeouts in 187 at bats and he helped Boston College to the nation's 31st ranking in double plays per game, after the Eagles averaged 1.02 ...He made 53 starts in 54 games and batted 59-for-187 for a .316 batting average with 24 RBI and 33 runs scored ...His 17 stolen bases landed him tied for sixth among conference players, and he tied for the team lead with seven sacrifice hits in addition to three sacrifice flies ...Hit 12 doubles, including eight (tied for third among conference players) in conference action only ...Leahy hit safely in 38 games, including 18 multiple-hit games, and forged five-, six-, and seven-game hitting streaks during the season ...In the seven-game hit streak (5/1 - 5/10), he went 11-for-23 (.478) with four runs scored.
Drew Locke, Jr., CF Named to the ABCA Northeast Region Second Team, BIG EAST Second Team, All-New England First Team, Locke recorded the team's overall highest batting average (.354) and led the team in slugging percentage (.540), on base percentage (.420) and two-base hits (14) ... Four of his 57 hits were home runs ...Knocked in a total of 29 RBI and hit safely in all but 10 of last year's 43 games.
Tom Mackor, Jr., 3B Started 14 of 27 games ...Went 11-for-45 from the plate with four each of runs and RBI ...His best game came vs. St. John's (5/10) when he had two hits in two at bats in addition to a walk ...Started 10 of 12 games in conference action, batting .250 (7-for-28).
Ryan Morgan, Jr., 1B/RHP Completed dual roles as Eagle pitcher and utility player ...Started all 54 games and went 54-for-187 (.289) at the plate with a squad-best 35 RBI ...His seven sacrifice hits tied for most on the team ...Led the squad in home runs (seven) and triples (five, second among BIG EAST hitters) ...Hit safely in 36 games, including 14 multi-hit efforts ...Two of his four games in which he had three hits came against Stetson (3/5) when he went 3-for-4 and Miami (3/22) when he produced a perfect 3-for-3 showing ...Hit a three-run home run to lead BC to the 7-3 win over West Virginia (5/16) for a total of four RBI ...Knocked in three runs against St. Bonaventure (3/8) and UMass-Amherst (5/1) when he struck another three-run homer ...Threw a total of 23.2 innings, all in relief, surrendering 28 hits, 15 runs (14 earned) for a record of 1-1 with a team-high nine saves (fourth among BIG EAST hurlers) ...Fanned 22 batters and walked 10 ...To earn his fifth save of the season, Morgan K'd the CCSU side (4/1) ...Also delivered three strikeouts in 3.1 innings over Virginia Tech (4/13).
Matt O'Donnell, Sr., RHP (game 1) O'Donnell ranked 73rd nationally with an ERA of 2.82 (third among regular BC starters) at season?s end ...In 13 appearances, he made eight starts and finished with a record of 4-4 ...Pitched a total of 67.0 innings, surrendering 61 hits, 27 runs (21 earned).
Kevin Shepard, Jr., LHP (game 2) Named to the BIG EAST Third Team ...Led the BC pitching staff and the BIG EAST Conference with a 2.44 ERA that placed 38th nationally in the final rankings ...His 2.36 ERA in league action tied Lambert for fourth in the league ...Pitched 70 innings and produced an opponent batting average of .274 ... Recorded four wins in four appearances from March 6 - April 3; then suffered a loss to Virginia Tech before winning four of his next five appearances to finish out the season ...Struck out 46 and picked off three base runners ...Of the 37 runs he allowed, only 19 were earned ...Struck out four or more batters in a game six times, highlighted by a season-best seven K's vs. Pittsburgh (May 5) ...Named BIG EAST co-pitcher of the week on March 17 after a 5-1 win over Georgetown, striking out five and walking one ...Named the preseason No. 9 prospect in the BIG EAST by Baseball America.
KEY RESERVES (last season in a nutshell)
Marco Albano, Jr., 3B Started 18 of 38 games played ...Went 14-for-65 (.215) with 14 runs scored and seven runs knocked in ...Hit 3-for-4, including a double, with two runs and two RBI vs. Holy Cross (3/7) ...Had a pair of hits vs. Miami (3/ 22) and Central Connecticut State University (3/27) ...Plated two runs vs. Rutgers (4/19).
Mike Gauthier, Sr., RHP Made one start in 23 appearances (tied for seventh for all games pitched among conference hurlers) ... Finished with a record of 2-3 with a pair of saves ...Pitched 47.2 innings, allowing 46 hits, 24 runs (23 earned) with a two-to-one strikeout/walk ratio (33/17) ...Four times, he fanned a season-high three batters in a game ...Collected the save, striking out two in 1.2 innings at Georgetown (3/15) ...His second save came when he pitched a no-hitter in two innings vs. Seton Hall (4/27) ...His relief effort vs. Dartmouth (4/29) yielded a win in BC's 7-6 favorable decision ...Gave up two hits through three innings against Centenary for the win.
Zach Keenan, Sr., DH Started one (Lehigh) of the 10 games he played ...Hit .400, collecting a hit in each of four games, including a double against both Harvard (4/15) and UMass-Amherst (5/1) ...Also drove in a run in that Minuteman contest.
Jake Marsello, Jr., RHP Started six of 14 games ...Garnered a 3-2 record and 4.19 ERA in 43.0 innings pitched, allowing 39 runs (20 earned) on 52 hits and striking out 27 ...Earned his first win of the season, throwing 2.0 innings of relief vs. Lehigh University (3/9) ...Fanned a season-high six batters in the 11-4 victory over Georgetown (3/16) ...Picked up the second win of the season after starting the Harvard contest (4/15), when he struck out four ...His third victory also came against Harvard (4/24) after he allowed six hits, three runs, two of which were earned, in 6.0 innings of work in BC's 8-6 win.
Joe Martinez, Jr., RHP Made two starts in six appearances ...Pitched 18.2 innings for a 1-0 record and 9.16 ERA ...Fanned a season-high six batters in four innings of relief vs. Drexel (2/23) ...Pitched seven innings to get the win vs. Holy Cross (3/7), surrendering five runs (four earned) on six hits for BC?s 7-5 victory.
Shawn McGill, So., C Started 13 of 18 games played, hitting 11-for-43 (.256) with 10 runs scored and six RBI ...Went 2-for-3 with three runs scored vs. Valparaiso (3/6) ...In the Harvard contest (4/15), he was 3-for-5 ...Had two hits for two RBI vs. Northeastern (4/23) and in his very next appearance drove in two more runs in the Seton Hall game (4/27) ...As a catcher, threw out seven runners attempting to steal in 15 attempts.
Mike Wlodarczyk, Jr., LHP Made eight appearances with three starts for a record of 2-1 and 3.63 ERA ...In 22.1 innings pitched, allowed 21 hits - only two for extra bases - 16 runs (nine earned) and struck out 25 ...Issued only 11 walks. Earned his first win in his first collegiate start, throwing 7.0 innings against Rhode Island (4/25), allowing four hits, two runs (one earned) with five strikeouts ...His second victory came in his third start vs. Centenary (5/14) when he fanned a career-high nine batters through 5.1 innings, giving up four hits and two runs.
Eric Wright, Sr., RF Started 21 of 42 games played ...Went 22-for-89 (.247) with 13 runs driven in and 12 runs scored ...Powered two hits in a game four times: NC State (2/21), Drexel (2/23), Duquesne (3/4), Harvard (4/15) ...Against both NC State (2/21) and Dartmouth (4/29), he plated two runs in addition to a two-RBI effort vs. Harvard (4/15) via a double and his lone home run of the year.
