Boston College Athletics
The Game of the Decade
December 22, 2009 | Baseball
Dec. 22, 2009
Kendall Rogers of the Yahoo! Sports Blog, Destination: Omaha, named the NCAA Regional game between Boston College and Texas the No. 1 collegiate baseball game to remember this decade.
It is hard to disagree.
The Longhorns were the No. 1 national seed and entered the game with a 43-12-1 record. They were the Big 12 champions. They were at home in Austin at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. They had been in the spotlight before winning six national championships.
The Eagles were participating in their first NCAA Baseball Championship in 42 years. They had a 34-24 record when they took the field on May 30, 2009 but had momentum, winning three of their last four games, including an improbable come-from-behind victory in the ninth against Texas State the day before.
Nobody could have expected what that sweltering Texas night would bring.
LHP Pat Dean got the start for BC and made one mistake that cost him two runs. In the top of the second, Kevin Keyes hit a two-run homer to left to give the Longhorns the early lead. Dean's line was impressive as he threw 7.0 innings and ended the night scattering nine hits and striking out five. When Head Coach Mik Aoki lifted him in the eighth inning, the Longhorn faithful gave Dean a standing ovation for his gutsy performance.
"Coming off the mound, I felt like I gave us an opportunity to win against the No. 1 team in the country," Dean said. "I was satisfied with myself. At that point, I thought we were going to come out on top. The game was crazy. There were a lot of emotions going on in the dugout. Everyone was so nervous on every pitch because we didn't know what was going to happen. I wish I could go back to it."
The Eagles' scrappiness, which they had played with all year, came into play again when they tied the game with single runs in the bottom of the fourth and sixth innings. Matt Hamlet walked with one out in the fourth to give BC its first base runner of the night. Mickey Wiswall delivered a single to put runners on first and second and then Mike Belfiore singled to right field to plate Hamlet.
In the sixth, Robbie Anston led off with a double and then Hamlet sacrificed him over to third. Tony Sanchez drove in the game-tying run with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center field.
Then Boston College and Texas made history on the arms of closers Belfiore and Austin Wood, respectively.
The two squared off in an epic pitching duel in hot and humid conditions under the lights. Belfiore entered the game in the ninth inning and threw a career-high 9.2 innings, striking out 11 Longhorns and not issuing a walk.
Wood took it even further. He pitched 13.0 innings and allowed just two hits and four walks while punching out 14 Eagles. He went 12.1 innings before allowing his first hit in the 19th inning.
As the two battled it out, word began to spread across the nation about what was happening in Austin. In the press box, reporters blogged and tweeted to the world. They were texting and calling others who had been watching from a distance. It seemed no one wanted it to end because they knew how special it was.
"I could have kept throwing, to be honest," Belfiore said. "I could have gone at least two or three more innings, for sure. It was an extra inning game and a huge battle, but it wasn't until after the game I realized how special it was. Now I look back on it and I watch the game and think `how did we do that? How did I do that?' There is nothing that compares to that game."
Texas Head Coach Augie Garrido finally pulled Wood in the 20th inning and he received a standing ovation from all 7,104 in attendance and maybe one he didn't expect - from the Boston College dugout.
Sanchez, who emerged as the best catcher in the country last season and was drafted No. 4 overall by Pittsburgh, even resorted to some voodoo to try and crack Wood while he was still in the game. Before the Eagles' went to bat while he was warming up one inning, Sanchez playfully threw all of the bats out of the dugout and cast a spell on them.
It didn't work though as Wood was nearly flawless for the entirety of his outing. Austin Dicharry then came on in relief in the 20th inning and went the rest of the way, allowing one hit.
Four other pitchers came to the mound for Boston College, including Dave Laufer and Chris Kowalski, who threw 1.2 and 3.1 scoreless innings, respectively.
But Texas finally broke through in the top of the 25th inning when leadoff man Travis Tucker singled through a drawn-in infield to plate the winning run.
The game eventually ended at 1:05 a.m. CT and the Eagles had to turn around and face Army in an elimination game in less than 11 hours.
Upon returning to "The Disch" later in the day, Boston College found it had earned a new respect among the Texas fans. The players, coaches and support staff were stopped by fans clad in burnt orange to wish them luck and reminisce about the night before.
After another comeback attempt fell short against Army in a 4-3 loss that ended the Eagles' season, the bond between Boston College and Texas became evident that night. The seniors of the BC team headed back to the stadium to watch the championship game later that night alongside some unlikely fans.
The seniors made their way to the buses parked outside of the wall in right-center field where Texas fans sit on the vehicles' roofs and watch the action inside. The players arrived and were welcomed with open arms and shared another experience they will never forget.
"Being able to go to that game that night and have the Texas fans - who are so loyal and dedicated - accept and welcome us and want to hear stories; it was an unbelievable experience," senior captain Harry Darling said. "Seeing a Texas game from outside the field, from a fan's point of view and actually feeling like I was a part of the fan base was great. The hospitality they showed and the energy they had for baseball was very impressive."
The game against Texas lasted an NCAA record seven hours and three minutes. But for those who were there, it will last much, much longer.
FACTS AND FIGURES FROM MAY 30
• Both teams received a standing ovation at the conclusion of the game.
• Texas had to reset the scoreboard twice to post the score by inning.
• It was 96 degrees at first pitch at 6:02 p.m. - The game finished at 78 degrees at 1:05 a.m.
• Texas introduced the 21st inning stretch.
• Both teams used all of their position players.
• There were 683 pitches thrown in the game.
• Texas stranded 24 men on base.
• Belfiore, Hamlet and Andrew Lawrence each played three positions.
• Texas had three runs on 20 hits.
• Kowalski recorded his first-career at-bat.
• There were 11 walks in the game compared to 42 strikeouts.
• The 10 p.m. ET game at UC Irvine game started and finished before BC-Texas finished.
• The 25-inning game was the longest game in NCAA baseball history. The previous longest game was a 23-inning game played between Louisiana-Lafayette and McNeese State on March 27, 1971. ULL won the game 6-5.
• The game also marked the longest NCAA postseason game in history. The previous longest game was a 19-inning contest between Clemson and Fordham at the NCAA Northeast Regional in New Britain, Conn. on May 26, 1988.
• Texas and Boston College combined to set NCAA records with 42 strikeouts, 222 total chances, 69 assists, 192 plate appearances and 171 at-bats.
• Texas' 91 at-bats, 103 plate appearances, 115 total chances and 75 putouts set new NCAA records.
• Travis Tucker and Michael Torres set the NCAA single-game record for at-bats with 12.
• Preston Clark's 33 putouts against BC set a new NCAA record for most single-game putouts.
