Boston College Athletics
Boston College
Northeastern
Baseball Beats Northeastern In Extras, 6-5
March 17, 2009 | Baseball
March 17, 2009
Box Score
Box Score In PDF Format
BROOKLINE, Mass. - The Boston College baseball team went down early, 5-0, but the bullpen was strong and the Eagles scored six unanswered runs to take a 6-5 win from Northeastern on Tuesday afternoon at Friedman Diamond.
Junior Mike Belfiore threw a career-high 3.2 innings of two-hit baseball and picked up his first win of the season. He struck out seven of the 11 outs he recorded which was also a personal best. Sophomore Kevin Moran shut down the Huskies after they had scored their five runs. He worked a career-high 6.0 innings and allowed just two hits.
Junior Tony Sanchez went 3-for-4 on the day with a double while Belfiore and freshman Brad Zapenas both went 2-for-5. Belfiore drove in a pair of runs as well. Junior Barry Butera also had two hits on the day.
With one out in the 12th inning, sophomore Mickey Wiswall blasted a double to right-center and then Belfiore reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners. After a strikeout, Smith was hit by a pitch to load the bases and senior Harry Darling came in to pinch hit. Darling walked on five pitches to plate the go-ahead run in Wiswall.
Belfiore returned to the mound for the bottom of the 12th and with one out, Northeastern's David Gustafson doubled to the gap in right-center. Mike Tamsin grounded out to Darling at first for the second out of the inning, putting the winning run 90 feet away. Frank Pesanello was intentionally walked to get the leftie Jeff Dunlap to the plate and Belfiore won the battle, striking him out to end the game.
Northeastern struck in the bottom of the first inning, loading the bases with one out and capitalizing with four runs. Gustafson hit a double to the gap in left-center, Tamsin singled and Pesanello walked on four pitches to put the three men on. Dunlap got the first run in when he took an off speed pitch on the leg.
Two more runs crossed when James Donaldson singled through the left side. Ryan Kemp then struck out for the second out of the inning but Brandon Stokes sliced a pitch over Zapenas at second for the Huskies' 4-0 lead.
NU tacked on another run in the second to push the lead to 5-0. Matt Miller led off the inning when he snuck a hit inside the line in left and turned it into a double. Gustafson grounded out to short for out number one and Tamsin grounded out to first, but Pesanello reached base and Miller scored on an error by the shortstop.
BC got four of the runs back in the top of the third to pull within a run. After the first out of the inning was recorded, Zapenas singled to center and then junior Robbie Anston walked to put two men on. Butera singled through the right side to plate Zapenas and advance Anston to third. On a wild pitch to Sanchez, Butera headed for second and Pesanello tried to throw him out but the throw went into center. Zapenas scored and Anston took third on the play.
Sanchez eventually drew a walk to put runners on the corners with one out and on a strikeout in the dirt, took second to put a pair in scoring position. Belfiore then battled at the plate and fouled off three pitches before singling to left and driving in both runs to pull within one, 5-4.
The Eagles picked up the tying run in the top of the seventh. Sophomore Matt Hamlet got things going when he reached second after the shortstop short-hopped the first baseman on a grounder to his right. Zapenas sacrificed Hamlet over to third and then Anston brought home the tying run on a sacrifice fly to left.
Stokes had a 3-for-4 performance for the Huskies (9-5) with an RBI. Gustafson recorded two hits and Donaldson drove in two runs.
Boston College will head to Smithfield, R.I. on Wednesday to face Bryant at 3:30 p.m. before spending the weekend in College Park for a three-game series at Maryland.
