Boston College Athletics
Boston College
Bethune Cookman
Baseball Defeats Bethune-Cookman, 6-4
March 08, 2011 | Baseball
March 8, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Freshman Eric Stevens tossed 4.0 shutout innings while junior Anthony Melchionda and sophomore Matt Watson combined four for RBI as the Boston College baseball team beat Bethune-Cookman, 6-4, Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Stevens earned his first collegiate win in his second start. He allowed just one hit and seven of the 12 outs he recorded were by strikeout. Senior Garret Smith picked up his second save of the season.
Melchionda hit a two-run double in the seventh that proved to be the game-winner while Watson finished 2-for-3. Junior Brad Zapenas went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs. Junior Marc Perdios was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run.
BC did not waste any time and got on the board with a run in the top of the first. Zapenas led off the game with a double down the line in left and then Perdios was hit by a pitch to put the first two men on base. Watson then singled on a 2-2 count for the game's first run.
The Eagles posted another run in the second. Junior Andrew Lawrence was hit by a pitch after the first two batters were retired in the frame. He stole second to get into scoring position and Zapenas hit a hot shot that hopped over the shortstop's head for an RBI single.
The Wildcats threatened in the bottom of the third but came up empty. David Lee and Brandon Turner both forced one-out walks and then a wild pitch moved them both into scoring position. Alejandro Sanchez attempted a suicide squeeze but popped it up, allowing junior Spenser Payne to start a 3-5 double play to end the threat.
BC got out of another tough jam in the fourth. DJ Leonard led off and walked on four pitches and then Ryan Durrence singled to put runners on the corners. Stevens got the next two batters to strike out swinging and then B-CU attempted a double steal, but Melchionda made a nice throw home and Watson blocked the plate to catch Leonard.
The Eagles put up another run in the fifth to make it a 3-0 game. Payne led off with a single on a 1-2 count and then moved to second on a balk with one out. With two outs and two strikes, Perdios roped an RBI single for the run.
Once again in the sixth, Bethune-Cookman had a great opportunity to score but got nothing. Leonard hit an infield single with two outs and then Durrence doubled to the wall in left-center to put both runners in scoring position. Junior Matt Brazis came on in relief, though, and got Peter O'Brien to groundout to end the threat.
BC opened the game up in the seventh with three runs - all with two outs - to take a 6-0 lead. Zapenas and Perdios both walked to start the rally and Watson singled through the left side for the first run. Melchionda then hit the gap in left on a 2-2 count to bring both runners home for the six-run cushion.
Bethune-Cookman responded with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the seventh but that is all it would get. Nick Johnson put the Wildcats on the board with a two-run homer and then Brashad Johnson reached on an error and got to second on a wild pitch. Matt Wright came on to pinch hit with two outs and pulled a pitch over the wall in right for another two-run homer to cut the lead to 6-4.
Durrence and Emmanuel Castro both had a pair of hits for the Wildcats (7-7).
The Eagles (6-4) travel to Orlando tomorrow to face UCF at 6:30 p.m.
