Baseball Defeats Wake Behind Shaw's Bat

Sunday, April 5

Winston-Salem, N.C.

1:00 PM

Boston College

13-16, 5-9

Wake Forest

21-13, 8-7

Boston College

Wake Forest

Dunn pitched five scoreless inning of relief, tying a career high with 5 Ks.

April 05, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

April 5, 2015

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GAME INFORMATION
Score: Boston College 10, Wake Forest 7
Records: Boston College (13-16, 5-9 ACC), Wake Forest (21-13, 8-7 ACC)
Location: Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Series: Wake Forest wins the series, 2-1
Weather: 62 degrees, sunny, 8 mph winds
Attendance: 763
Time of Game: 2:58

BC Starting Lineup:

Starting Pitcher: RHP John Gorman

Wake Forest Starting Lineup:

Jonathan Pryor -- LF
Joey Rodriguez --CF
Nate Mondou -- 2B
Will Craig -- P
Justin Yurchak -- 3B
Stuart Fairchild -- RF
Gavin Sheets -- 1B
Nick Bisplinghoff -- C
Drew Freedman -- SS

Starting Pitcher: RHP Will Craig

BC HIGHLIGHTS

Junior Chris Shaw hit three home runs, including his second career grand slam, to lead the Eagles on a 4-for-5 day. He also notched a double, tallying all extra-base hits. The right fielder drove in seven and extended his hit streak to 12 games.
Sophomore RHP Justin Dunn earned the win in a 4.1-inning scoreless relief appearance. He tied a career high with five strikeouts, allowing five hits and three walks.
Sophomore Michael Strem singled in the first and has now reached base safely in the last 13 games. He went 4-for-12 with two home runs and four RBIs in the three games at Wake Forest.
Freshman Jake Palomaki walked three times in the game, extending his on-base streak to 12 games. It marked the third time he drew three walks in a single game.
Senior Blake Butera drove in two runs on two sacrifice flies in a 1-for-4 afternoon.

KEY PLAYS

Trailing 6-1 entering the fifth inning, Shaw hit a grand slam to pull the Eagles within one. Sophomore Nick Sciortino drove in the tying run after back-to-back hits by freshman Donovan Casey and junior Logan Hoggarth.
Shaw put BC up by one with a two-out solo shot in the sixth.
The Eagles got insurance runs, scoring a run the seventh, eighth and ninth, while Dunn did not allow a run to cross the plate while on the hill.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Eagles scored one in the first to take an early lead. Palomaki drew a lead-off walk and Butera moved him over with a hard-hit ball back to the mound that bounced off pitcher Will Craig's foot to the first baseman. Strem singled and Shaw nailed one to first base. Gavin Sheets made the diving stop to take the hit away, but Palomaki crossed the plate for the first run of the game.
The Deacons took the lead in the bottom of the inning on a home run by Nate Mondou. Senior right-handed starter John Gorman gave up a lead-off single and with one down, Mondou launched one over the right-center wall to make it a 2-1 game. Gorman got two fly outs to end the inning.
Wake scored four in the second to take a five-run lead. The Deacs put runners on second and third with back-to-back singles and a sac bunt. It looked like Gorman was going to get out of the inning, forcing a popup and a chopper between first and second. Junior first baseman Joe Cronin fielded the ball and threw to Gorman, but his foot came off the bag, allowing a run in and the inning to continue. Joey Rodriguez then homered to left center to score three more.
The Eagles tied the game in the fifth, highlighted by Shaw's grand slam. Palomaki and Strem walked and Butera singled to load the bases for Shaw, who launched the first pitch over he saw over the left-field wall to make it a one-run game. RHP Paul Kirkpatrick replaced Craig and immediately gave up base hits to Casey and Hoggarth. The runners moved up on a balk and with one down, Sciortino singled through the left side to tie the game.
Shaw gave the Eagles the lead in the sixth on a two-out solo shot to dead center, again swinging on Kirkpatrick's first offering.
BC scored a run in the seventh and the eighth to go up by three. Cronin reached on an error and after two straight walks, the bases were loaded for Butera with one out. The senior hit a sac fly to center to plate Cronin to make it 8-6.
Shaw hit his third home run in consecutive at bats -- this one to right center -- to put BC up, 9-6, in the eighth.
The Eagles added one more run in the ninth when Sciortino and junior Gabriel Hernandez drew walks and Palomaki moved them over on a sacrifice bunt. Butera hit second sac fly of the day to plate the Eagles' 10^th run.
Junior RHP John Nicklas pitched the final frame for BC and allowed a lead-off double to Craig before getting a fly out. Stuart Fairchild drove Craig in with a single up the middle before a 463 double play ended the game.

OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher: Dunn (3-2): 4.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K
Losing Pitcher: Kirkpatrick (2-2): 2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

TEAM LEADERS
Boston College
Hits: 4, Shaw (4-for-5, 2B, 3 HR)
Runs: 3, Shaw
RBIs: 7, Shaw
Stolen Bases: 2, Casey
Strikeouts: 5, Dunn

Wake Forest
Hits: 3, Craig (3-for-5, 2B)
Runs: 2, Pryor
RBIs: 3, Rodriguez
Strikeouts: 5, Craig

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

This marked the third multiple-home runs game for Shaw. He hit two home runs against Northeastern (3/24/15) and Connecticut (4/2/13).
He has tallied at least one hit in the last 12 games, racking up 22 hits, including six doubles and seven home runs, 14 runs and 22 RBIs. He has also been walked eight times.
In 2015, Shaw is one of six players in the NCAA to hit three home runs in a single game and the only player in the ACC to do so.
Shaw recorded seven RBIs in the victory. The last time a BC hitter recorded six or more RBIs in a game was when John Spatola knocked in seven runs against Missouri on Feb. 28, 2010.
With his 23 career home runs, Shaw is ninth in BC record books and his 11 home runs this season is tied for ninth on the season-single list.

UP NEXT
The Eagles will travel to Hanover, N.H., on Tuesday, April 7 to take on Dartmouth at 3:30 p.m.