Baseball Falls, 5-3, to Virginia Tech

Friday, May 1

Blacksburg, Va.

6:00 PM

Boston College

24-22, 9-15

Virginia Tech

23-24, 10-14

Boston College

Virginia Tech

Shaw extended his hit streak to tie a career-long 16 games in his first appearance in 12 games.

May 01, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

May 1, 2015

Box Score | Postgame Interview

_GAME INFORMATION
Score: Virginia Tech 5, Boston College 3
Records: Boston College (24-22, 9-15 ACC), Virginia Tech (23-24, 10-14 ACC)
Series: Virginia Tech leads the series, 1-0
Location: English Field in Blacksburg, Va.
Weather: 52 degrees, overcast, 3 mph wind gusts
Attendance: 306
Time of Game: 2:54

BC Starting Lineup:

Starting Pitcher: RHP Mike King

Virginia Tech Starting Lineup:

Saige Jenco -- CF
Rahiem Cooper -- RF
Alex Perez -- SS
Brendon Hayden -- 1B
Erik Payne -- LF
Sean Keselica -- DH
Sam Fragale -- 2B
Andrew Mogg -- C
Ryan Tufts -- 3B

Starting Pitcher: LHP Kit Scheetz

BC HIGHLIGHTS

Junior Chris Shaw returned to the diamond 18 days after having hand surgery to pinch hit in the eighth. He singled, extending his hit streak to 16 games, tying a career long, which is also third in BC record books, dating back to 2005.
Junior Stephen Sauter led the way for the Eagles with a 3-for-4 performance, tying his career high in hits. With an RBI on the night, he has tallied six hits in the last nine at bats and driven in four runs in the last two games.
Freshman Jake Palomaki led off the game with a walk, extending his on-base streak to 29 games. He has drawn at least one walk in 14 of the last 19 games and increased the BC single-season record to 41. He also doubled and scored in the contest.
Sophomore Johnny Adams went 1-for-4 on the night. He has a hit in 12 of the last 14 games and extended his season-long hit streak to six games. He has also reached base safely in the last 12 games.

KEY PLAYS

The Eagles took an early 1-0 lead in the third but the Hokies answered in the fourth to tie the game.
Virginia Tech scored three in the fifth to take a 4-1 lead and while BC tried to answer, scoring two in the eighth to pull within one, right-handed reliever Aaron McGarity got a strikeout to get out of the inning with the tying run on.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Eagles struck first, scoring a run in the third. Palomaki led off with a double to left center and Adams moved him to third with a perfectly-placed sac bunt. Senior Blake Butera plated him with his fourth sac fly of the season.
The Hokies tied the game in the bottom of the inning as Brendon Hayden and Erik Payne tallied back-to-back bloopers to right. A slow-rolling grounder off the first-base bag loaded the bases and freshman right fielder Donovan Casey caught Sam Fragale's ball over the fence in foul ground, allowing Hayden to tag up for Tech's first run of the game.
VT took a 4-1 lead in the fifth, scoring three runs on four hits. Saige Jenco launched a one-out, solo home run over the right-field wall to give the Hokies their first lead of the game. Rahiem Cooper walked and Andy Perez singled to put two on. Hayden singled to left to plate Cooper and Payne followed with a base hit through the left side to score Perez. Sophomore right-handed starter Mike King ended the inning with a fly ball and a strikeout.
The Eagles pulled within one in the eighth. Sophomore Nick Sciortino laced one back at McGarity, which bounced off the righty's foot, allowing Sciortino to reach. Shaw entered the game as a pinch hitter and chopped one over the first baseman's head, moving Sciortino all the way to third. Junior Logan Hoggarth grounded one to second, plating Sciortino. Hoggarth beat the throw on the attempted double play and moved to second on a passed ball. Sauter brought him home to make it a one-run game on a base hit back up the middle. Casey reached on a fielder's choice as Sauter was forced out at second and McGarity was able to get Palomaki looking to end the inning.
Virginia Tech added a run in the bottom of the inning. With one down, senior RHP Travis Ferrick entered the game. He walked the first batter he faced before getting a strikeout for the second out. He then hit a batter to put two on and junior RHP John Nicklas came on in relief. Nicklas gave up a single to Jenco, scoring a run, before throwing three straight strikes for the third out.

OF RECORD
Winning Pitcher:Scheetz (3-2): 6.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
Save: McGarity (2): 2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Losing Pitcher: King (1-4): 6.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

TEAM LEADERS
Boston College
Hits: 3, Sauter (3-for-4)
Runs: 1, Palomaki, Sciortino, Hoggarth
RBIs: 1, Butera, Hoggarth, Sauter
Strikeouts: 2, King

Virginia Tech
Hits: 3, Jenco (3-for-5, HR)
Runs: 1, Jenco, Cooper, Perez, Hayden, Bible
RBIs: 2, Jenco
Stolen Bases: 1, Bible
Strikeouts: 4, Scheetz

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

In the last 16 games he has played, Shaw has tallied at least one hit, racking up 29 hits, including seven doubles and seven home runs, 15 runs and 22 RBIs. He has also been walked eight times.
The four runs and nine hits are most allowed by King this season.
BC recorded at least 10 hits for the 16th this season. It is only the fifth game the Eagles have lost when doing so.
The Eagles also outhit the Hokies, 11-10. They are now 21-5 when outhitting opponents.
The Eagles did not make an error for the 19^th times this season.

UP NEXT
The Eagles and Hokies return to action on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.