Boston College Athletics
Weekly Roundup: April 4, 2017
April 03, 2017 | Boston College Athletics, #ForBoston Files
Softball won a doubleheader, while a rare feat was accomplished on the baseball diamond.
There's an old saying that if someone doesn't like New England weather, tell them to wait a few minutes. It's always changing, after all, and it's never, ever predictable. This past weekend was a prime example. Though it's officially spring, an old fashioned Nor'easter descended on the region this weekend, bringing it with a last blast of snow days before the Boston Red Sox had the Opening Day before clear skies and 50 degree temperatures.
Right smack dab in the middle of the early spring weather, sat the Boston College softball team. After opening the Eagles' home schedule against UMass Lowell earlier in the week under sunny skies, the team found its weekend ACC series against Syracuse under winter's fire. Forced to relocated to Providence's Brown University due to the impending storm, the Eagles saw Saturday's game snowed out before playing a Sunday doubleheader.
Despite their series being moved 50 miles south to the Ocean State, the team responded on Sunday with a dramatic doubleheader sweep of the visiting Orange. The Eagles walked off a pair of 2-1 victories, both times tying the game in their last ups before winning in the bottom of an extra eighth inning.
"We know that being a Northeast team means there will be changes to our schedule," head coach Ashley Obrest said. "So we don't hit the panic button and we try to relay as much information to our players as we know. We hoped to play our home opener against UMass Lowell, which we did, but then we kept everyone up to speed on what we knew during the week. Nobody complained about the travel because it's not really a big deal. It might be a big deal to southern teams or teams from the West, but it's not a big deal for us."
The wins exemplified the resilience of a team that continues to roll through its ACC schedule. At 6-2 in conference play, the Eagles have yet to lose a weekend series in league play.
"I thought we had chances in both games with some runners, but we made a couple of mistakes," Obrest said. "But we just kept grinding, and Allyson Moore had a 14-pitch at bat to win the game for us. She just kept hitting and got into a mode where she was going to keep swinging, and she connected on one that was almost gone out of straightaway center.
"Then we come back and do it again," she continued. "Chloe (Sharabba) crushed one to tie, and then we got some runners on in the eighth for Tatiana Cortez. But she didn't even get to hit because we scored on a passed ball in the dirt."
Obrest credited the team's pitching staff with buoying its solid weekend. In the first game, Jessica Dreswick earned wins in both games after throwing 12 combined innings. She threw a complete game three-hitter in the first game, striking out eight and walking only one, then relieved Jordan Weed in the second game with four innings of four-hit shutout softball, striking out four while again walking only one. The two wins pushed her to 14-5 on the season while upping her innings to 126.1 thrown.
"She pitched a great game and went at each hitter," Obrest said. "She prepared well for all of the hitters she saw and executed her game plan exactly how she wanted to. But Jordan also pitched really well; now we just have to keep (the momentum) going."
*****
A Long Time Coming
Donovan Casey hit for the cycle in baseball's 13-1 win over UMass last Wednesday. It was the first time a Boston College Eagle hit a single, double, triple and home run in the same game since Jason Delaney's cycle against Seton Hall on April 27, 2003.
Think about how rare that is to accomplish. 5,085 days passed without a cycle being hit in Boston College baseball and a span of 646 games and two conference affiliations.
More than maybe any other sport, baseball uses its history and its past to contextualize the present. Any time a player accomplishes anything or breaks a streak, baseball honors the past in the discussion. It's because the game has a long, rich history built in layers on its foundation.
Casey's cycle therefore demands a review of the type of player category he joins. Delaney is one of the best hitters in program history with a makeable case as the best ever. Playing between 2002-05, he ranks in the top 10 in the record books in virtually every offensive category.
Consider some of the numbers. He played in 218 games, starting all but one - both program records. He finished his career with 263 hits, also a record, with 52 doubles, 24 homers and seven triples. He amassed 157 RBIs, 153 runs scored and 391 total bases - all second all-time in program history. He reached base safely 371 times - a record by just about 40 over the next closest, and drew 91 career walks.
A local product out of Boston College High, he played in the summer ball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for two years. The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted him in 2005 in the 12th round, 361st overall. He advanced as high as Indianapolis in the Triple-A International League, eventually calling it after six seasons in the minors, one of which resulted in an appearance in the elite Arizona Fall League.
*****
Snow? What Snow?
The wild weather seemed might've seemed like a bad April Fool's joke for some, but it was a tip-toe through the tulips for the lacrosse team. Acacia Walker's lacrosse team remained perfect at home with a 17-10 win over No. 17 Virginia at the Newton Campus Lacrosse Field.
It was a game featuring a red-hot Eagles team in the second half. BC outscored the Cavaliers, 9-3, including a 7-1 margin over the game's final 22 minutes. Sam Apuzzo scored a double hat trick with six goals, while Kenzie Kent's five assists paced an eight-point day for her.
Every league win is a huge win, especially in the ACC. Of the eight teams that sponsor women's lacrosse, all are .500 or better, with five, including BC, six games over .500 overall. A half a game separates BC, tied for sixth with Virginia after beating them, from third-place Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are one of two conference opponents remaining on the BC schedule.
That's likely to be a critical game for BC, provided they take care of business against Duke on Saturday. They'll play the Blue Devils in the annual Red Bandanna Game at 1 p.m.
*****
Tee 'Em Up
I love March Madness, especially in the early rounds, but I've always felt that the frenetic pace cools off as there are less and less teams. The Final Four, for all of its pageantry, is the perfect denouement to its preceding month. After a hectic month of brackets, predictions, analysis, Cinderellas and drama, I need something quiet, relaxed and slower. Enter the Masters.
I love golf, and even though I'm horrendous at it, nothing beats playing 18 holes, then coming home and napping on the couch while the screen door is open, a spring breeze hopefully coming through a clear afternoon like the piano theme song and limited commercial interruption.
Every year, I try to add something new to my golf equipment. After destroying two of my club headcovers last year, I'm 100% buying the Baldwin golf club cover. I've always been a fan of personality on the clubs, and it's a good subtle touch.
It's probably a better gift idea for me than the golf balls anyway. I lost half of a box last year, including one that I hit dead straight on a fairway. It rolled under a pile of leaves, and since I couldn't believe I was capable of driving a) long and b) straight, I was in unfamiliar territory.
Right smack dab in the middle of the early spring weather, sat the Boston College softball team. After opening the Eagles' home schedule against UMass Lowell earlier in the week under sunny skies, the team found its weekend ACC series against Syracuse under winter's fire. Forced to relocated to Providence's Brown University due to the impending storm, the Eagles saw Saturday's game snowed out before playing a Sunday doubleheader.
Despite their series being moved 50 miles south to the Ocean State, the team responded on Sunday with a dramatic doubleheader sweep of the visiting Orange. The Eagles walked off a pair of 2-1 victories, both times tying the game in their last ups before winning in the bottom of an extra eighth inning.
"We know that being a Northeast team means there will be changes to our schedule," head coach Ashley Obrest said. "So we don't hit the panic button and we try to relay as much information to our players as we know. We hoped to play our home opener against UMass Lowell, which we did, but then we kept everyone up to speed on what we knew during the week. Nobody complained about the travel because it's not really a big deal. It might be a big deal to southern teams or teams from the West, but it's not a big deal for us."
The wins exemplified the resilience of a team that continues to roll through its ACC schedule. At 6-2 in conference play, the Eagles have yet to lose a weekend series in league play.
"I thought we had chances in both games with some runners, but we made a couple of mistakes," Obrest said. "But we just kept grinding, and Allyson Moore had a 14-pitch at bat to win the game for us. She just kept hitting and got into a mode where she was going to keep swinging, and she connected on one that was almost gone out of straightaway center.
"Then we come back and do it again," she continued. "Chloe (Sharabba) crushed one to tie, and then we got some runners on in the eighth for Tatiana Cortez. But she didn't even get to hit because we scored on a passed ball in the dirt."
Obrest credited the team's pitching staff with buoying its solid weekend. In the first game, Jessica Dreswick earned wins in both games after throwing 12 combined innings. She threw a complete game three-hitter in the first game, striking out eight and walking only one, then relieved Jordan Weed in the second game with four innings of four-hit shutout softball, striking out four while again walking only one. The two wins pushed her to 14-5 on the season while upping her innings to 126.1 thrown.
"She pitched a great game and went at each hitter," Obrest said. "She prepared well for all of the hitters she saw and executed her game plan exactly how she wanted to. But Jordan also pitched really well; now we just have to keep (the momentum) going."
*****
A Long Time Coming
Donovan Casey hit for the cycle in baseball's 13-1 win over UMass last Wednesday. It was the first time a Boston College Eagle hit a single, double, triple and home run in the same game since Jason Delaney's cycle against Seton Hall on April 27, 2003.
Think about how rare that is to accomplish. 5,085 days passed without a cycle being hit in Boston College baseball and a span of 646 games and two conference affiliations.
More than maybe any other sport, baseball uses its history and its past to contextualize the present. Any time a player accomplishes anything or breaks a streak, baseball honors the past in the discussion. It's because the game has a long, rich history built in layers on its foundation.
Casey's cycle therefore demands a review of the type of player category he joins. Delaney is one of the best hitters in program history with a makeable case as the best ever. Playing between 2002-05, he ranks in the top 10 in the record books in virtually every offensive category.
Consider some of the numbers. He played in 218 games, starting all but one - both program records. He finished his career with 263 hits, also a record, with 52 doubles, 24 homers and seven triples. He amassed 157 RBIs, 153 runs scored and 391 total bases - all second all-time in program history. He reached base safely 371 times - a record by just about 40 over the next closest, and drew 91 career walks.
A local product out of Boston College High, he played in the summer ball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for two years. The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted him in 2005 in the 12th round, 361st overall. He advanced as high as Indianapolis in the Triple-A International League, eventually calling it after six seasons in the minors, one of which resulted in an appearance in the elite Arizona Fall League.
*****
Snow? What Snow?
The wild weather seemed might've seemed like a bad April Fool's joke for some, but it was a tip-toe through the tulips for the lacrosse team. Acacia Walker's lacrosse team remained perfect at home with a 17-10 win over No. 17 Virginia at the Newton Campus Lacrosse Field.
It was a game featuring a red-hot Eagles team in the second half. BC outscored the Cavaliers, 9-3, including a 7-1 margin over the game's final 22 minutes. Sam Apuzzo scored a double hat trick with six goals, while Kenzie Kent's five assists paced an eight-point day for her.
Every league win is a huge win, especially in the ACC. Of the eight teams that sponsor women's lacrosse, all are .500 or better, with five, including BC, six games over .500 overall. A half a game separates BC, tied for sixth with Virginia after beating them, from third-place Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are one of two conference opponents remaining on the BC schedule.
That's likely to be a critical game for BC, provided they take care of business against Duke on Saturday. They'll play the Blue Devils in the annual Red Bandanna Game at 1 p.m.
*****
Tee 'Em Up
I love March Madness, especially in the early rounds, but I've always felt that the frenetic pace cools off as there are less and less teams. The Final Four, for all of its pageantry, is the perfect denouement to its preceding month. After a hectic month of brackets, predictions, analysis, Cinderellas and drama, I need something quiet, relaxed and slower. Enter the Masters.
I love golf, and even though I'm horrendous at it, nothing beats playing 18 holes, then coming home and napping on the couch while the screen door is open, a spring breeze hopefully coming through a clear afternoon like the piano theme song and limited commercial interruption.
Every year, I try to add something new to my golf equipment. After destroying two of my club headcovers last year, I'm 100% buying the Baldwin golf club cover. I've always been a fan of personality on the clubs, and it's a good subtle touch.
It's probably a better gift idea for me than the golf balls anyway. I lost half of a box last year, including one that I hit dead straight on a fairway. It rolled under a pile of leaves, and since I couldn't believe I was capable of driving a) long and b) straight, I was in unfamiliar territory.
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