Touching 'Em All: Week Three
March 01, 2019 | Baseball, #ForBoston Files
The Eagles head south this weekend after losing their first games last week.
The early part of any baseball season is about development. The schedule is the longest in terms of game volume, so the first couple of weeks serve a much different purpose than any other sport. Teams attempt to hit the diamond at as full of a speed as possible, but there are inevitable hiccups.
Last week, Boston College experienced that first hiccup. The Eagles held late-inning leads against Bethune-Cookman in the first two games of a three-game series, but the Wildcats struck for four runs in both games against the bullpen to take the series in Daytona Beach, Florida.
"When you have a 3-1 lead in the ninth, you want to walk out with a W, but that doesn't happen if you let a team come back," head coach Mike Gambino said. "That's what happened on Saturday. We didn't play the cleanest game on Friday. We know that when we play good fundamental baseball, we're really tough to beat. You can get a lot easier to beat when you play a quality opponent, and you can't give them extra chances."
The "bad innings" represented the only smudge on an otherwise-good weekend for the entire pitching staff. Thomas Lane relieved Matt Gill in the sixth inning of Friday's game to retire all five batters he faced, and John Witkowski threw four innings on Saturday with seven strikeouts against 15 hitters.
But Lane took the loss in the second game after the bullpen failed to record an out in the ninth. It came a day after Joey Walsh allowed a four-spot in the bottom of the eighth the day before. That the hiccups happened hurt, but it didn't dim the team's optimism moving forward.
"We know Thomas Lane is going to be really good, and we know that Joey Walsh is going to be really good," he said. "(Witkowski) has been throwing the ball great, and he was unhittable for four innings. I think those guys, plus the rest of the crew in the bullpen, will come together and become a strength. It's not there yet, but we'll get them there."
Here's some more from what happened at Jackie Robinson Field this weekend:
*****
First Base: Starting pitching
The losses dampened otherwise-sterling performances by the BC pitching staff, including two freshmen who received their first trips to the bump. After Gill started the series opener, the Eagles went to Mason Pelio and Joe Mancini for the last two games of the series. The duo pitched a combined nine innings, allowing just three runs against an aggressive Wildcat lineup.
"We're going to see those guys get more and more chances," Gambino said. "They're going to be a huge part. To see Mason for the second time after he was shortened in Jackson, and Joey getting his first career start (and win), they were poised and confident."
Pelio faced just four over the minimum in his four innings of work, striking out two with one walk and five hits allowed. He never pushed to a full-count and was able to induce outs even when behind hitters. Three of his five hits allowed came when hitters got ahead of him, but only one, a first inning double, resulted in a run scored. It was something of a low-key redemption after his first start never happened because of the rainout at Jackson State.
"Mason was great," Gambino said. "He hit two guys, but otherwise we was awesome."
Mancini, meanwhile, spearheaded a mostly-freshman approach to Sunday's last game of the series. He earned the win by pitching five innings, allowing a single run on two hits. He worked the majority of the game ahead in the count as well, never going to a full count and keeping the Wildcats out of the hit parade altogether. He combined with Travis Lane and Michael Marzonie before Gambino handed the ball to Jack Nelson for the ninth in a 14-5 rout.
"They were executing against a good lineup," Gambino said. "I was really impressed with those guys to see what they did, and it's going to be fun to watch them go at it this year."
*****
Second Base: Blue Collar Baseball
One of baseball's most-proven factors is what happens when hitters or pitchers get ahead in the count. Though modern baseball tends to work pitch counts to quickly tire arms, classic statistics prove just how much more dominant pitchers become if they get ahead in the count.
BC hitters faced two-strike counts 57 different times over the weekend and committed 38 different outs, illustrating just how hard the lineup had to battle against BCU pitching. Just nine of those 57, or 16%, went to full counts, while 20 ended in strikeouts.
The Eagles countered it by simply grinding away and taking advantage of opportunities. Six two-strike hits resulted in seven RBI, including a rally in the fourth inning of the second game that saw Cody Morissette and Chris Galland reach base before Brian Dempsey singled them both in. After Morissette reached via an error, Galland singled and stole second to put both runners in scoring position for Dempsey.
"You build your offense around the guys that you have and (their tools)," Gambino said. "We've always liked speed in the program, and now we have guys like Sal (Frelick) and Chris (Galland). Everyone knows that those guys are going to go when they get to first, and Dante (Baldelli) is one of those guys too. Teams are going to have to do a good job controlling runners."
It helped build confidence for when the hitters actually got ahead in counts. After amassing only two hits in the first two games with hitters' counts, BC exploded for two hits in the first inning and a monster second inning on Sunday. Dante Baldelli tripled to right to score a runner, and Dempsey, who homered in the sixth inning of Saturday, hit a ground ball to later plate him.
*****
Third Base: Power Ball
BC's reputation as a speed-first, aggressive team overshadows any belief in its ability to hit for power, but it doesn't mean the ability doesn't exist. The Eagles have five long balls through the first six games, with another erased in the rainout, with a team slugging percentage of .422 it already represents a jump in power for a team that hit just 14 bombs last season.
"Running and stealing bases is a big part of our offense," Gambino said. "(But) we have some power. We're seeing that with Dante, Sal, and other guys leaving the yard. Everyone knows what Gian (Martellini) and Jack (Cunningham) can do with going up top."
Both Frelick and Baldelli have home runs and lead the team in terms of RBI, but hitting for power goes beyond just launching over the fence. BC hitters typically pick their spots to hit to the gap, both by pulling and hitting the opposite way. The goal is just to move runners up bases and keep momentum going through a merry-go-round for the bases.
14 of the team's 70 hits are for extra bases this year, including eight doubles and a triple. The lineup is hitting .353 on balls put into play, much higher than baseball's watermark of .300, with a .422 isolated power metric. It means hitters are getting better than average contact while averaging nearly a half of an extra base per hit. Combined with the team's steal rate, which is currently 30-for-31, BC is able to advance runners, subsequently plating them, nearly every time someone gets on base.
"There is power throughout the lineup, and you combine that with speed, you can become a lethal offense," Gambino said. We have speed with flashes of power right now, but we're going to start to get more of that."
*****
Waving 'Em In: Eastern Kentucky and Evansville
All of the positives don't erase how the Eagles lost two games last weekend. Now holders of a 4-2 overall record, BC will head south again to begin its spring break trip with a series against Evansville and Eastern Kentucky in the Bluegrass State. The team will play Evansville on Friday afternoon at noon before playing EKU at 4 p.m., with return matches on Saturday. It will lead to a Wednesday game at Kentucky before next weekend's ACC opener at Louisville.
Both Evansville and EKU are like Bethune-Cookman in that they retain baseball value even if they don't carry the same name recognition. EKU went .500 in the Ohio Valley Conference last year and nearly advanced to the conference semifinals despite losing its opening game.
The OVC Champion, Tennessee Tech, finished the season nationally-ranked and advanced to within a game of the College World Series after earning a No. 2 seed in a regional hosted by Ole Miss. It won the Oxford Regional after losing to Ole Miss in the Regional Second Round, advancing through Missouri State before beating the host team twice, including a one-run ball game in the elimination game. In the Super Regional, a first game victory led to two straight losses against Texas, which advanced to Omaha.
"Edwin Thompson is a really good baseball coach (at EKU)," Gambino said. "When he took over, I knew those guys were going to become good. I'm excited to get down there and play them. I've known him for a long time."
In Evansville, meanwhile, BC gets a team trying to put together some wins after struggling last season in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Purple Aces won just 12 games last year and were eliminated in two straight in the conference tournament, but they pushed Southern Illinois to 12 innings in their elimination game. The program is just five years removed from finishing first in the conference regular season with 34 overall wins and six years removed from advancing to the MVC semifinals.
"I have a lot of respect for Evansville," Gambino said. "We're going to see some northeast weather (this weekend). It's going to be cold, so we're fine with that. It's what we're used to. I think we're just excited to get down there and play four baseball games against good opponents."
Last week, Boston College experienced that first hiccup. The Eagles held late-inning leads against Bethune-Cookman in the first two games of a three-game series, but the Wildcats struck for four runs in both games against the bullpen to take the series in Daytona Beach, Florida.
"When you have a 3-1 lead in the ninth, you want to walk out with a W, but that doesn't happen if you let a team come back," head coach Mike Gambino said. "That's what happened on Saturday. We didn't play the cleanest game on Friday. We know that when we play good fundamental baseball, we're really tough to beat. You can get a lot easier to beat when you play a quality opponent, and you can't give them extra chances."
The "bad innings" represented the only smudge on an otherwise-good weekend for the entire pitching staff. Thomas Lane relieved Matt Gill in the sixth inning of Friday's game to retire all five batters he faced, and John Witkowski threw four innings on Saturday with seven strikeouts against 15 hitters.
But Lane took the loss in the second game after the bullpen failed to record an out in the ninth. It came a day after Joey Walsh allowed a four-spot in the bottom of the eighth the day before. That the hiccups happened hurt, but it didn't dim the team's optimism moving forward.
"We know Thomas Lane is going to be really good, and we know that Joey Walsh is going to be really good," he said. "(Witkowski) has been throwing the ball great, and he was unhittable for four innings. I think those guys, plus the rest of the crew in the bullpen, will come together and become a strength. It's not there yet, but we'll get them there."
Here's some more from what happened at Jackie Robinson Field this weekend:
*****
First Base: Starting pitching
The losses dampened otherwise-sterling performances by the BC pitching staff, including two freshmen who received their first trips to the bump. After Gill started the series opener, the Eagles went to Mason Pelio and Joe Mancini for the last two games of the series. The duo pitched a combined nine innings, allowing just three runs against an aggressive Wildcat lineup.
"We're going to see those guys get more and more chances," Gambino said. "They're going to be a huge part. To see Mason for the second time after he was shortened in Jackson, and Joey getting his first career start (and win), they were poised and confident."
Pelio faced just four over the minimum in his four innings of work, striking out two with one walk and five hits allowed. He never pushed to a full-count and was able to induce outs even when behind hitters. Three of his five hits allowed came when hitters got ahead of him, but only one, a first inning double, resulted in a run scored. It was something of a low-key redemption after his first start never happened because of the rainout at Jackson State.
"Mason was great," Gambino said. "He hit two guys, but otherwise we was awesome."
Mancini, meanwhile, spearheaded a mostly-freshman approach to Sunday's last game of the series. He earned the win by pitching five innings, allowing a single run on two hits. He worked the majority of the game ahead in the count as well, never going to a full count and keeping the Wildcats out of the hit parade altogether. He combined with Travis Lane and Michael Marzonie before Gambino handed the ball to Jack Nelson for the ninth in a 14-5 rout.
"They were executing against a good lineup," Gambino said. "I was really impressed with those guys to see what they did, and it's going to be fun to watch them go at it this year."
*****
Second Base: Blue Collar Baseball
One of baseball's most-proven factors is what happens when hitters or pitchers get ahead in the count. Though modern baseball tends to work pitch counts to quickly tire arms, classic statistics prove just how much more dominant pitchers become if they get ahead in the count.
BC hitters faced two-strike counts 57 different times over the weekend and committed 38 different outs, illustrating just how hard the lineup had to battle against BCU pitching. Just nine of those 57, or 16%, went to full counts, while 20 ended in strikeouts.
The Eagles countered it by simply grinding away and taking advantage of opportunities. Six two-strike hits resulted in seven RBI, including a rally in the fourth inning of the second game that saw Cody Morissette and Chris Galland reach base before Brian Dempsey singled them both in. After Morissette reached via an error, Galland singled and stole second to put both runners in scoring position for Dempsey.
"You build your offense around the guys that you have and (their tools)," Gambino said. "We've always liked speed in the program, and now we have guys like Sal (Frelick) and Chris (Galland). Everyone knows that those guys are going to go when they get to first, and Dante (Baldelli) is one of those guys too. Teams are going to have to do a good job controlling runners."
It helped build confidence for when the hitters actually got ahead in counts. After amassing only two hits in the first two games with hitters' counts, BC exploded for two hits in the first inning and a monster second inning on Sunday. Dante Baldelli tripled to right to score a runner, and Dempsey, who homered in the sixth inning of Saturday, hit a ground ball to later plate him.
*****
Third Base: Power Ball
BC's reputation as a speed-first, aggressive team overshadows any belief in its ability to hit for power, but it doesn't mean the ability doesn't exist. The Eagles have five long balls through the first six games, with another erased in the rainout, with a team slugging percentage of .422 it already represents a jump in power for a team that hit just 14 bombs last season.
"Running and stealing bases is a big part of our offense," Gambino said. "(But) we have some power. We're seeing that with Dante, Sal, and other guys leaving the yard. Everyone knows what Gian (Martellini) and Jack (Cunningham) can do with going up top."
Both Frelick and Baldelli have home runs and lead the team in terms of RBI, but hitting for power goes beyond just launching over the fence. BC hitters typically pick their spots to hit to the gap, both by pulling and hitting the opposite way. The goal is just to move runners up bases and keep momentum going through a merry-go-round for the bases.
14 of the team's 70 hits are for extra bases this year, including eight doubles and a triple. The lineup is hitting .353 on balls put into play, much higher than baseball's watermark of .300, with a .422 isolated power metric. It means hitters are getting better than average contact while averaging nearly a half of an extra base per hit. Combined with the team's steal rate, which is currently 30-for-31, BC is able to advance runners, subsequently plating them, nearly every time someone gets on base.
"There is power throughout the lineup, and you combine that with speed, you can become a lethal offense," Gambino said. We have speed with flashes of power right now, but we're going to start to get more of that."
*****
Waving 'Em In: Eastern Kentucky and Evansville
All of the positives don't erase how the Eagles lost two games last weekend. Now holders of a 4-2 overall record, BC will head south again to begin its spring break trip with a series against Evansville and Eastern Kentucky in the Bluegrass State. The team will play Evansville on Friday afternoon at noon before playing EKU at 4 p.m., with return matches on Saturday. It will lead to a Wednesday game at Kentucky before next weekend's ACC opener at Louisville.
Both Evansville and EKU are like Bethune-Cookman in that they retain baseball value even if they don't carry the same name recognition. EKU went .500 in the Ohio Valley Conference last year and nearly advanced to the conference semifinals despite losing its opening game.
The OVC Champion, Tennessee Tech, finished the season nationally-ranked and advanced to within a game of the College World Series after earning a No. 2 seed in a regional hosted by Ole Miss. It won the Oxford Regional after losing to Ole Miss in the Regional Second Round, advancing through Missouri State before beating the host team twice, including a one-run ball game in the elimination game. In the Super Regional, a first game victory led to two straight losses against Texas, which advanced to Omaha.
"Edwin Thompson is a really good baseball coach (at EKU)," Gambino said. "When he took over, I knew those guys were going to become good. I'm excited to get down there and play them. I've known him for a long time."
In Evansville, meanwhile, BC gets a team trying to put together some wins after struggling last season in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Purple Aces won just 12 games last year and were eliminated in two straight in the conference tournament, but they pushed Southern Illinois to 12 innings in their elimination game. The program is just five years removed from finishing first in the conference regular season with 34 overall wins and six years removed from advancing to the MVC semifinals.
"I have a lot of respect for Evansville," Gambino said. "We're going to see some northeast weather (this weekend). It's going to be cold, so we're fine with that. It's what we're used to. I think we're just excited to get down there and play four baseball games against good opponents."
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