Series Slips Away From BC in Blacksburg

BLACKSBURG, Va. – A day after losing a five-run lead, the Boston College baseball team was unable to hold on to a 3-0 lead in the sixth as it fell to No. 13 Virginia Tech, 4-3, at English Field on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles dropped the series and evened their overall record at 13-13 and moved to 4-11 in the ACC, while the Hokies improved to 15-9 and 11-7.

For the third game in a row, BC grabbed an immediate lead with one run in the top of the first. The Eagles added two runs in the third, including the second RBI-single of the early-going from sophomore third baseman Luke Gold (Ballston, N.Y.), but Virginia Tech held BC to just two hits after the fifth inning and 3-for-12 on the day with runners in scoring position.

Graduate right-hander Alex Stiegler (Dallas, Texas) kept the Hokies scoreless through five, but surrendered the three-run lead on back-to-back homers in the sixth. Right fielder Gavin Cross hit a two-run shot followed by first baseman TJ Rumfield's game-tying blast.

A leadoff-walk spelled defeat in the eighth. Third baseman Kevin Madden, who provided the walk-off hit on Friday, reached on four pitches, stole second, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a groundball to second, beating the throw home.

Boston College got the tying run into scoring position with one out in the ninth. Graduate right fielder Dante Baldelli (Cumberland, R.I.) drew a leadoff-walk and junior center fielder Sal Frelick (Lexington, Mass.), who was 0-for-9 in the first two games of the series, delivered his fourth hit of the afternoon; a single. With two down, VT went to its bullpen and Graham Firoved nailed down the save with a pop out in foul ground.

Lefty Matthew Siverling (4-0) got the win in 1.2-scoreless innings. BC's freshman lefty Joe Vetrano (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) took the loss in an inning; allowing one run on four hits and a walk with one strikeout. Stiegler went 6.1 with three runs charged to him on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Lefty Shane Connolly was lifted after a four-inning start and three runs on eight hits and a walk plus four strikeouts for the Hokies.

DETAILS
Score: No. 13 Virginia Tech 4, Boston College 3
Records: Virginia Tech 15-9, 11-7; Boston College 13-13, 4-11
Location: English Field
Attendance: 967

BC Highlights

Dempsey and Frelick singled to set the table in the first and Gold drove in the first run of the game.
Gold and Cimini each drove in single runs with RBI-singles in the third.
The Eagles turned inning-ending double plays to fend off the Hokies in the fourth and fifth and another in the seventh to preserve a 3-3 tie.

Game Notes

Virginia Tech leads the all-time series, 28-23.
The VT bullpen boasted an ERA of 1.13 and WHIP of 1.13 in the series as BC was outscored 11-1 on the weekend after the fifth inning.
Frelick recorded his 13^th multi-hit game of the season and 34^th of his career.
Frelick matched his career-high with his second career four-hit day.
Gold tallied his 11^th multi-hit and 11^th multi-RBI game of the season.

UP NEXT
Boston College is at Northeastern for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch from Brookline on Tuesday.

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Team Stats

Sal Frelick

Luke Gold

Brian Dempsey

Vince Cimini

Players Mentioned

Dante Baldelli

Sal Frelick

Luke Gold

Alex Stiegler

Joe Vetrano

Players Mentioned

Dante Baldelli

Sal Frelick

Luke Gold

Alex Stiegler

Joe Vetrano