Boston College Athletics
Photo by: Meg Kelly
Colarusso Leading Arms Development Into South Bend
April 24, 2026 | Baseball, #ForBoston Files
BC's longest-ever starting pitcher is the perfect indicator of year-over-year success.
AJ Colarusso's first pitch to Tyler Albright offered nothing flashy to the beginning of last Friday's series-opening baseball game between Duke and Boston College. The Blue Devils sought to unseat a team ranked well within the top-25 at a time when the Eagles caught fire against non-conference competition, and a fastball registering 90 miles per hour on a radar gun certainly wasn't unusual for a left-handed arm in his first action against a lineup littered with right-handed hitters.Â
Yet that one pitch meant more to the Boston College record books than most of the 2,000 fans in attendance at the Harrington Athletics Village could have realized. One pitch - one throw on a night when Colarusso pitched a seven-inning complete game as part of Birdball's 11-1 run-rule victory - set a notable record far askew from the base-running exploits still yet to unfold. That one moment was perhaps as innocuous as anything in baseball, but it transformed Colarusso into an immortal that started more games than any other pitcher in the 80-year history of Boston College baseball.
"I was first told about it a few weeks in advance," noted Colarusso ahead of this weekend's expected start against Notre Dame, "but it was in the back of my mind because I just wanted to focus on every week. In terms of how I felt about the record, it's that I'm so proud just to have been able to represent BC, that many times and with consistency. I love this place and the team and the program and everything that we're about, so it's an honor to just be [on a list] with a lot of the talented pitchers in this program, representing BC in that way, by doing what I love."
The modern structure surrounding college baseball amplifies a multitude of challenges associated with finding consistent starting pitching. The ever-present transfer portal is particularly associated with a shorter lifespan among rotations that find players within the bidirectional transition between programs. A young budding arm more seldom receives the runway to learn how to pitch at a collegiate level, and programs face a win-now mentality forcing field managers and player personnel coordinators to increasingly scout players who went through trials at other institutions.
Colarusso, however, started his career by earning a midweek starting role on a top-10 team bound for the NCAA Tournament. He never pitched outings longer than three or four innings, and his midweek outings against local competition from Northeastern, Connecticut, UMass, Dartmouth and UMass-Lowell positioned him as an effective opener for Matthew Nunan, Sean Hard and other non-conference staples before his second season placed him at the outset of conference play.
Innings extended, and his ERA dropped as a strikeouts-to-walks ratio increased by nearly a full quarter whiff-rate compared to his free passes. His opposing batting average dropped by 35 points while he began throwing more frequently to tougher conference rosters. By the end of 2026, those metrics all trended positively for a second straight year, and ERA went down by more than two runs per game while his opposing batting average dropped by another 30 points. Other ratios, including his strikeout rate, remained constant while he began inducing less damaging contact.
"I'm able to trust my preparation daily," said Colarusso, "and that allows me to be fully convicted on the mound, in every pitch that I throw. That's what's enabled me to have more success, and in terms of my arsenal, I've worked on things like pitch shapes and velocity on my off-speed [because] those things are testaments to the development that I've had."
None of those attributes are naturally flashy. A left-handed mechanic that's six-feet tall doesn't feature the bulldog reputation of the burly fireballer, but understanding how to pitch is more important than the actual speed. Situational pitchers - the Rembrandts like Jon Lester and Tom Glavine - fully grasp how and when to throw certain pitches in certain situations.
Even in last week's start against Duke, the pitcher who lost the first hitter on four pitches rallied to induce two grounders to short, and the inning ended with baseball's sad lexicon playing out on consecutive 6-4-3 opportunities. Just one hitter reached base until the fourth inning, and a jam caused by a bases-loaded situation with nobody out ended with one run allowed - on a double play that occurred before an inning-ending strikeout sent an 8-1 game into the fifth.
"Even last year, I always felt like I had a pretty good fastball," said Colarusso. "I've always had that big, overhand, slow curve ball, so my development really comes from [improving] a cutter and an off-speed pitch. I had a slider during sophomore year that was a little slow and didn't have the sharpest movement, so a few weeks into last season and my junior year, I changed my mindset to throw it like a cutter - throwing it harder with a sharper movement. Then came a changeup, and now I'm the most confident in it."
Boston College has long willed its program to embrace that type of thoughtful development, and Colarusso's numbers offer a torch-passing from those previous generations. He now ranks first with 44-and-counting career starts, having passed Jacob Stevens, and his 212.2 innings are within one or two starts of the top-10. Strikeouts are peeking into the top-10, but his walks allowed dwarf most of the program's history by falling well short of 100 free passes.
"Everyone really believes that we're one of the best teams in the country," he said, "and I think every guy, one through nine, knows what he needs to do to help us win. We compete really hard, and everyone knows that he can contribute to winning. Our coaching staff has done a phenomenal job in helping us not look at the big picture because there's a mental toughness with focusing on the next game. All we care about, right now, is getting our 15th ACC win."
Now ranked No. 22 in the nation, BC heads to Notre Dame after losing its midweek matchup against Maine. Game times are set for Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 6:30 p.m, 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. Live stats can be accessed by visiting BCEagles.com.
Yet that one pitch meant more to the Boston College record books than most of the 2,000 fans in attendance at the Harrington Athletics Village could have realized. One pitch - one throw on a night when Colarusso pitched a seven-inning complete game as part of Birdball's 11-1 run-rule victory - set a notable record far askew from the base-running exploits still yet to unfold. That one moment was perhaps as innocuous as anything in baseball, but it transformed Colarusso into an immortal that started more games than any other pitcher in the 80-year history of Boston College baseball.
"I was first told about it a few weeks in advance," noted Colarusso ahead of this weekend's expected start against Notre Dame, "but it was in the back of my mind because I just wanted to focus on every week. In terms of how I felt about the record, it's that I'm so proud just to have been able to represent BC, that many times and with consistency. I love this place and the team and the program and everything that we're about, so it's an honor to just be [on a list] with a lot of the talented pitchers in this program, representing BC in that way, by doing what I love."
The modern structure surrounding college baseball amplifies a multitude of challenges associated with finding consistent starting pitching. The ever-present transfer portal is particularly associated with a shorter lifespan among rotations that find players within the bidirectional transition between programs. A young budding arm more seldom receives the runway to learn how to pitch at a collegiate level, and programs face a win-now mentality forcing field managers and player personnel coordinators to increasingly scout players who went through trials at other institutions.
Colarusso, however, started his career by earning a midweek starting role on a top-10 team bound for the NCAA Tournament. He never pitched outings longer than three or four innings, and his midweek outings against local competition from Northeastern, Connecticut, UMass, Dartmouth and UMass-Lowell positioned him as an effective opener for Matthew Nunan, Sean Hard and other non-conference staples before his second season placed him at the outset of conference play.
Innings extended, and his ERA dropped as a strikeouts-to-walks ratio increased by nearly a full quarter whiff-rate compared to his free passes. His opposing batting average dropped by 35 points while he began throwing more frequently to tougher conference rosters. By the end of 2026, those metrics all trended positively for a second straight year, and ERA went down by more than two runs per game while his opposing batting average dropped by another 30 points. Other ratios, including his strikeout rate, remained constant while he began inducing less damaging contact.
"I'm able to trust my preparation daily," said Colarusso, "and that allows me to be fully convicted on the mound, in every pitch that I throw. That's what's enabled me to have more success, and in terms of my arsenal, I've worked on things like pitch shapes and velocity on my off-speed [because] those things are testaments to the development that I've had."
None of those attributes are naturally flashy. A left-handed mechanic that's six-feet tall doesn't feature the bulldog reputation of the burly fireballer, but understanding how to pitch is more important than the actual speed. Situational pitchers - the Rembrandts like Jon Lester and Tom Glavine - fully grasp how and when to throw certain pitches in certain situations.
Even in last week's start against Duke, the pitcher who lost the first hitter on four pitches rallied to induce two grounders to short, and the inning ended with baseball's sad lexicon playing out on consecutive 6-4-3 opportunities. Just one hitter reached base until the fourth inning, and a jam caused by a bases-loaded situation with nobody out ended with one run allowed - on a double play that occurred before an inning-ending strikeout sent an 8-1 game into the fifth.
"Even last year, I always felt like I had a pretty good fastball," said Colarusso. "I've always had that big, overhand, slow curve ball, so my development really comes from [improving] a cutter and an off-speed pitch. I had a slider during sophomore year that was a little slow and didn't have the sharpest movement, so a few weeks into last season and my junior year, I changed my mindset to throw it like a cutter - throwing it harder with a sharper movement. Then came a changeup, and now I'm the most confident in it."
Boston College has long willed its program to embrace that type of thoughtful development, and Colarusso's numbers offer a torch-passing from those previous generations. He now ranks first with 44-and-counting career starts, having passed Jacob Stevens, and his 212.2 innings are within one or two starts of the top-10. Strikeouts are peeking into the top-10, but his walks allowed dwarf most of the program's history by falling well short of 100 free passes.
"Everyone really believes that we're one of the best teams in the country," he said, "and I think every guy, one through nine, knows what he needs to do to help us win. We compete really hard, and everyone knows that he can contribute to winning. Our coaching staff has done a phenomenal job in helping us not look at the big picture because there's a mental toughness with focusing on the next game. All we care about, right now, is getting our 15th ACC win."
Now ranked No. 22 in the nation, BC heads to Notre Dame after losing its midweek matchup against Maine. Game times are set for Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 6:30 p.m, 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. Live stats can be accessed by visiting BCEagles.com.
Players Mentioned
RHP
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