Despite a huge seventh inning to keep from being mercy ruled, UConn baseball couldn’t contain the Boston College hitters as it dropped a high-scoring affair against Boston College, 26-19. Seven different players posted an RBI for BC, and the Eagles scored three or more runs in six different innings.
In his first game back from a nerve issue, Tyler Minick went 3-5 with three RBIs. In the seventh inning, with the score sitting at 23-9, Minick wore a pitch on the helmet. That left the DH walking down
the line, clearly in a state of anger, and tensions running just a little bit higher.
By that point, with the score at and the Huskies seemingly only three outs from heading home early, Elliot Ballpark was so quiet that fans sitting on opposite sides of the ballpark began to share their displeasure amongst each other.
“We’re running it up twelve and now we’re hitting guys in the head?” yelled one fan seated in the second level on the third base side.
“I love to hear that, whoever said it,” shouted another fan seated down the first baseline.
It was one of five hit batsmen for BC.
Minick’s hit by pitch, however, seemed to ignite the Husky offense. It loaded the bases with no one out for three-spot hitter Chris Polemeni. The right fielder walked, adding one more RBI for a season-high three on the day. Still, it seemed as if the run was destined to become a blip within a matter of minutes.
One batter later, first baseman Jackson Marshall also walked to keep the carousel moving. Then the real fun started.
Evan Menzel slashed a double to right, scoring a pair. Then Nater Wachter singled to left to give the Huskies another. Anthony Belisario was hit by a pitch, forcing in yet another.
With the score now 23-14, third baseman Bryce Detwiler stepped up to the plate. After hitting his first career homer earlier in the game, the freshman smacked a screaming line drive through the gap in left-center all the way to the wall, scoring all three runners on base.
“I saw a fastball, it was just like pretty much middle,” Detwiler said after the game. “I put a good swing on the first pitch, and thank God it got to the fence to score three runs.”
After stranding a pair in scoring position in the eighth, it was Minick himself who kept the rally going for the Huskies. With a runner on first following a Rob Rispoli walk, Minnick lasered a long ball off the College World Series pennants hanging on the brick wall in left.
“You can see how gifted he is without seeing a live pitcher in what? Three weeks, just about?” Head Coach Jim Penders said after the game. “Maybe a little bit longer than that. To be on time tonight, I think three or four different times…he’s an impressive guy in the box, and hopefully we can get him back out in the outfield soon.”
Unfortunately for the Huskies, that late-inning rally was the end of their threat.
A three-run-shot in the top of the ninth inning from Nick Wang sealed the Huskies fate, extending the Eagles lead back to nine. The DH had already homered twice and five times in four games after today.
In the fourth at-bat of the game, Wang sent a drive towards center field with a runner on first. Though he slipped on his backswing, the stumble hardly mattered as he put enough into it to sneak it over the wall just right of the batter’s eye to make it 2-0.
In the seventh, Wang sent a no-doubter over the bullpens in left field that landed on top of the batting cages, putting the Eagles up 23-9.
It was a career day for Wang, who finished with eight RBIs, tying BC’s single-game record. Pete Frates had eight RBIs on April 14, 2007, against Maryland, according to BC’s website.
As the weather warmed up in Storrs, UConn’s pitching staff went cold.
In his third start of the year, Tristan Aasland struggled immensely to a final line of five earned runs over 1 and ⅓ innings. The junior allowed four hits and didn’t strike out a single batter. The right-hander has now allowed five earned runs in two of his first three starts as a Husky after transferring from Bellevue Community College.
The UConn bullpen wasn’t much better, allowing 21 runs, 14 earned, across 7 and ⅔ innings. The Husky defense committed five errors.
“I give Boston College credit,” Penders said after the game. “ They played better than we did, but we certainly gave them an awful lot of help.”
Garret Garbinski, the first reliever in, allowed five earned runs and brought his season ERA to an unsightly 22.85. Joe Talarico, Sam Hutchinson, Ryan Tatar, and Frank Spirito IV all made their season debuts in relief, with Talarico and Tatar making their first appearances as Huskies.
Jackson Marshall got on base a season-high five times and posted 3 RBIs, as did Nater Wachter. Menzel had two, and Righi picked up one.
The Huskies will get a second shot at the Eagles a little over a month from now, as UConn will travel to Chestnut Hill on April 15 to end the home-and-home season series.
Until then, the Huskies turn their attention to the University of Portland, as they travel to Oregon for their upcoming weekend series against the Pilots. It is the first time the two teams have ever faced off. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 9 p.m. EST on Friday.
“I don’t want to hit them when they’re down,” Penders said. “The message is, ‘you got to wash this off, and we got to get ready for a great practice tomorrow and a great lift.’ We’re going out across the country to play a really good team that’s pitched extraordinarily well in Portland, and, you know, we’re going to have our hands full, and we’ve got to watch this one off very quickly and rebound.”
