Todd Interdonato was visibly determined to keep Cesar Gonzalez on the mound.
After pulling starter A.J. Colarusso, Gonzalez silenced Clemson’s offense in 1-2-3 fashion in the bottom of the seventh, and gave up just a walk in the eighth.
With an 8-4 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, however, Gonzalez walked two of the first three batters he faced, which prompted a brief mound visit.
Nevertheless, Interdonato gave Gonzalez the nod to stay on the bump, and he managed to record the final two outs of the game with conviction by inducing a grounder and a fly-out, cementing an 8-4 victory for No. 20 Boston College baseball (35-14, 17-8 ACC) over the Tigers (26-20, 6-16 ACC).
The Eagles’ 17th league win of the year set a program record, and BC also broke a school record for total stolen bases in a season, reaching 131 on the year with Ty Mainolfi’s stolen base in the top of the ninth.
Colarusso was dominant in his start, in which he scattered six hits and allowed four runs — only two of which he earned — while notching eight strikeouts, which marked a season-high for the veteran lefty. Of his 85 total pitches, he threw 60 for strikes.
Gonzalez recorded his third save of the year with the three-inning relief outing, meanwhile. On top of fanning three Tigers in the outing, he did not surrender a hit and did not give up a run, which lowered his ERA to 2.40.
Nick Wang, BC’s home-run leader, blasted a solo shot in the top of the first to give the Eagles an early lead, which they padded on top of with three runs in the top of the second.
Following Danny Surowiec’s double to right field, Ben Williams ripped an RBI double to the same spot. Julio Solier then notched an RBI single through the right side of the infield, and Wang doubled down the right-field line to score Solier for his second RBI of the game.
In the bottom of the second, Clemson cut its deficit to 4-2 on a throwing error by Luke Gallo, which allowed Tyler Lichtenberger and Jason Fultz Jr. to score, but Colarusso stopped the damage there by punching out Nate Savoie.
In the very next frame, Kyle Wolff sent a moonshot over the left-field fence for his fifth homer of the year, which also scored Gallo, who had previously singled.
The Tigers brought BC’s lead back down to two in the bottom of the fifth, as Jacob Jarrell ripped a two-RBI homer to left field.
But the Eagles put the game out of reach with another two runs in the top of the ninth, which started with Mainolfi’s RBI single through the left side.
After Gunnar Johnson reached on a fielding error, which put runners on the corners as Mainolfi swiped third, Gallo executed a safety squeeze to perfection to bring in BC’s eighth, and final run of the game.
Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram for the latest Boston College news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
