Recap & Postgame: Boston College Defeats Louisville In ACCBC Pool Play

Matt McGavicMay 22, 2019

Taking on the lowest seed in the ACC Baseball Tournament, the #7 Louisville Cardinals (43- 14) were upset by the Boston College Eagles (31-26) to the tune of 5-1 behind a stellar day from BC’s ace. The loss clinches Pool A for Boston College and prevents Louisville from advancing to the semifinal round of the ACC Baseball Championship. Senior left-hander Dan Metzdorf tossed his first complete game for the Eagles, striking out 7 Cardinals in the process. Louisville’s 3 hits on the day is their second lowest hit total of the season, having garnered only 2 base hits vs. Georgia Tech on March 22nd.

Pitching on short rest after having pitched against Florida State just five days earlier, junior left-hander Nick Bennett had himself a short but solid outing. Tossing only 3.0 innings, he was able to keep Boston College off the scoreboard during his time on the mound despite only striking out 1 batter.

When senior Bryan Hoeing came in to relieve Bennett to start the fourth, the Eagles were finally able to cash in. With the bases loaded after allowing a double and a pair of walks, the right-hander surrendered a base hit to third baseman Jake Alu to give Boston College the first runs of the ballgame.

At the plate, things weren’t faring much better for the Cards through the majority of the game. Metzdorf, who was second in the ACC in ERA behind Louisville’s Reid Detmers, had himself a day against the Cardinal Nine. In the first six innings of his start, he allowed only 2 Louisville hits and kept the Cards off the board.

However, a leadoff walk in the seventh from junior shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald followed by a double error by BC gave the Cards their first runner on third of the game. With no outs, junior first baseman and preseason All-American Logan Wyatt was able to send Fitzgerald home via the groundout and avoid the shutout.

Hoeing was able to bounce back and toss a pair of scoreless innings following the 2 run fourth inning, but the Eagles were able to take advantage of another Louisville pitching change as well as a defensive miscue by the Cards. Sending sophomore southpaw Michael Kirian out to start the seventh, he was able to toss a pair of strikeouts but a fielding error from second Justin Lavey allowed BC the opportunity to have yet another 2 run inning.

Boston College continued to keep the Cards in check until the bitter end, with the Eagles adding another run in the eighth to make it a 4 run advantage. Junior reliever Michael McAvene would toss a scoreless eight, but Dan Metzdorf would do the same in the ninth and secure BC’s upset victory over the Cards.

Louisville will be back in action tomorrow for their final game of the ACC Baseball Championship, taking on the Clemson Tigers (33-24) in their second pool play game. First pitch is also scheduled for 11am.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
UofL	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	1
BC	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	1	X	5	9	2

W: Dan Metzdorf (8-2), L: Bryan Hoeing (3-3)

Game Notes:

Junior LHP Nick Bennett ties Jeff Thompson (2011-13) for 9th in UofL career pitching starts with 37.
Junior first baseman Logan Wyatt set a new career high for walks in a single season, drawing his 64th walk of 2019 to beat his old record of 63 in 2018. He also takes sole possession of 6th place on the UofL career walks leaderboard with 130 career walks.