@CanesBaseball Drops Series Finale to Eagles

April 28, 2013

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — In another pitchers’ duel at Eddie Pellagrini Diamond, the Miami Hurricanes fell to Boston College in extra innings by a final score of 3-2.

The Eagles tied the game late on a two-run homerun in the eighth inning, and a walk-off homer from catcher Matt Pare off Miami reliever AJ Salcines with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning sent the Eagles to a series victory.

Following up stellar starts by Chris Diaz and Bryan Radziewski in the first two games of the series, sophomore lefthander Andrew Suarez twirled a gem of his own Sunday afternoon to help guide the visitors to a rubber-match win over the Eagles (to continue a strong stretch for Miami pitchers).

The Miami, Fla., native and reigning ACC Pitcher of the Week allowed five hits on the afternoon, striking out seven while walking just one in eight innings.

Suarez, coming off a complete game shutout of then-No. 12 Clemson last time out, was unable to finish off a series win for Miami (29-18, 11-13 ACC) despite another great start. The Hurricanes’ starting rotation allowed just two earned runs over 25.0 combined innings against the Eagles, dominating to the tune of an 0.72 ERA over the weekend series.

The team’s offense struggled to generate much offense off Eagles’ starter Andrew Chin, who yielded just two hits in the game’s first six innings – both singles to junior Tyler Palmer.

Miami came close to breaking the deadlock in the fourth, but stranded Palmer at third to end the scoring chance. After the junior outfielder opened the action by reaching via bunt single, eventually advancing to third via fielder’s choice and attempted double steal, junior Brad Fieger popped out to short for the third out of the inning.

The Hurricanes offense broke through in the seventh, aided by four defensive miscues from Boston College (8-35, 2-21 ACC) in the inning. With Alex Hernandez and Chantz Mack on base via two errors from the Eagles’ infield, a failed pick-off attempt from Chin to second base sailed into centerfield to advance both runners into scoring position. A sacrifice fly from Fieger gave Miami a 1-0 advantage, while a well-executed hit-and-run down the first base line by senior Alex San Juan scored Mack from his perch at second to make it 2-0.

San Juan would advance to third on a steal and error charged to Boston College catcher Matt Pare, but was stranded there after a strikeout from freshman Christopher Barr ended the inning.

Boston College tied up the game in the eighth on a two-run homerun from pinch-hitter Chris Shaw. Suarez, who entered the eighth having retired the previous five batters, allowed a double to pinch-hitter Jimmy Dowdell before Shaw took him deep to rightfield to tie the game at 2-2. Suarez would retire the next three batters in order, finishing off his eighth and final inning.

Salcines (3-4) pitched well in relief of Suarez, allowing just two hits during his first 2.2 innings of relief. But with two outs in the 11th, Pare lined a ball deep over the rightfield fence, sending Boston College to a 3-2 walk-off win with the team’s second homerun of the game.

The Hurricanes will return to Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field Friday for their series opener with St. John’s University. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.