BERKELEY – The buzz was back at Stu Gordon Stadium on Thursday night when
Max Handron and
Jacob French both homered in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the California baseball team to an 8-6 walk-off and comeback win over Boston College in the opener of a three-game ACC series. Both homers were two-run blasts with French's tying the contest at 6-6 before Handron's ended it two batters later.
Dominic Smaldino started Cal's ninth-inning rally with a one-out single before French followed with a high drive to the opposite field that just cleared the left field wall over the outstretched glove of a leaping Boston College left fielder Adam Magpoc.
PJ Moutzouridis singled on the next pitch to restart the rally before Handron's no doubter to right center field two pitches later on an 0-1 count.
Cal needed its bottom of the ninth rally after giving up two runs in the top of the frame on pinch-hitter Esteban Garcia's clutch two-out, two-RBI double snapped a 4-4 tie.
Handron (3-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) and French (3-5, 3 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) each had three-hit games with Handron also driving in a career-high-tying four runs.
Cade Campbell (2-4, 2B, RBI) and
Carl Schmidt (2-4, R, 2B, BB) added two hits each as the Bears' totaled 13 with each of the first seven hitters in the lineup collecting at least one.
Boston College totaled 11 hits with Vince Cimini (2-4, 2B), Gunnar Johnson (2-5, 3 RBI) and Patrick Roche (2-5) each registering multiple-hit contests.
Cal struck first with two runs in the bottom of the second when French led off with a double and scored two batters later when Handron followed with an RBI before a later RBI single from Campbell plated Handron.
Boston College bounced back with three runs in the top of the third as the Eagles scored three times after two were out with nobody on base. Josiah Ragsdale started the rally with a two-out walk and moved to third on Jack Toomey's single before scoring on a wild pitch. Johnson plated the second and third runs of the inning with a clutch two-out, two-run double.
The only other scoring by either team until the ninth came in the fifth with Boston College scoring once in the top and Cal twice in bottom.
Ragsdale drew his second consecutive walk to start the inning and eventually came around to score on Johnson's RBI single. The Eagles were threatening for more before Magpoc popped into a double play on a sacrifice bunt attempt. It was Boston College's second bunt miscue as they had failed to score on a safety squeeze in the fourth.
French and Handon were once again the heroes in the bottom of the sixth with RBI singles that plated Schmidt and French, respectively.
Jordy Lopez (1-0) picked his first collegiate win for the Bears despite allowing both runs in the top of the ninth. Lopez worked the final 3.0 innings as the fourth Cal pitcher after starter
Cole Tremain (1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 SO),
Ethan Foley (3.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO, 2 WP) and
Logan Piper (2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1 WSP, 1 BK).
Gavin Soares (3-1) took the loss for the Eagles, allowing five hits, four runs (four earned), one walk and striking out five. A.J. Colarusso (3.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) had started the game on the mound for the Eagles and was followed by JD Ogden (2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 1 WP) and Soares (2.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO).
The victory moved Cal (21-29, 8-20 ACC) within two games of Boston College (25-27, 10-18 ACC) in a battle for seeding at the ACC Baseball Championship next week. The Bears can still catch the Eagles with victories in each of the final games of their current three-game series that continues Friday (6 p.m. PT) before concluding with Senior Day on Saturday (1:15 p.m. PT). A live stream of both games will be available on ACCNX/ESPN+.
Pitt (10-18 ACC) and Stanford (9-19 ACC) also remain within reach of the Bears in the final ACC standings that will determine seeding for the conference championship event that features all 16 of the league's teams and will take place May 20-25 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C. Pairings and seedings will be announced following the conclusion of the regular season on Saturday.
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