Duke Drops 6-3 Decision to Boston College

Saturday, March 28

Newark, Del.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Boston College

Duke Drops 6-3 Decision to Boston College

3/28/2015 5:24:00 PM | Baseball

By: Duke Sports Information

NEWARK, Del. – After Duke fought back to tie the game in the top of the ninth, the Eagles' Chris Shaw belted a walkoff three-run homer in the bottom half to help Boston College to a 6-3 victory over the Blue Devils Saturday afternoon at the University of Delaware's Bob Hannah Stadium.

Trailing 3-1 entering the ninth, Duke (19-8, 4-7 ACC) rallied for two runs on three hits and an error to even the score. A base hit and a walk set the tables for Shaw, who sent his seventh home run of the season over the right field wall.

Six of the Blue Devils' nine hits came over the final three innings as Boston College (10-13, 3-7 ACC) outhit Duke, 13-9. The Eagles also capitalized on three Duke errors and scored two unearned runs to stake a 2-0 advantage after six. Second baseman Jake Palomaki went 4-for-5 with two runs scored to lead Boston College.

In his first start of the season, Boston College's Mike King kept the Blue Devil bats at bay for the majority of his outing. King covered 6.2 innings, allowing a run on four hits. He struck out four and walked one while retiring 17 of the 19 batters he faced from the second to the seventh.

Senior Andy Perez laced a triple down the right field line, his second triple of the year, to begin the ballgame. Perez would be the only Duke runner to reach scoring position against King until the seventh.

Three Blue Devils added two hits apiece in Peter Zyla, Jalen Phillips and Kenny Koplove. Phillips came up with two key RBI singles, one to put Duke on the board in the seventh and the second to tie the game with two outs in the ninth.

Duke fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the second as Boston College benefitted from a Blue Devil miscue. Nick Sciortino's second double of the weekend placed a runner in scoring position and the Eagles' catcher moved to third following the error. First baseman Mitch Bigras then lifted a fly ball deep enough to score Sciortino.

The Eagles took advantage of a second Duke miscue in the sixth to stake a 2-0 advantage. Sciortino reached via the error and wound up scoring on a Stephen Sauter RBI base knock.

Starter Andrew Istler deserved a better fate after not allowing an earned run in a no decision. Boston College touched Istler for two runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings. The Wellington, Fla., native fanned four and walked just one batter.

A two-out rally in the seventh trimmed the margin to a lone run. Zyla extended his hit streak to four games with a two-out single over second base. Following a Miller walk, drilled an RBI base hit through the right side, good for his 16^th RBI of the season. However, Boston College was able to pick off the runner at third on a double steal to conclude the stanza.

Boston College added a run in the bottom half to counter the Duke tally. Palomaki lined a soft double to left before crossing home on a Michael Strem RBI base knock.

The 3-1 stood until the ninth when Duke rallied to knot the score at three-all. A dropped pop up in the infield began the rally and Cris Perez kept it alive with a one-out base hit. Zyla flared an RBI single into right center to keep the Blue Devils alive. Down to its final out, Duke got an RBI single from Phillips to even the game, 3-3.

Once again, Boston College countered and began a rally of its own beginning with a Palomaki infield single off Mitch Stallings (3-3). Stallings would go on to suffer the loss after Shaw homered off Koplove to end the game.

Duke and Boston College meet for the series finale at 12 p.m., Sunday, Mar. 28 at Delaware's Hannah Stadium.

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