Terrier Baseball

- Blog post to come later tonight.

In what must’ve been a combination of having Neil Eisler show up to his first game in weeks, and playing on a little league field BU’s offense dominated Emmanuel in the Sunday morning doubleheader scoring 29 runs and hitting 6 home runs. “When Neil is here chomping on a pound of salami and babbling nonsensically, we’re inspired, and we know we have a great chance to win” said Senior Brendan Blake.

In Game one lefty Mac Hewett had another solid performance earning his third win of the season. Packing a huge lip, Mac threw six solid innings only allowing one hit, while striking out six. The offense was the story however, and according to Mac “Chicks dig the long ball” if he is indeed accurate in his assessment than the Terriers should be getting lucky tonight. The home run barrage was started by Junior Ben Burkholder in the first with a home run to left, Jon Susko followed Burkholder with a bomb of his own, and immediately sprinted around the bases in his usual intense fashion. Susko was not done however and in the sixth inning hit yet another solo home run, and was then followed by Brendan Blake who, you guessed it hit a home run. Interesting note about Blake’s home run it went as many feet (300 or so) to as many shorts he ordered for the team! In the same inning Jay “The Chemist” Godfrey hit a home run, his first of the year, the usually DEAD serious Jay actually smiled for the first time in his 3 year baseball career. The Terriers cruised to victory 12-2.

In game two, Jon Susko apparently in need of more attention and praise, hit his third home run of the day in the first inning driving in Ben Burkholder. Then things turned testy as Brendan Blake was thrown behind then drilled with a fastball in retribution after his ten minute trot rounding the bases after his home run in the first game. It didn’t bother BU though as the Terriers scored four runs in the first inning, eight runs in the second, and five runs in the fourth. The whole offense was was at the top of its game and although he didn’t have a home run today first term team president Jeremy Hartman had three hits and three RBI’s in game two with a total of six hits on the day. BU went onto win a laugher 17-3 and clinched a spot in the NECBA playoffs.

Harvard seemingly has a lot going for it, $25 billion dollar endowment, national prestige, and alumni such as JFK and Barack Obama. BU the other school right across the river, eh not so much. However the only thing that really matters as we all know is club baseball. So obviously a lot was riding on this matchup other than just a playoff spot. Opening day of the fall season Harvard came into BU’s not so nice house (Cleveland Circle), and shut the Terriers out, striking out 13 and only allowing a couple of hits. Head coach Jeff Border knew he needed someone to match Harvard’s ace so he turned to lefty stallion Mac Hewett, who was in search of his second win of the season. Mac did not disappoint and worked like Houdini in and out of tight situations, holding the smart guys to only 1 run over 4 2/3 innings.

BU’s offense was also held in check through the first 3 innings. The same SAT genius who had shut them out before seemed to be doing it again! Jon Susko led off the 4th inning with a single and immediately stole second base. After an E6 allowed the slow-footed Brendan Blake to get on base, and a flyout by Matt Walsh, Eli “Bear” Crozier stepped to the plate and belted a 2-run double to the gap in right center field. Mike “The Wolf” also wanted to get in on the feast, and drove in Eli from second capping off a three run inning for the Terriers. Crozier was not done however and in the 5th inning cranked another 2-run double giving him 4 RBI’s for the game. When asked about Crozier’s performance Robinson responded, “The Bear saw the ball well today. He’s a great competitor in anything from baseball to beirut, and as my wingman he’s always willing to take one for the team.”

Up 10-1 in the 6th, Border turned to righty Brendan Blake to shut the door on the Ivy Leaguers. Blake however was still recovering from a cankle injury that sidelined him all of last week. Against doctor’s orders Blake demonstrated his team first attitude by hobbling onto the field to close the game. It was very reminiscent of Curt Schilling’s 2004 ALCS start against the Yankees with his bloody sock, and sure enough the swollen cankle will draw similar comparisons in the lore of BU baseball. Battling through the injury Blake’s control wasn’t at its best but he fought through it giving up 5 runs just to make the game more interesting. BU then tacked on another run in the 7th on a Jeremy Hartman triple, and Jake “The Journalist” Seiner RBI, which pretty much sealed the deal for BU’s 11-6 victory.

BU Injury Report:

Brendan Blake (Day to Day): Injured Cankle. Luckily the injury will not effect his speed. He will still be slow.

Neal Eisler (Who knows): Bruised ego after Holy Cross game/Injured wrist.

Jonathan Mancini (60-day DL): Torn meniscus. Proves Canadiens should stick to hockey and whatever else they do up there, eh.

On a chilly Halloween last year in Lynn, Massachusetts, Boston University and the Bridgton Academy met in a win or go home playoff elimination game. That afternoon Bridgton got the best of BU ending their fall season on a sour note. Bridgton would go on to play Northeastern in the championship game while BU thought about what could have been.

This regular season game did not have the same implications for either team however, much like an elephant a Terrier never forgets and thus this was an important game for BU to reestablish themselves as the cream of the crop in the NECBA. So after tending to their wounds with magic ancient Chinese Tiger Balm ointment, the Terriers were ready to go sending Senior lefty Mac Hewett to the mound. With the presence of his father in attendance Hewett pitched a gutsy game only allowing two earned runs over 5 1/3 innings. Considering the ever tightening strike zone on the lefty and defensive lapses that allowed runs to score and innings to continue, Mac’s performance kept BU in the game.

After allowing one run in the first BU answered right back as the Wolf singled and eventually scored on a balk. Bridgton tacked on a run in the third, fifth and six innings to take a 4-2 lead. Undeterred, the always intense Jon Susko led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a single and scored on a Hartman ground ball that was booted by the Bridgton second baseman. Any hopes of a sustained rally in that inning were quickly quashed when senior Jake Seiner hit into an inning ending 6-4-3 double play. Out of the bullpen Brendan Blake came in and shut down Bridgton keeping BU within striking distance for the bottom of the seventh.

Leading off the inning was junior Eli Crozier, whose extra hour of sleep that morning sure paid off as he belted a double to rightfield. Freshman Brian Elberg, who also decided to be fashionably late, should’ve just stayed in bed as he was unable to bunt the tying run to third base. Robinson, who has been no stranger to getting beaned this weekend found himself hit by yet another pitch, so with only one out and runners on first and second Ben ‘The Puma’ Burkholder stepped in the box. In what seemed like fate only a week after the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Burkholder drove a fastball deep into the gap in left center field. Crozier came around to score easily to tie the game and right behind him was Robinson sprinting from first to win the game in walk-off fashion. Pandemonium ensued as BU stormed the field, mobbing Robinson at home plate and Burkholder at second base. In their most exciting and competitive game of the year BU showed a lot of heart in battling back against a quality opponent. Asked about how he felt his team played and their chances in the playoffs head coach and club baseball alum Jeff Border proclaimed, “We’re back.”

After a hard fought game against Holy Cross the night before, BU looked to continue with that momentum and pick up another win against Bard College. However it turned into a glorified batting practice session as the Terriers put up four touchdowns with a missed extra point. The Terriers scored so frequently that by the time the third inning came around the fourteen run cushion was enough to let righty relieving flamethrower Andrew Kratzer pitch. Kratzer, who was in his second relief appearance of the season went three strong innings striking out four and only walking one! He even got to hit picking up a base knock and an RBI in two at bats. Roughly everyone got a hit, and even Brendan Blake managed to hit a ball that rolled all the way to the wall, way to go.

In after the game festivities Michael ‘The Wolf’ Robinson pinned Jon Susko for the ten count, in an upset victory of beast vs. beast.

After an unspeakably disastrous weekend against Vermont that left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, BU’s season was on the line Friday night against Holy Cross. As Junior Matt Walsh put it, “This is the season guys, this is a must win game.” The offense responded in a big way puting up four runs in the first inning on three successive hits by Jon Susko, Brendan Blake, and Matt Walsh. The hitting barrage continued in the second and third innings as BU put up six more runs capped off by a three-run double by Junior outfielder Ben Burkholder.

Twelve runs looked like it would be enough for BU especially with the happy go lucky Neal Eisler on the mound. However, Neal had complained of wrist pain and may have caught food poisoning from some bad meat. So after breezing through the first three innings Holy Cross touched up Eisler for six runs in the fourth. What looked like was going to be a laugher turned into a game as the Crusaders fought back. Junior Jay Godfrey relieved Neal and was able to get the Terriers out of the inning. Godfrey was not able to hold the Crusaders for long as they promptly loaded the bases in the fifth inning. In entered the seldom used, left-handed funnyman, Drew Egan in a high pressure situation with BU barely holding onto a four run lead. Facing the top of the order he was able to get a sac fly to center allowing a run to score, then put down Holy Cross in order without giving up another run.

BU tacked on two more runs in the sixth thanks to RBI’s by Michael ‘The Wolf’ Robinson and sophomore Jeremy Hartman who broke out of his slump at the plate with two hits on the day. With a little more breathing room, Egan then shut down the Crusaders 1,2,3 in consecutive innings to pick up the save. After the game Mike Robinson spoke very highly of the lefty’s performance out of the bullpen, “Drew really brought his A game tonight. He was throwing ched and bailed us out of a tough spot like a true stallion.”