The best Boston College baseball season of its Atlantic Coast Conference tenure, if not longer, awaits an extension by the NCAA.
The No. 20 Eagles lost, 4-1, to No. 8 Clemson Friday in Durham, N.C., the Tigers advancing to the ACC tournament semifinals and BC left to await a likely at-large berth in the Division 1 tournament. Regional hosts are scheduled to be announced Sunday, with the full 64-team field out at noon Monday.
Clemson (41-17) scored two runs each in the first and second innings, all charged to graduate starter Chris Flynn. Junior righthander John West of Shrewsbury kept it close, retiring the first 12 batters he faced to begin 5⅔ scoreless innings of relief, but the Eagles (35-18) were held to three hits and were scoreless until sophomore third baseman Nick Wang — a Phillips Exeter alumnus from Newton — cracked a solo home run with two outs in the ninth.
Advertisement
A hit batter and a walk brought the tying run to the plate, but pinch-hitter Daniel Baruch struck out against Tigers closer Ryan Ammons.
BC, which entered the postseason with the nation’s No. 14 RPI and No. 30 strength of schedule, was seeded sixth in the ACC, its highest mark since joining the conference in 2006. The Eagles beat Virginia Tech in their ACC tournament opener Tuesday, 11-7, and with the NCAA bid pending are two wins shy of the program record of 37, set in 2005 when BC went 37-20 in its final season in the Big East Conference.
BC last reached the NCAAs in 2016, when it came within one game of its first College World Series appearance since 1967.