Ditching its old league for a spot in the sparkling confines of the National Club Baseball Association-the top of the food chain, as far as non-varsity competition goes-the Boston University club baseball team could easily have been due for a rude awakening in its NCBA debut last weekend.
But the Terriers were already wide awake.
BU made an enormous splash in the first games of its new era Saturday, traveling to New York and sweeping defending champion SUNY Albany in a doubleheader.
"It was a great way to go out," said BU junior captain Mike Conway. "Going in there against the defending champs of the league and sweeping them, it really starts the season off on a good note."
The wins, however, weren't without their fair share of dramatics. Junior infielder Jon Mastroianni put an exclamation mark on the day for the Terriers, smacking a walkoff two-run double in the second game to give the Terriers a 4-2 win in eight innings, after BU squeaked by in the first game, 6-5.
With the score knotted in extra innings and two men on base for the Terriers in the nightcap, Mastroianni slammed an 0-2 mistake to the centerfield wall. The hit easily scored both runners, who were off with the pitch, and unraveled what had otherwise been a tightly fought pitching duel for seven innings.
"He got ahead of me 0-2 and I fought off a few tough pitches that I was lucky to fight off, really," Mastroianni said. "He hung a curveball inside on me and I just kind of turned on it."
That also turned the tide for the Terriers, who were in danger of wasting the pitching efforts of starter Randy Forrester and settling for a weekend split. Though Forrester received a no-decision for his troubles, his 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball gave the Terriers every chance to win-and they certainly needed every chance they could get.
"Our perseverance in the second game, that's something we were really lacking last year," Conway said, attributing much of the attitude shift to new coach Brian Spadafino. "He really has us focused right now. Nobody's really thinking about anything other than winning the game."
Junior Brandon Simes took over for Forrester, finishing off the last 1 2/3 innings for the win.
Things weren't much easier in the first game for the Terriers, who came back from deficits of 2-1 and 5-4 to eventually scratch out a win in what Conway could only describe as a "catfight."
Dan Piorkowski supplied the heroics this time, mashing a three-run home run in the third inning that changed the face of the game. It wasn't the only big hit of the weekend for Piorkowski, who earned hitter of the week nominations after batting .571 over the two games.
But even after the Terriers took the lead, nothing was safe. Starter Jeff Border gave way in the sixth inning to Simes, who proceeded to load the bases with BU clinging to a 6-5 lead. But with two outs senior Matt Langford came in and put out the fire, going on to earn the save by retiring the Danes in order the next inning.
The wins were nothing short of an impact statement for the Terriers, who joined the NCBA this year after dominating the New England Club Baseball Association in seasons past. Although BU had gone 2-1 in three non-league games prior to the tilts at Albany, the Terriers had no real way to gauge where they stood among area club baseball's best.
Now they know-and rightfully, they're ecstatic. The wins over last year's defending champions immediately put BU among the favorites to take the league crown this spring, and put the Terriers one step closer to the regional finals in Williamsport, Penn., and their ultimate goal of the NCBA championship in Florida-in short, club baseball nirvana.
"We wanted to go in and really make a statement-announce our presence in the league," Conway said.
Needless to say, they've done just that. And in Mastroianni's eyes, the Terriers now have the most important part out of the way.
"We know we're good," he said. "We just wanted to come out and prove it."
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