SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Boston College's Gunnar Johnson hit a pinch-hit, three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to help break a 4-4 tie, and John Kwiatkowski held off a ninth-inning rally to lead the Eagles to a 7-6 victory over the Cornell baseball team on the final day of the Hub City Invitational at Fifth Third Park.
Johnson's blast off Cornell senior left-handed reliever
Noah Keller capped a three-run eighth that put Boston College (4-2) ahead for good after junior second baseman
Owen Carlson had tied the game with a one-out, two-run home run earlier in the inning.
Cornell (0-4) made it close in the ninth. Freshman left fielder
Trent Lopez's two-run double to left field pulled the Big Red within one, and sophomore pinch-hitter
Jayden Shin reached on an error to put runners on the corners with one out. Kwiatkowski retired the next two batters to escape the high-leverage situation and preserve the win.
Senior right-handed pitcher
Ethan Hamill, making his first collegiate appearance since May 2024, struck out five Boston College batters over four innings. Tyler Mudd allowed just two hits with five strikeouts over six innings in his start for the Eagles.
The Eagles scored first on Jack Toomey's RBI triple in the first inning before Cornell took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a Boston College error and a sacrifice fly by freshman third baseman
Aiden Barclay. Boston College retook the lead in the fifth when a balk by Cornell freshman
Michael Tight forced in a run before a sacrifice fly by Julio Solier.
Carlson and Lopez each drove in two runs apiece for the Big Red, who had five different players register hits on the day.
GAME NOTES
• Boston College extended its lead in the series against Cornell, improving to 4-1 all-time against the Big Red.
• Senior first baseman
TJ Swidorski was hit by two pitches on the day, the first time a Cornell player was hit by multiple pitches since
Mark Quatrani at Harvard on April 20, 2025.
• Junior shortstop
Kevin Hager extended his reached base streak to 18 games after being hit by a pitch in the ninth inning. Carlson also has reached base safely in each of his last 15 contests.
• Carlson and Hower each had at least one hit in all four games of the Hub City Invitational.
UP NEXT
Cornell will continue its season-opening 16-game road trip next weekend when it heads to Richmond, Va., for a three-game series against Richmond. All three games between the Big Red and Spiders are scheduled for 1 p.m. first pitches and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
