BOSTON — He’s been in this ballpark frequently enough to know that can happen.

How Pesky’s Pole down the right-field line at Fenway Park can provide life to baseballs seemingly headed for foul ground.

“I know it’s short down there,” said Evan Blanco, Virginia’s starting pitcher who grew up 15 minutes from the home of the Boston Red Sox, where the No. 14 Hoos played for the first time ever in a big-league venue on Thursday night against Boston College in the Eagles’ annual ALS Awareness game.

And in a one-run contest in the fourth inning, Blanco’s 1-2 fastball located on the outside corner was swatted the opposite way on a fly by BC slugger Vince Cimini.

Virginia pitcher Evan Blanco delivers during the Cavaliers' loss to Boston College on Thursday at Fenway Park.

Off the bat, the ball appeared destined to veer right of the foul pole. But Pesky’s Pole stands only 302 feet away from home plate — the closest outfield-wall dimension in all of Major League Baseball — providing Cimini the short distance he needed for a round-tripper. The ball stayed fair over fence before wrapping right around the pole for a two-run home run, giving Boston College cushion in its eventual 8-2 series-opening victory over the Cavaliers.

People are also reading…

“When he first hit it, no,” Blanco didn’t think it’d be a homer, he said, but when it didn’t hook, his thought went the other way.

“Usually, you see that from left-handed hitters,” Cavaliers coach Brian O’Connor said about Cimini’s longball. “But, you know, the kid put a good swing on the ball.”

Virginia's Brian O'Connor discusses the Cavaliers' experience playing at Fenway Park and the Hoos' loss to Boston College.

Blanco didn’t let that only-at-Fenway homer bother him, though. As he’s done all spring as UVa’s most consistent pitcher, Blanco worked deep into the contest for a quality start.

A loud contingent of family and friends sitting next to the Cavaliers’ dugout watched him closely. A native of Woburn, Massachusetts, Blanco had made many visits to the ballpark with his mom, his cousins and friends in the past, but never had played there.

“It was definitely a dream come true,” Blanco said, “and when I first got out there, I took a second and kind of looked around, but I knew it was time to go to work. It was awesome.”

He threw six-plus frames, racking up seven strikeouts in a hard-luck loss. The other pitch Blanco made a mistake on was the one Parker Landwehr, who was 4-for-4 for BC, sent into the right-field bullpen for a solo homer that put the Eagles in front 1-0 in the third inning.

The southpaw, Blanco, kept the Cavaliers competitive, but problematically their normally relentless offense was anything but on Thursday.

UVa entered the bout leading the country in hits and doubles and was second nationally for runs scored.

The Hoos had chances, too, against the Eagles, whose pitching staff issued eight walks to the Cavaliers. But scoring opportunities in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings went wasted.

UVa left 13 men on base and didn’t get on the board until the visiting eighth when Henry Godbout’s sacrifice fly sent Harrison Didawick home after he ripped a triple off the center-field wall. Godbout’s RBI cut the Eagles’ deficit to 4-1.

It was too late then.

Virginia's Harrison Didawick scores a run in the Cavaliers' loss to Boston College on Thursday at Fenway Park.

“We’ve just got to compete a little better,” Didawick said.

O’Connor said: “It happens sometimes. They walked eight of our hitters and we had a lot of opportunities, it’s just our approach in those opportunities wasn’t what it needed to be. We didn’t barrel balls up and there were a lot of strikeouts.”

In the fifth, UVa loaded the bases with one out, but cleanup man Henry Ford popped out before Jacob Ference struck out looking to end the threat. An inning later, Luke Hanson struck out and Griff O’Ferrall popped out with two runners on, wasting another prime chance to pull closer to the Eagles, tie the score or go ahead of them.

BC (21-19, 8-14 ACC) piled on with four runs in the eighth, putting the game out of reach for the Cavaliers (31-12, 12-10 ACC), who still soaked in the experience of playing in America’s oldest big-league stadium and the historic venue that greats like Ted Williams, Carlton Fisk, Carl Yastrzemski, Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz all previously called home.

As the Hoos walked onto the field at Fenway, they gathered for photos using the Green Monster as the backdrop and then went into the Green Monster and signed it as so many Major Leaguers have before.

There wasn’t anyone dressed in their road greys without a smile on their face.

“Fenway is a place you want to play at growing up,” Didawick said. “It was a lot of fun to be here and be like a big-leaguer for a day.”

In pregame, Didawick, UVa’s left fielder, tossed the ball off the Monster over and over again to get a feel for how it would bounce off once the game began. He was tested when it happened in the fifth, but retrieved it cleanly and fired into second to hold Landwehr to a long single.

“It was like were little kids having fun,” Didawick said.

There were other standout moments, too, for the visitors like when Didawick powered that triple to the deepest part of outfield and then hustled around the bases. And when the second baseman Godbout, who grew up a Red Sox fan, made a smooth, sliding back-handed snag on a grounder before flipping to O’Ferrall at shortstop for a fielder’s choice to finish the sixth inning.

Of course, Blanco threw well.

“It was a neat experience that it worked out for him to pitch in this ballpark,” O’Connor said. “I know he’s come to a lot of Red Sox games over the years and for his family and friends to see him pitch is a special opportunity. And hey, I know he gave up the two home runs, but when you go pitch six innings and only give up three runs in a college baseball game, it’s a pretty darn good start.”

Virginia's Evan Blanco, left, and Ethan Anderson first bump during the Cavaliers' loss to Boston College on Thursday at Fenway Park.

Blanco varied his pitches well. In the second inning, he used his changeup to strike out BC’s four-hitter Nick Wang and in the next frame it was precisely-placed fastball up-and-in to Cam Caraher that got Caraher swinging.

“I think I pitched well,” Blanco said. “I got swings and misses when I needed it and I executed pitches at a high level. A couple of hard-hit balls led to home runs and if I’m giving up runs on home runs, that’s the only thing I want to do. I prefer to keep runners off bases and manage the game, manage situations and I felt like I did a good job of that.”

He didn’t blame the offense, either, for the setback and said he knows his teammates will bounce back on Friday when the Hoos and Eagles play Game 2 of the series in Chestnut Hill.

“It just wasn’t our night,” O’Connor said. “It’s unfortunate because you just don’t get these kind of opportunities, so the fact we didn’t play really good baseball is disappointing but this is about a series and not just one game, though, we feel very honored to have been part of it.”

Thursday marked the 12th ALS Awareness game that BC has played and fifth time its been held at Fenway Park. It’s played in honor of former Eagles captain Pete Frates, who was diagnosed with the disease in 2012 and passed away in 2019.