BOSTON — Boston College baseball coach Mik Aoki still needs more time.
More time after the Eagles’ 25-inning loss to absorb what it means to have been a part of the longest baseball game in NCAA history.

“I’ll hopefully be able to get a little perspective on it,” Aoki said after returning to campus Monday, two days after the 3-2 loss to Texas. “Right now it’s a bitter pill, between the 25-innning loss and the loss to Army yesterday.”
The Eagles’ bus pulled onto campus and was greeted by a half-dozen members of the athletic department staff, waving pompons, and the same number of reporters asking about the school’s first at-large bid to the NCAA tournament since 1967. BC beat Texas State in the first game to earn a matchup with No. 1 overall seed Texas in the double-elimination tournament.
After giving up a two-run homer in the second, BC tied it with one run in the fourth and another in the sixth, and it stayed that way through nine ... and 10, and 11 and all the way until the top of the 25th inning.
Connor Rowe drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a wild pitch. He scored when Travis Tucker hit a 3-2 pitch for a grounder through the right side of the infield.
“At some point, it just took on a surreal quality,” Aoki said. “It was unfortunate that we came out on the wrong side, but it was amazing.”
The game that started at 7:02 p.m. EDT wasn’t in the books until 2:05 a.m. — 7 hours, 3 minutes later, after the 11:05 game at the Irvine, Calif., regional had started and finished. The teams combined for 683 pitches and set NCAA records with 42 strikeouts, 222 total chances, 69 assists, 192 plate appearances and 171 at-bats.
As each record was set, the announcer read it off over the public address system.
“They kept throwing up outs, and we kept going up there. All of us were dead, but we realized what was on the line,” said BC infielder Mickey Wiswall, who played almost a full nine innings at third base before moving over to first for another full game and then back across the diamond to complete the tripleheader. “I took a couple moments during the game to take a deep breath. It was something special to be a part of.”
BC junior Tony Sanchez, expected to be a high pick in the major league draft next week, caught all 25 innings. When he got back to his room at about 2:30 a.m. he had about 30 text messages waiting for him, plus voice mails and e-mails and “my Facebook was blowing up.” He was back in the lineup Sunday, about 9 hours after getting to sleep, but as the designated hitter, for a 4-3 loss to Army that eliminated the Eagles.
“I feel really good about this team,” he said. “It stinks that we’re going to end like this, but you can’t look back.”