Christy Leath went 2-for-4 in a 7-4 loss to rival Boston College yesterday at home. Byron SmithThey kept fighting and fighting, but in the end, a grand slam tipped the scales toward Boston College. Thursday afternoon, the Boston University softball team faced off with the dreaded Eagles, and this time the Terriers lost out to the tune of 7-4.
Brittany Detwiler got the call to start the game, but got off to a rough start. Detwiler walked BC leadoff batter Angela Pandolfo, and after getting a groundout, allowed a single to Jenna Macchi, who stole second. With runners on second and third, BC singled to take a 1-0 lead and then capped off the inning with a run-scoring squeeze play.
The first inning wasn’t smooth for the Terriers on the offensive side, either. After Shayne Lotito singled and moved to second on a Tyler Benson sacrifice, she was picked off at second when she strayed too far off the base. A Christy Leath groundout ended the inning.
Detwiler gave up her second home run in two games, in the second, before she settled in to close the inning out. How things would have gone for the junior pitcher from there on will remain a mystery.
During the bottom of the second, a foul ball entered the BU dugout, and when Detwiler stepped backward onto the ball, she rolled her ankle. Detwiler left the game soon after on crutches with ice taped to her ankle.
“I told my players that we have worked too hard to give up now,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik, referring to what he said after Detwiler went down.
With their pitcher out for the game, the Terriers rallied behind each other to come back. The bottom of the second brought classic Terrier action. Brandi Shields singled to get on base, then Josey Mendez laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her to second. Senior Liz Alley then stepped up to the plate to hammer a drive to right center for a double, scoring Shields.
With her team fighting back, freshman Cassidi Hardy, in the midst of a three-game shutout streak, stepped in to relieve Detwiler. Hardy was up to the task, pitching three innings of no-hit softball, while the Terrier offense continued to surge.
“I liked the way they answered back,” Rychcik said.
Lotito, coming off an 0-for-7 day Wednesday, came back to form, leading off the fifth fighting tooth-and-nail to get on base. She fouled off ball after ball, eventually singling after seeing about 10 pitches. After Benson struck out, Lotito was almost picked off again, but rather than sliding back to first, she sprinted to second and slid in safely through the second baseman’s legs. Leath then singled Lotito over to third, who scored on a passed ball.
Needing one more run to tie, Mendez came up big, doubling to right center and scoring Leath from second to make it 3-3.
“If you can get yourself an opportunity to win you’re doing well,” Rychcik said.
Shortly after the sixth inning began, Hardy saw herself facing a bases-loaded situation with no outs after a pair of defensive mishaps. BC put two runners on when a deep shot went off Lotito’s glove and a grounder went between Shield’s legs, followed by a walk by Hardy. BC first baseman Elena Ferrero stepped up to the plate, and the worst happened. Ferrero’s bat thundered and she sent Hardy’s pitch clear over the fence – grand slam.
Showing true resilience, BU came back with a homer of its own, this one a solo shot from freshman Melissa Dubay, the first of her career, and one which she had trouble believing.
“I was shocked, it didn’t feel like I got the whole thing,” Dubay said. “I was just looking for something on the plate.”
That run was the last BU would get, and the Terriers never truly threatened the rest of the game, as they struggled with the different looks they got from four different Eagle pitchers, a rare number for softball.
“When you see a different pitcher every at-bat, it’s like you’re pinch hitting every time you go up there,” Rychcik said. “Good teams are going to shut you down, that’s just softball.”
The Terriers won the hits battle, 10-7, getting two apiece from Lotito, Leath, Shields and Alley. Hardy gave up three hits while striking out three and walking two.
BU next welcomes the University of Vermont to its home field for the Terriers’ first foray into America East Conference play. The Terriers will look to get back to the winning ways they had before the BC match-up against a Catamount team led by Kate Haber (.343 batting average) and versatile hitter/pitcher Aimee Kern. Hardy will get the call if Detwiler is unable to start the weekend. Games start Saturday at 1 p.m.
“If you have a letdown you can get beat,” Rychcik said. “I like our match-up. I think we will be pretty eager this weekend.”
