Mired in a three-game losing streak, the Boston University softball team will look to get back to winning this weekend in a three-game series against University of Maryland-Baltimore County at the BU Softball Field. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m., and will wrap up the series with a game on Sunday at noon.
UMBC (18-12, 3-3 America East) swept a three-game series last weekend when they visited Stony Brook University, bringing its conference record to an even .500. The most impressive of the three wins was on April 3, when pitcher Stephanie Weigman allowed just one unearned run on five hits and three walks in seven innings.
On the season, Weigman has led the Retrievers’ four-pitcher staff with a 3.21 ERA, 98 innings pitched and a team-low .270 opponents batting average. Still, UMBC’s pitchers are just mediocre when it comes to conference stats: Out of the AE’s seven teams, UMBC has the fourth-highest ERA (3.44) and fifth-highest opponents’ batting average (.286).
“Their pitching is in the middle of the road, so that means they’ve had some good games and probably some bad ones, too,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik.
Whether or not BU (18-11, 4-2 AE) can make UMBC pitch “some bad ones” will likely be determined by BU’s ability – or inability – to get on base and take advantage of UMBC’s league-worst .935 fielding percentage.
“Hopefully we can put some pressure on them defensively,” Rychcik said.
BU’s speed will be a factor in putting pressure on UMBC’s defense. The Terriers have stolen 48 bases in 53 attempts this season – led by senior center fielder April Setterlund’s 19 and red shirt freshman Jayme Mask’s 14 – and will be looking to do the same against UMBC.
The Retrievers’ offense presents a much bigger threat than its pitching does, as they lead the league in batting average (.304) and on-base percentage (.397), and are second in slugging percentage (.460).
“UMBC is scrappy. They swing the bats pretty well,” Rychcik said. “Their kids believe they can hit, and a lot of them do…That Brummell kid was swinging pretty well earlier in the year, and she’s been in the league a while, so she knows what to expect.”
“That Brummell kid” is second baseman Lauren Brummell, and with a .363 average and .430 OBP as of Thursday morning, she is only one of at least four Retrievers who present a significant offensive threat. Julia Culotta, Katie Ferguson and Ashley Scroggin are all batting at least .350 with at least 18 RBIs and three home runs each.
BU’s offense should counter this somewhat, as Setterlund, Mask and left fielder Erica Casacci all have averages over .325, and Setterlund in particular has put the team on her back numerous times in the last two seasons.
“April’s role has changed a lot this year, from somebody who drives in 50 runs to somebody who maybe walks 50 times,” Rychcik said after the team’s 3-2 loss to University of Massachusetts on Wednesday. UMass successfully avoided Setterlund’s prowess at the plate in the seventh inning of the tight game by intentionally walking her.
“She’s going to get opportunities, but they’re going to be harder and harder to come by,” Rychcik said.
Even though the teams are momentarily headed in opposite directions – BU has lost three straight while UMBC has won four in a row – Rychcik feels good about his team’s chances.
“UMBC I don’t think is really tested a whole lot. They haven’t seen somebody who’s throwing 65 miles per hour on the mound and putting that pressure on them day in and day out, whereas some of our kids have,” Rychcik said. “I like to think we’re a little bit more prepared for anything.”
That said, with a less-than-stellar start to the conference schedule, Rychcik said this weekend was an important one in the grand scheme of season.
“We can play with anybody,’ Rychcik said, “but if we’re going to win this conference we have to have a good weekend, and that’s just the way it is.”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
