After a nearly weeklong layoff from game action, the Boston University softball team will host Harvard University at the BU Softball Field at 4 p.m. today in part two of the teams’ perennial two-game season series.
The Terriers (23-12, 6-3 America East) will be looking to extract revenge for a 2-1 March 22 loss to the Crimson (26-13). That game – which came on the heels of a 10-day, 13-game Terrier road trip – featured Harvard pitchers Laura Ricciardone and Rachel Brown shutting down the BU offense in the Terriers’ home opener.
Ricciardone held BU at bay for four innings while giving up just one run before giving way to Brown, who pitched a perfect final three innings and struck out seven of the nine Terriers she faced.
BU coach Shawn Rychcik said he expects the two Crimson hurlers to split innings in today’s matchup.
“I think we have to do a better job of rattling the freshman [Ricciardone] a little bit,” Rychcik said. “Rachel Brown is a good pitcher and has done a good job over the years against us. I like to think we can put a little more pressure on the freshman a little bit. I’m hoping we have a better effort against any of their pitching.”
Since Harvard’s win on March 22, which put its record at a mediocre 9-8, the Crimson has gone on a 17-5 tear that has lifted it atop the Ivy League standings. The run includes wins in seven of its last eight games and a four-game sweep over Brown University last weekend. Ricciardone and Brown – the only Crimson pitchers with more than 10 innings this season – have been huge factors, and own ERAs of 1.96 and 1.98 respectively.
At the plate, Harvard is led by a pair of infielders, second baseman Ellen Macadam and third baseman Kasey Lange. Both players are hitting over .400 (.420 and .407 respectively), and are tied for the team lead in home runs (seven), but Lange is far and away the team’s RBI leader with 48. Macadam, Harvard’s leadoff hitter, has just 21.
“Be careful,” Rychcik said. “Those are two kids you can’t make mistakes to. They hit throughout their lineup, they have a pesky lineup, they put pressure on you, they swing the bats, so just don’t make mistakes and keep the ball out of the middle of the zone.
“We face a lot of good hitters of the year, so they’re no different than anybody we face.”
The Terriers are similarly talented on the mound, with a pair of pitchers with sub-2.00 ERAs, and at the plate, with senior center fielder April Setterlund and redshirt right fielder Jayme Mask leading the way.
Rychcik plans to use a variety of pitchers tomorrow in an attempt to get them all some work, but has not decided who will get the start.
“We have a few little injuries and stuff, so I’ve got to see how everybody is [today], and we’ll go from there. We’ll wait and see on everybody tomorrow and how the game plays itself out,” Rychcik said.
While Setterlund leads the team in batting average (.391) and on-base percentage (.561), and Mask has team highs in hits (40) and runs (33), redshirt first baseman Chelsea Kehr has also been on an offensive spree lately. Most recently, Kehr was 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs in BU’s 9-2 win over University of Rhode Island.
“I hope she stays hot. It’s nice to get production throughout the order and different parts of our lineup and things like that, so that being said I hope she continues to have a hot bat,” Rychcik said. “It would be good for all of us.”
The Terriers have also been hot as a team. BU has the second-best offense and the number one pitching staff in the league, which has been good enough to put them in second place in AE.
Today’s game is the end of a four-game and nearly two-week long reprieve from AE play, but BU will resume its conference schedule when it visits Hartford University this weekend.
The Terriers have won four of their last five games, including the last three against non-conference opponents, a streak they will look to continue against Harvard.
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