After unanimously being named the preseason favorite for the America East title, the Boston University softball team has proven its worth as the Terriers have acquired a 30-14 overall record with wins in 12 out of 15 America East games.
The Terriers started their season with nearly a month of tournament play in Kentucky, Georgia and Florida, during which BU went 12-for-19 before returning to Boston. In their first home game of the season, the Terriers fell to Harvard University 2-1. From here, however, BU would go on to win six straight games, including a conference sweep against Stony Brook University.
The streak ended on April 3 when BU suffered an 8-2 loss at the hands of University of Maine. This loss started a minor skid that saw the Terriers drop three straight and commit five errors in only three games.
It was at this point that the Terriers picked up their game and went on a 12-for-15 streak that included taking two out of three from University of Maryland-Baltimore County and two conference sweeps of University of Hartford and University at Albany.
While BU’s offensive production has had a lot to do with its success, one of the most important improvements that the team made throughout the course of the season was in the field.
Halfway through the season, BU ranked as low as fifth in the AE for fielding. However, after much work on the part of the Terriers’ young infielders, the team picked up their defense and brought it into third in their conference.
“I had a lot of belief in our freshmen,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik of his young team. “Now, we went through some growing pains, and we still are. They still have a lot to learn about the game and they have their problems. But every couple of weeks you go, ‘Wow, we’re a lot better than we were two weeks ago,’ and then hopefully in two weeks I’ll say the same thing that ‘Wow, we’ve gotten better here.’”
While BU flirted with the basement of the standings for defense, it has maintained a strong hold at or near the top of every other category.
At the plate, the Terriers are second in the conference with an overall batting average of .287. The team is led by senior center fielder April Setterlund who is hitting .411, putting her second in the conference.
During her time at BU, Setterlund has become one of the best players in the history of the program, Rychcik said.
“One thing I think I’m probably the most proud of is that I recruited someone who actually cares about the program,” Rychcik said.
“As much as any stat or any award she’s ever won, us winning and where this program stands and doing things right for her is just as important as her hitting .400 or her hitting 30 or 40 RBIs.”
The offense is rounded out by four freshmen who are hitting over .300.
“[The freshmen] continue to grow,” Rychcik said.
“You put five, six of them in a nine, 10 team lineup, you can’t help but have them be contributors. It’s nice to bat them four, five, six, seven in the lineup in front of three kids that can run, but they’re going to drive in runs, they’re going to produce almost by default because there are so many opportunities in front of them. They’re starting to really blossom in that role.”
On the mound, BU leads the league with a 2.13 ERA thanks to consistently strong pitching performances from sophomores Erin Schuppert and Whitney Tuthill, and freshman Holli Floetker. Schuppert, Floetker and Tuthill are two, three and four in the conference in ERA.
Predictions
The softball team still has four more games in the regular season, and the most important are by far the three games against Binghamton University. The outcome of this series will impact the order of the top four teams in the AE and who will play whom in the AE tournament.
The Terriers should be able to take at least two out of three from Binghamton, and if they do that they will secure themselves first place in the conference.
Presumably, Albany will take second as it should be able to take on Stony Brook who resides in the sixth spot in the conference. Binghamton and UMBC will probably round out the teams that will move on in the third and fourth spots.
While the Terriers have lost one game to UMBC, it seems likely that BU will defeat whomever it plays in the first game. There isn’t a team in the top four against which the Terriers haven’t won the regular-season series, with the exception of Binghamton, which will be decided this weekend. Furthermore, the Terriers’ offensive and pitching numbers should keep them a solid distance ahead of the other teams.
There is no reason why, if BU maintains its concentration in the field, it should not win its third straight AE championship crown and third straight NCAA berth.
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