The Boston University softball team went an even 2-2 this weekend at the University of Tennessee Tournament, keeping its record above .500 in the process. After dropping the first game of the tournament to Eastern Tennessee State University, 7-3, the Terriers won two straight before suffering a 2-0 loss to No. 17/19 Louisville University.
The tournament opened Friday afternoon as the Terriers (5-4) fell to East Tennessee (4-11). Despite scoring the first two runs of the game, the Terriers struggled offensively for the last five innings, putting up only one run.
Sophomore outfielder Jayme Mask opened the game with a triple, and two batters later sophomore third baseman Megan Volpano sent her home with a single to left.
Senior pitcher Erin Schuppert made it through the first two innings of the game unscathed before allowing a three-run home run that put the Buccaneers on top for good in the top of the third. After loading the bases in the fourth, Schuppert was relieved by junior pitcher Whitney Tuthill.
The Buccaneers continued to build up their lead, scoring one run in both the sixth and seventh innings.
“We kind of gave a game away that we really should have won,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik. “It’s one that I think we’re a better team but gave it away.”
The next day sophomore pitcher Holli Floetker claimed her fourth victory of the season as the Terriers won a 3-1 contest against Murray State University. She pitched a complete game and did not allow a run until the seventh inning.
The Terriers started off the bottom of the first well as Mask and sophomore center fielder Chelsea O’Connor reached base with BU’s first two at bats. After stealing a base apiece, Mask and O’Connor were driven home by sophomore catcher Amy Ekart and sophomore shortstop Brittany Clendenny, respectively.
Neither team put another run on the board until the bottom of the sixth inning as BU failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities in the second and third innings. The Terriers scored their third and final run of the game after a hit from senior outfielder Erica Casacci drove junior second baseman Emily Roesch home.
Murray State (5-4) could not put more than one run up in the top of the seventh, and the Terriers claimed their first victory of the tournament.
The Terriers claimed their second victory early Sunday morning when they defeated University of Memphis 7-3. Floetker secured another win, her fifth of the season, allowing three runs in a complete game effort. She remains the only Terrier pitcher with a victory this season.
“I’d like to get Erin and Whitney the wins too,” Rychcik said. “I’d like to have all three of them going, not just Holli, because teams that have multiple pitchers are teams that are really running up their win total.”
The Terriers offense dominated, with Roesch going 3-for-3 with a double and a home run. Mask continued her successful streak at the top of the Terrier’s batting order, going 3-for-4 and scoring three of the Terriers’ seven runs.
Mask and O’Connor opened the game with two singles and Ekart soon brought Mask home on an infield ground out. Mask scored again in the third inning when Volpano drove her home with an RBI single.
Although Memphis (4-15) scored in the bottom of the fourth, coming within one, the Terriers broke free with a three-run fifth inning after Ekart hit a two-run homer. Memphis tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth but did not catch up after a two-run homer from Roesch in the top of the seventh.
In their second game of the day against Louisville (15-0), the Terriers struggled at the plate and only had four hits in their 2-0 loss. After Floetker allowed two runs in the first, neither team got a player across home plate for the rest of the game.
“We had a really, really good game, probably the best we’ve played all year against the Louisville team,” Rychcik said.
The Terriers’ only scoring opportunity came in the top of the fifth. Singles put Roesch and senior Melanie Delgado on base, but the next two batters struck out swinging as the Terriers were shut out by one of the top-20 teams in the country.
“I was disappointed that we didn’t get 3 [wins] and 1 [loss] out of the weekend but you know, [there were] some good signs again,” Rychcik said. “Not a bad weekend.”
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