In a match that truly epitomized the term “pitcher’s duel,” the Boston University women’s softball team defeated Boston College, and extended its present winning streak to a season-high five games.
The 1-0 victory over the Eagles also marked the third shutout by the Terries in their last 4 games.
The performances of sophomore pitcher Holli Floetker and her opponent, junior Nicole D’Argento appeared quite similar on the stat sheet after the game. Each starter went the distance and gave up only four hits. Floetker’s zero-walk, zero-run performance, however, made manifest her superiority.
While Floetker’s pitching was an essential part of BU’s win, BU coach Shawn Rychcik said he valued the role of defensive play as well.
“I’m real happy with the defense, and I think it helps the pitching out,” Rychcik said. “We have confidence in each other – that we can make pitches, and we’ll get out of innings.”
The Terriers have not made a single error in their last four games. Their cumulative fielding percentage is now 97.4 percent, which outdoes the 96.6 percent posted by their opponents.
The first inning of play did not indicate how the rest of the game would play out. BC had a chance to score when Floetker tossed a wild pitch with runners on second and third base. The defense came through, however, as sophomore catcher Amy Ekart managed to toss the ball back to senior first baseman Melanie Delgado, who tagged the runner out at the plate and ended the inning.
In the bottom half of the first, BU succeeded in concocting the single run that would prove to be all it would need for the next six innings. Sophomore right fielder Jayme Mask reached first on a walk, and advanced to third over the course of the next two at-bats. Junior second baseman Emily Roesch then provided the sole RBI of the game by scoring Mask with a single to right field.
Rychcik said that the familiarity the two teams have with each other was a primary factor in the closeness of the game.
“[Boston College] is a team we play two times a year, so they’ve got a book on us, and we’ve got a book on them,” Rychcik said. “They know some weaknesses and tendencies that we have, so they try to work with those.”
After the first inning, BU gathered two hits in the second inning, and one in the sixth, ultimately leaving a total of five runners on base. BC finished the game with four runners having been left on base.
In their final offensive opportunity, the Eagles put a runner into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt following a single. Floetker ultimately prevented the small-ball effort from coming to fruition by striking out BC designated hitter Chelsea LoBue to seal the deal.
“We had a couple of opportunities maybe to add a run,” Rychcik said. “I’d like to have picked one up just to have a little breathing room. I thought we had real, good quality at bats though… Nobody was defeated at the plate or got down on themselves.”
Roesch’s game-winning RBI was her 14th of the season. In this category, she is now tied for second on the team with sophomore third baseman Megan Volpano.
Volpano collected her seventh double of the season during the contest, while classmate Brittany Clendenny and Delgado made up for the third and fourth hits for the Terriers with a single apiece.
“Any win versus BC is a good win,” Rychcik said. “It’s a good home-opening win, and it’s a win over an ACC team. I’m really happy with things.”
The Terriers will continue play at home with the opening of their conference schedule against Binghamton University this weekend. The Terriers will play a double header on Saturday, before finishing the three-game series with a game on Sunday.
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