All season long sophomore pitcher Holli Floetker has been the anchor of the Boston University softball team’s pitching staff. In the first game of a doubleheader against the University of Rhode Island she picked up her 15th win of the season and her first no-hitter of the year.
“That’s a pretty great year going right there,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik. “It takes the pressure off everybody but it makes it a fun day at the park too.”
The game was Floetker’s second shutout in a row as she had one earlier this week in a 1-0 victory over Harvard on Tuesday.
Floetker leads the team with a 1.64 ERA and as of April 15 was ranked 25th in the nation.
All season long Floetker has led the team, picking up the Terriers’ first five wins before juniors Whitney Tuthill and Erin Schuppert won a game. Thursday marked a continuation of her dominant performance as she struck out seven batters and led BU to an 8-0 victory.
“[It’s] hard to do,” Rychcik said. “You know, it just takes a little bloop or even a great pitch and jams the hands and drops in.”
After a one-two-three first inning, Floetker’s no-hitter seemed in jeopardy with two outs in the top of the second when an error by Emily Roesch wasn’t labeled an error. Eventually the play was called an error, allowing Floetker to keep her no-hitter.
“They’re a pretty decent hitting team and they just beat Providence yesterday, which is a Big East team,” Rychcik said. “So a real good performance with her.”
After the error, Floetker got the next nine batters out, striking out four before she ran into a bit of trouble in the top of the fifth. With her team up 5-0, Floetker hit two batters in a row, allowing Rhode Island to get a runner in scoring position for the first time in the game. Despite this, she managed to strike out the next batter she faced.
“She stayed ahead in the count,” Rychcik said. “Had good velocity today and got some chases.”
After a three-run triple by sophomore right fielder Jayme Mask, the Terriers won the game 8-0 in five innings.
With fifteen wins this season, Floetker has already gotten more victories than she did all of last season. Thursday’s game against Rhode Island marked her sixth shutout of the season, double the number she had in 2011.
Floetker has proven to be a strong pitcher for the Terriers. Even though she does not strike out batters in the double digits every game, all season long Floetker has played to her opponents’ weaknesses, safe in the knowledge that the defense behind her will play well.
Floetker’s consistency has been one of her most valuable traits all season long. She has only three losses, and from the beginning of the season to Thursday’s game she has managed to shut down her opponents and giver her team the breathing room it needed to get ahead.
“You know, you go back she’s thrown a real good game against Harvard, a real good game against [the University at Albany],” Rychcik said. “You know, she’s thrown some good ballgames for us here of late and pretty much all year.”
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