Pitching fails to come through for softball in home loss

Throughout the early part of the 2013 campaign, the Boston University softball team has had strong pitching from its ace, senior pitcher Whitney Tuthill.

Tuthill has won seven games this season and has compiled a 2.50 ERA to the lead the Terriers’ (9-17-1, 1-2 America East) pitching rotation. Although Tuthill has been strong in the circle, the rest of the staff has struggled, and this issue continued Wednesday afternoon when the Terriers narrowly fell to the University of Connecticut.

In the home opener for the Terriers, it was not Tuthill getting the start in the circle, instead it was senior pitcher Erin Schuppert.

Schuppert, the third pitcher in the Terrier trio, has struggled this season. Her ERA going into the contest against UConn (14-13) was a rough 7.54 in 26 innings of work and opponents were batting .397 against her. In Schuppert’s last outing, she only recorded one out and surrendered a three-run home run in a mercy-rule loss to Binghamton University.

“Sometimes we try to be too perfect,” said BU coach Kathryn Gleason. “We know where our pitches need to be. Sometimes we just try to be too sharp and it’s not where it’s supposed to be.”

Regardless of whether Schuppert was trying to be too perfect with her pitches against the Huskies, she again struggled, and the UConn hitters feasted off of her. In the first inning, UConn jumped all over Schuppert, getting two runs on the board with an RBI double from right fielder Melissa Guches, one of three UConn batters to get hits off of Schuppert in the inning.

“That put us behind right off the bat — having them score two runs.” Gleason said.

Although Schuppert escaped the first with only two runs having scored, she was unable to avoid the UConn hitters for too long. Thanks in part to a BU error, the Huskies pounded out five hits and as many runs to build up a seemingly commanding 7-0 lead in the top of the third.

Schuppert was removed after the score was 4-0 for freshman pitcher Lauren Hynes, but runners were still on base. Hynes, like Schuppert, has struggled in the early part of the season in the circle. Coming into Wednesday, Hynes held a 6.75 ERA, and opposing hitters possessed a .317 batting average against the freshman.

Initially, Hynes struggled, giving up a two-run double to UConn designated hitter Lauren Duggan as the Terriers fell behind 6-0.

Hynes eventually settled down, but the Huskies added another run before doing so, and BU trailed 7-0 before getting to bat for a third time.

“Lauren came in and had a rough start at the beginning,” Gleason said. “Then she really settled down and kept their hitters off base.”

Despite keeping runners off the bases later in the game, the runs in the early innings of the contest proved crucial, as the Terriers could not capture the victory.

Coupled with the struggles of the pitching in the early innings were the runners left on base by the Terriers.

Despite the fact that BU scored eight runs, batters left a total of 11 runners on base and missed out on plenty of golden opportunities to tie or take the lead. Most notably, in the final two innings, the Terriers had the bases loaded but could not get the tying run across.

In the sixth inning, with the Terriers mounting a comeback and only down by one run, sophomore left fielder Mandy Fernandez stepped up to the plate with the chance to tie or give her team the lead. Although given the opportunity, she struck out swinging to end the inning.

The seventh frame saw a similar situation for the Terriers, as they loaded the bases while down three runs with only one out. However, junior shortstop Brittany Clendenny hit into a double play, ending the game on a sour note.

“IWe see a couple of more pitches instead of going right at them,” Gleason said. “We left eleven on base. But at least we’re giving ourselves a chance. That’s better than having nobody to drive in. We have 24 hours, we have to forget about it.”