Junior catcher Amy Ekart hit a 3-run homer in BU’s loss to the University of Connecticut.
After falling behind 8-0 in the first three innings, the Boston University softball team seemed on the brink of a comeback multiple times in Wednesday afternoon’s game against the University of Connecticut. However, failures to bring in the go-ahead or tying runs doomed the Terriers to a devastating 11-8 loss in their home opener.
“I was really disappointed in the way we started the game,” said BU coach Kathryn Gleason. “I didn’t think we had a lot of energy and that’s disappointing because it’s our first home game and you’d think that we’d be ready to come and play.”
Despite finishing the game with 13 hits and eight runs, the Terriers (9-17-1, 1-2 America East) were unable to pick up a victory against the Huskies (14-13), due in large part to a sluggish start and failure to hit the ground running in their first game of the season at the BU Softball Field.
Senior pitcher Erin Schuppert picked up her fifth loss of the season after allowing five earned runs before being pulled out of the game in the top of the third with no outs and a runner in scoring position. Schuppert’s struggles were reflective of the apathy of the entire team in the first few innings of the game as the Terriers failed to generate baserunners or execute key defensive plays.
The Terriers’ difficulties continued as freshman pitcher Lauren Hynes allowed three more runs — the first of which was credited to Schuppert — bringing the Huskies up 7-0 in the top of the third. UConn scored another run against Hynes in the top of the fourth before the BU offense finally started to click.
“I think Lauren came in, and she had a rough start right at the beginning but then she really settled down,” Gleason said.
Leaving only one runner on base, the Terriers scored five runs on five hits in a highly productive bottom of the fourth. After coming in as the relief pitcher, Hynes started things off for her team offensively, singling down the left-field line. She then advanced to second on a single by freshman right fielder Haley King. Another single by sophomore center fielder Mandy Fernandez loaded the bases for sophomore left fielder Emily Felbaum.
“It just takes one hitter to get everybody else going and that’s what it took for us today. When Haley gets a line drive, [junior designated hitter] Chelsea Kehr hasn’t had a lot of at bats and she lines one out to right field and that just gets everybody else going.” Gleason said.
Despite Felbaum forcing Fernandez out at second on a fielder’s choice, Hynes was able to score and put the Terriers on the board for the first time all afternoon. An RBI single to left by junior outfielder Jayme Mask put another runner across the plate and two runners on base for junior catcher Amy Ekart.
Ekart continued to up her RBI count with a two-out, three-run home run. When the inning ended, the score was 8-5, UConn’s pitcher had been pulled and the Terriers seemed to be back in the game.
Hynes shut down the Huskies with a 1-2-3 top of the fifth, but BU was unable to plate a runner in the bottom of the inning. After UConn added another run in the top of the sixth, BU made another offensive push, coming within one run of its opponent.
“[The freshmen] continue to step up and continue to not play like freshmen,” Gleason said. “And I told them in the spring, right in January, ‘you’re not freshmen anymore.’ So they continue to step up in pressure situations.”
Mask continued her season-long offensive success by opening up the Terriers’ offense with a double. Coming in to pinch hit, Kehr knocked Mask in with an RBI single down the right-field line, before scoring herself on a double to left center by junior shortstop Brittany Clendenny. A ground out by Hynes brought in BU’s final run of the inning as it went into the seventh down 9-8.
BU could not stop UConn from scoring and allowed two runs in the top of the seventh, giving the Huskies their final lead of 11-8. Despite having the bases loaded with just one out, Clendenny hit into a double play to end the game.
“I told them after the game, it’s tough to have 13 hits and eight runs and lose the game, but … I think that that’s a great boost for us going into BC tomorrow,” Gleason said.
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