While the rest of the student body was on its respective Spring Break vacations, the Boston University softball team was down in Tampa, Fla., reeling off an 8-2 record, which included the team’s second no-hitter this season and the Speedline Tournament crown, beating Bowling Green State University, 5-4 in nine innings yesterday.
Freshman Megan Currier, who threw the no-hitter, took home tournament MVP honors for pitching 29 innings en route to a 5-0 record.
“This was a huge win for our program,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik. “I’ve been here for five years and we’ve never won any of these spring tournaments, we’ve never even really placed.”
The Terriers improved to 15-6 on the season — their best start in seven years.
The week-long stretch included five regular season games and the five tournament games. During the first half of the week, the Terriers lost only one game, falling to the red-hot University of North Carolina. The Tar Heels rolled over the Terriers to extend their unbeaten streak to 17 games.
Also during their tourney warm-up, the Terriers swept double headers against St. Joseph’s University and the University at Buffalo.
In the nightcap of BU’s games with Buffalo, freshman Megan Currier pitched her first career no-hitter as the Terriers went on to win 7-0 after a 9-0 afternoon shellacking of the Bulls. In the first contest, sophomore Cassidi Hardy pitched a complete game, giving up just two hits while striking out five.
Buffalo got their revenge on the Terriers during the Speedline Tournaments as the Bulls handed the Terriers their second loss of the week and the only loss of the tournament, beating BU 1-0.
The Terriers also got three innings each out of senior Brittany Detwiler and freshman Rachel Moeller, but it was no problem for Currier to pick up the slack.
“The first weekend of the season we relied on Brittany a lot, and the second weekend we relied on Cassidi a lot, and this week Megan had the hot hand,” Rychcik said. “She got on a roll and threw well all week.
“I don’t think she expected to come in here and throw a no-hitter, but to get off to a 6-0 start is awesome,” Rychcik added. “For me, it’s great to see.”
Detwiler, who was nursing a sore shoulder heading into Spring Break, got minimal work but looks to be back on track to regain her title as team ace.
“We got her some innings this week and she did well. I think Brittany will come back and be fine,” Rychcik said.
The Terriers’ bats maintained their hot hitting during the week, especially at key moments. In the Terriers’ opening round game against Princeton University, sophomore Shayne Lotito knocked in a three-run game-winning single, and the hot hitting continued for the rest of the weekend.
Sophomore Christy Leath and senior Chiya Louie also made big contributions for the Terriers throughout the tournament.
“This was a real team win,” Rychcik said. “On different days we had different people contributing. Everybody contributed and it makes it a lot easier on me not to have to rely on one person.”
Taking home the tournament crown was the icing on the cake for the Terriers — as well as a real milestone for the program.
“For us to come out this season and be 15-6 at this point, I don’t know when the last time we started this well was,” Rychcik said. “We’re off to one of our best starts ever and to do it defeating quality opponents like Iowa, Bowling Green University and the University of South Florida, who was ranked earlier this season, it gives us a lot of confidence.”
The Terriers return home to take on B-line rival Boston College this Thursday in their first home game of the season.
