The Boston University softball team travels to New Britain, Conn., today for a doubleheader against Central Connecticut State University in the Terriers’ first action since Spring Break. CCSU (4-5) has won its last three games, but has only played half as many as the Terriers (8-10).
“I’m sure we are better at 18 games played than we were at nine games played,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik. “But I think that after 10 games played, you get a good feel of yourself and your team. [CCSU] is probably starting to figure out who they are and what they are going to be like. It’s probably a slight advantage to us, but not worth dwelling on.”
Rychcik said he believes the key to the Terriers’ success today isn’t related to CCSU, but BU’s ability to pick up where it left off in Florida.
“Our last four games we played really well,” Rychcik said of the team’s 3-1 record at the Under Armour Classic. “We played great defensively and the same on the offensive end.”
Shortstop Melissa Dubay contributed significantly to the Terriers’ offensive efforts over Spring Break, hitting .458 with one home run and two doubles. The performance earned the junior America East Player of the Week honors last week.
“It is a nice accolade,” Rychcik said. “She had a nice Spring Break for us — real consistent and got some big hits. It is great to have kids recognized for those awards, but ultimately we have to come out the next week. We can’t live on what we did in the past.”
For BU, building off its Spring Break success might be difficult because of the lack of on-field practice time. Today marks the Terriers’ first game since a 3-2 loss to Penn State University on March 16 — a week and a half of idleness due to last week’s postponed home opener against Boston College.
“It’s tough, because [Monday] was the first time we got out on the field this year,” Rychcik said. “This past week we’ve spent a lot of time hitting because we were forced to be inside. But, being from the Northeast, weather-postponed games are just something that we are used to dealing with.”
The time off has made it difficult for Rychcik to line up his pitching rotation for today’s doubleheader, as hurlers Megan Currier, Kelley Engman and Cassidi Hardy have been idle for more than a week. As of Monday evening, Rychcik had not decided on a rotation, but said he wants to give all three an opportunity to get some work in.
The Terriers didn’t take any days off during the poor weather days, but Rychcik said his team used the time to recover after four long weeks against tough competition in the South.
“I think we’ll come out with a pretty good hunger and hopefully we’ll get right after it,” Rychcik said.
That hunger will be critical to BU’s performance over the next week. The Terriers follow up today’s doubleheader with a twin bill tomorrow against St. Peter’s College at BU Softball Field, before hosting a three-game set against the University of Vermont this weekend.
“We want to win these two games and get back to .500,” Rychcik said. “We have seven games in the next week, so it is important to take things one at a time. One day at a time, one game at a time. You can’t win any game except the one you’re in.”
