According to voting by league coaches, the Boston University softball team is the unanimous choice to win the America East Conference title this season. The Terriers received all seven first-place votes and 49 points after finishing 34-17 overall and 21-5 in conference play last year, a record good enough to earn the team the league’s regular-season title.
However, after a two-month road trip down South and out West, BU has stumbled out of the gates this season by losing 16 of its first 21 games. With the loss of five influential seniors, combined with having only six everyday players in the starting lineup return this season, it would be easy to expect the Terriers to fall from their ranks.
“We don’t know anything beyond [the rankings],” said head coach Amy Hayes. “All I know is we only have five wins, and all we need right now are wins.”
While their sub-par record may pass by the wayside of national rankings, the Terriers know their true season starts this weekend when they take on the Catamounts of the University of Vermont for a four-game set in their first conference test of the season. On paper, Vermont looks more like a quiz than any kind of test BU has faced so far this year. While the Terriers went eight-straight games without a victory, the Catamounts have gone two better — or worse — by dropping their first 10 games of the season. Vermont has been outscored 58-14 during that span and has already been shutout on five separate occasions.
The only obstacle that looks to be standing in the way of a four-game sweep for the Terriers is the Catamounts’ Christine Toomey. The freshman outfielder leads the club in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.344) and slugging percentage (.469).
Nevertheless, BU has its own freshman secret weapon in centerfielder Julie Henneke. Like Toomey, this first-year phenom leads her own club in almost every offensive category. But while the Catamounts may rely on Toomey to spark their offensive production, the Terriers have plenty of freshman firepower to back Henneke up. Shortstop Jaime Haas is second on the team in both hits and batting average, while catcher Jennifer Shields has already provided some fireworks with her team-leading two home runs this season.
The weekend set of games will be the first action for BU since last week’s contests against Brown University. The Terriers were scheduled to play their first home game Wednesday, but rain prevented them from extending their perfect 15-game winning streak at the BU Softball Field.
“The past two days set us back. The kids wanted to play, but the weather did not cooperate,” Hayes said. “We’ve just had to keep it light and stay focused for Vermont this weekend.”