Already down a player with junior center fielder Chiya Louie out for the season with a knee injury, the Boston University softball team was dealt another blow over the weekend when it learned junior Brittany Detwiler, the ace of its pitching staff, will miss four to six weeks after spraining her ankle during last Thursday’s bout with Boston College. But as their season hits full stride, the Terriers (15-15, 2-1 America East) can only look ahead without two of their leaders.
With seven games on this week’s schedule, starting with a doubleheader today at the University of Rhode Island, it looks as if the dog days of summer have arrived a few months early for this year’s BU squad.
“This is probably our toughest week of the season,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik.
After playing eight of their last 10 games at home, the Terriers hit the road today to take on the Rams in URI’s 2006 home opener. While his team has won six of its eight home games and has played its best softball of the season on home turf, Rychcik doesn’t seem worried about traveling to take on an Atlantic-10 team in the Rams.
“We’ve played so many games on the road, it’s just something you do,” said Rychcik, whose Terriers started the season with 20 consecutive away games. “We like to play at home, but I don’t think it really takes anything away from us to go out on the road.”
Instead, Rychcik seems more concerned about beating URI.
“[URI] has a new coach this year, and I haven’t seen them play yet. They’re in a new system,” Rychcik said. “They’ve been playing pretty well, so we’re expecting a pretty good battle down there.”
In addition to battling the Rams, the Terriers will have to fight to make the most of their shorthanded roster. Freshman hurler Cassidi Hardy, who ate up all 23 innings of the Terriers’ weekend series against the University of Vermont, has been outstanding lately, but BU will need to dig deeper for pitching help in Detwiler’s absence.
While Hardy will remain the Terriers’ workhorse, Rychcik clarified that he will not overwork his freshman phenom.
“We’re gonna use both Shayne [Lotito] and Melody [Popravak] at some point down the stretch here,” Rychcik said of his plans to keep Hardy fresh, noting his team also has a doubleheader at Harvard University on Thursday. “I’d like to get [Hardy] a little bit of a break before the weekend.”
Popravak, a sophomore pitcher whom BU has rarely used thus far, could serve as a viable option in the circle. Lotito, however, replaced Louie as the Terriers’ center fielder. With Lotito on the rubber, the Terriers will have to tweak their defensive lineup.
“Molly [Gallagher] and Megan [Coughlin] are both options [to play center field] if Shayne pitches,” Rychcik said.
BU will also abandon its usual practice of using a designated hitter to bat for its hurler should Lotito (.314 batting average, 15 stolen bases) take the mound.
“The batting order would probably be exactly the same,” said Rychcik. “We would probably hit for whoever would come in to play the outfield.”
Although the Terriers look to change things up defensively to compensate for the injuries to Louie and Detwiler, they will keep the same offensive approach that has enabled them to tally enough runs to win 10 of their last 12 games.
“Offensively, I think we’re pretty strong,” Rychcik said. “We’re gonna go out to score as many runs as we can regardless of who’s on the mound. I really don’t see us doing anything different. We run when we can, we move the ball, we get down bunts and get big hits. I don’t think we’ll change too much in what we try to do.”
Entering a pivotal midseason stretch likely to set the tone for the rest of the year, BU looks prepared to overcome the adversity that comes with severe injuries to significant contributors. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the team, the Terriers cling to a central goal:
“The most important thing is winning,” Rychcik said.