Major League Baseball had a rookie take a no-hitter into the sixth inning yesterday in the Cincinnati Reds’ Johnny Cueto. So did America East.
At BU Softball Field, freshman Kelley Engman hit her spots and forced the University of Rhode Island hitters to pound the ball into the ground all game long, carrying a perfect game into the fourth and a no-no into the sixth.
Engman finished with two hits allowed and one walk while recording a career-high six strikeouts, surrendering only three balls beyond the infield en route to her second complete-game shutout of the season. Only a couple balls were hit hard, due in large part to the fact she wasn’t leaving any pitches over the middle of the plate.
“She kept [the Rhode Island hitters] off balance,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik. “Her changeup was great around the plate, which slowed their bats down a little bit. She had great location and the ball was moving an absolute ton. That’s usually going to be a great recipe for success on the mound.”
Yesterday marked Engman’s first start in eight days, but she showed no signs of rust, getting Darci Borden to fly out to left to start the game. Little did the Rams know they wouldn’t get another ball out of the infield until the sixth. The next two batters hit weak grounders right back to Engman.
“I warmed up a lot longer than I usually do just because I hadn’t pitched in so long,” Engman said.
She started the second by painting the outside corner to catch Leah DiBussolo looking at strike three. Then she forced two more dribblers, one to second and another back to the circle.
After getting another groundout to start the third, the perfect game almost came to an end with Danielle Quimby at the plate. On the first pitch of the at-bat, she smashed a line drive to short, but junior Melissa Dubay layed out to make the catch. Engman struck out Christine Gentile to end the inning.
Engman’s bid for perfection ended in the fourth as Borden worked a walk to start the inning. Nothing new for the next three batters, though, as Engman got a groundout to second, a strikeout and then a roller back to the mound.
The rookie hurler cruised through the fifth, throwing nine consecutive strikes to induce a grounder to short and two backwards Ks. The sixth didn’t start quite as smoothly.
Quimby made solid contact again, ripping a grounder to short, but Dubay made a nice pick and throw to first to keep the no-no alive.
The next batter was Gentile and on a 1-1 count, she bounced the pitch down the third base line for a foul ball. The luck ran out for Engman on the next pitch, as Gentile got a blooper to drop between freshman second baseman Melanie Delgado and senior rightfielder Molly Gallagher.
“I just looked down and laughed because it was such a tiny, little bloop hit,” Engman said. “If it was a shot it would be one thing, but it was just a blooper. In a way, I was kind of glad they got a hit, though, so I didn’t have to kick myself for the walk that would’ve ruined a perfect game.”
