While Boston may not be too familiar with the World Series, the Boston University softball team got a taste of College World Series-caliber teams last weekend when it competed in the three-day Worth Wildcat Invitational Tournament in Tucson, Ariz.
The Terriers (5-9) went 1-4 in the desert – their second straight 1-4 weekend – as they played No. 2 University of Arizona, No. 8 Stanford University and No. 22 University of South Florida.
“We play these teams to get better,” said BU coach Amy Hayes. “It won’t do us any good unless we play teams that are consistently in the College World Series.”
In their first game on Friday, the Terriers surprised South Florida in a 4-3 win.
BU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Abbey Pauley tripled home junior Jamie Haas and freshman Heather Cassidy. Freshman Chiya Louie drove in Pauley with a sacrifice fly to push the lead to three.
After Josey Mendez gave BU an insurance run with an RBI double in the sixth, freshman Ashlee Freeman held the Bulls (16-5) in check until the seventh, when a Tiffany Stewart three-run homer gave South Florida some life. But the freshman hurler closed the door to preserve the 4-3 win.
“It was a big win for us,” said senior outfielder Abbey Pauley. “Everyone was a little on edge about playing Stanford and Arizona and we weren’t sure where this team ranked. Coach told us after that we just beat the No. 22 team in the country and we were all pretty excited.”
In the nightcap, the Terriers faced-off with Arizona (21-0), but the tournament hosts were not very hospitable, as they took the Terriers deep seven times in a 17-1 blowout.
Arizona struck early and often, accumulating 11 runs in the first inning. Ten batters notched hits in the opening frame, as three Wildcats deposited Terrier offerings over the wall. Arizona finished with 16 hits for the game, as Kristie Fox led the home team with two homers.
The Terriers got their lone run in the third inning on a Louie RBI single. BU put three more runners on the basepaths in the inning, but was unable to capitalize.
“[Arizona’s] offense was incredible,” Hayes said. “We knew coming in that they averaged 11 runs a game, but we didn’t help ourselves out – we didn’t get the pitches over that we needed to.”
The Terriers did not have much time to rest, as the No. 8 Cardinal came calling on Saturday morning. BU came out flat in an 8-0 loss.
Freeman did not have much success this time in the circle, as Megan Sickler hit a two-run homer in the second inning to give the Cardinal (13-5) an early lead. The big blow was the grand slam by Lauren Lappin in a five-run fifth inning.
“That was a real letdown game for us,” Hayes said. “I think some were still thinking about the Arizona game and didn’t give themselves a chance against Stanford. Some thought we were more outmatched then we really were.”
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Terriers took on Oklahoma State University – the other unranked team in the tournament. The Terriers still dropped an 8-3 decision to the Cowgirls (12-6).
The Cowgirls struck in a 1-1 game in the fourth, when Brittany Detwiler gave up four singles after hitting the leadoff batter. Oklahoma State got three more in the inning to grab a 4-1 lead.
After the Cowgirls scored twice more in the sixth, the Terrier offense came alive. In the bottom half of the frame, Louie and sophomore Liz Alley hit back-to-back jacks to propel BU to within three at 6-3.
“[Louie] has done a phenomenal job,” Hayes said. “She’s one of our class representatives and she’s a great leader on and off the field … The only thing she needs to do is take some pressure off her and just let the bat do the work.”
A Lacy Darity two-run blast in the seventh sent all hopes of a BU comeback careening over the left-field wall.
“It was heartbreaking,” Pauley said. “We thought we had something going, but we didn’t get the big hit … That’s just one of those things – if that pitch went our way, we could have tied the game instead of being down five.”
The Terriers had their chance to exact revenge on the Cowgirls Sunday morning, but Oklahoma State got the big hit again in a 6-3 win.
BU got a 3-1 lead, but the Cowgirls’ offense was just too much for the Terriers, as time after time, they put runners on. The Terriers were able to sneak out of a bases-loaded situation with no outs in the third, but in the fourth, a giant three-run homer gave the Cowgirls the game.
“We just didn’t step up to the plate and get the big hit,” Pauley said. “There were three innings where [Oklahoma State] had the bases loaded with nobody out and somehow we found a way to get out of it. We just couldn’t get it done offensively.”
The Terriers are facing competition they will not see in the America East and Hayes said that she has seen improvement regardless of her team’s record.
“We look better each tournament,” Hayes said. “We need to keep that perspective – a majority are gaining more confidence, but some are still fighting to find themselves.”
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