Not even a two-run home run by catcher Josey Mendez could save the Boston University softball team from defeat Tuesday, as the Terriers (12-21) lost both games of a doubleheader to Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
Mendez knocked the ball out of the park for the first time this season in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s nightcap, but it wasn’t enough to keep BU from suffering a 9-4 loss. The Terriers dropped the first game to the Pride (12-13) by a score of 8-3.
Freshman pitcher Ashlee Freeman (7-11) ran the gauntlet for her 16th complete game of the season, taking the loss in BU’s first defeat after she gave up eight runs on 12 hits. The right-handed slinger also worked hard from the dish, going 2-3 at the plate, with an RBI.
Hofstra’s Callie Osborne, coming off a no-hitter against Towson University on Saturday, gave up eight hits in 6.2 innings, but gave up only one run to get the win.
In the opening game, the Pride blew the game wide open with a five-run fifth inning, stretching their lead to 8-2. BU was only able to add one more run later in the game.
In game two, it was more of the same as Hofstra scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning to bring their lead over BU to 7-2. The Terriers were able to cut the lead to three in the top of the fourth inning when Mendez homered.
Getting runners on base was not the problem for BU. The Terriers had eight and seven hits, respectively, in the two games, but bringing those runners home proved to be more difficult. The Terriers left nine runners on base in the first game and eight in the second.
“We had some problems. We left some runners on bases,” said BU assistant coach Shawn Rychcik. “We just didn’t execute the whole seven innings.”
Besides the lack of timely hitting, Rychcik also blamed BU’s losses on inconsistency.
“We gave them some opportunities to take advantage,” Rychcik said. “We had a couple balls lost in gloves. We made some good pitches when we needed to, but we also lost some pop-ups that we should have gotten.”
Tuesday’s early game against Hofstra marked BU’s first game in more than a week and only their fifth contest in more than three weeks, after a string of weather-related postponements stopped BU play.
“It’s more of a mental drain than a physical drain,” Rychcik said about the difficulties of playing after so many postponements. “It’s hard to come out strong mentally.
“You can try to simulate game play inside and in practice, but it’s difficult to match the intensity of a game situation in practice,” he added.
Hofstra has yet to lose a home game this season, as the team’s wins over BU extend the Pride’s home win streak to 19 games. At the Hofstra Softball Stadium, the Pride has won 34 of their last 35 games. In contrast, the Terriers have yet to play a game on their own field this season.
“There is always an advantage of playing at home, but in softball, you play so many games away that it’s not detrimental to the team to be on the road,” Rychcik said.
But he added that playing at home would be “a nice change.” Despite the losses, Rychcik said that the team still has a lot of confidence heading into its first conference game this weekend at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
“We keep it in perspective. You can’t throw out the whole plan,” he said. “You have to stick with your plans. Our main goal is just to get better before conference play.”
Though the Terriers have won just two of their last six games, Rychcik said that the Terriers will be ready to face the Retrievers, as well as the rest of America East, from here on out.
“As far as scouting, we know all about teams’ strengths and we can teach that in practice,” Rychcik said. “We’ll know what to do and we’ll be smarter.”
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