Softball, Sports

Softball goes 5-1 in first tourney of year

While the March weather may have been coming in like a lion on the East Coast, the Boston University softball team started its regular-season schedule in roaring fashion, going 5-1 in the San Jose State Super Series, including wins in two of three games against host San Jose State University and a three-game sweep of California State University-Sacramento.

One of the main stories of the weekend for the Terriers was their pitching. As a staff, BU had a 1.79 ERA over the six games. Only three pitchers ‘-‘- senior Cassidi Hardy, junior Megan Currier and sophomore Kelley Engman ‘-‘- took the hill for the Terriers.

Of the three, Hardy debatably had the best series, posting a microscopic 0.91 ERA to go along with a 2-1 record and 10 strikeouts over 15.1 innings. Of those two wins, the senior was the winning pitcher in the squad’s lone shutout, which came in the final game of the series, a 2-0 victory, against Sacramento State on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Currier went 2-0 in the two games she started in the series and did not surrender a single walk in 15.0 innings of work. The junior even went an inning more than usually required as she pitched eight innings in the Terriers’ thrilling nine-inning 7-4 victory before being replaced by Engman in the ninth for a save situation.

At the plate, the Terriers were led by senior left fielder Shayne Lotito, a returning America East First Team All-Conference player from a year ago. Lotito paced BU, going 9-for-20 with six RBIs over the six games and had a team-leading four walks on her way to a whopping .542 on-base percentage. Once on base, Lotito did her part to keep the carousel turning, going a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen bases and scoring five runs in the process.

Senior shortstop Melissa Dubay, another returning All-Conference player for BU, provided a power source for the Terriers, leading the team in total bases (12), slugging percentage (.522) and RBIs (7).

After a 6-4 loss to San Jose State in Game One of Friday’s double-header, Dubay showed off her power in the Terriers’ first win of the season in Game Two. With the game tied at 1-1 going into the fifth, Dubay drove in freshman Erica Casacci ‘-‘- who reached base on the first hit of her collegiate career ‘-‘- with a double to left for the go-ahead run. BU added an insurance run an inning later when sophomore Shayne Lotito drew a bases-loaded walk in a 3-1 BU victory.

The Terriers breezed past the Spartans in the team’s next game on Saturday, 4-1, with Hardy getting the victory in a complete-game effort. However, the most dramatic game of the weekend came against Sacramento State later that day. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first, the Terriers saw the Hornets chip away with a run off Currier in both the fourth and fifth innings.

The score remained tied at two even after the standard seven innings. The extra innings saw an offensive explosion by both teams, as both squads doubled their run production in the eighth with a pair of runs apiece. However, the Terriers were able to get the best of the Hornets in the top of the ninth with three runs, and Engman was able to shut down the Sacramento State offense in the bottom of the frame for the save.

BU rode that momentum to a pair of wins on Sunday, 5-3 and 2-0, respectively, over the Hornets to finish the West Coast trip on a high note.

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