The Boston University softball team went 4-7 in a challenging spring break trip to Florida, where the Terriers lost four contests by just one run.
“It was a great ten days,” said BU coach Kathryn Gleason. “A long ten days. We’re pretty tired.”
The Terriers (7-14) opened the Under Armour Showcase with a doubleheader against Quinnipiac University and Northwestern University. BU defeated Quinnipiac (5-17) 7-3 before dropping the afternoon contest 5-0 to Northwestern (14-10).
Senior pitcher Erin Schuppert walked away with her first win of the season against Quinnipiac, allowing only two earned runs and striking out three Bobcats. The Terriers’ offense made short work of Quinnipiac’s pitchers, with runs coming from six players, including two from junior shortstop Brittany Clendenny.
“I tell the team it doesn’t matter what batting average you have, or where their [opponent] is ranked,” Gleason said. “We play the game.”
Despite strong offense in the first game of the day, BU was unable to get a run across the plate against Northwestern, recording only three hits against 2012 All-Big 10 Second Team selection Amy Letourneau. Senior pitcher Whitney Tuthill dropped her fifth contest of the season, allowing five runs on nine hits.
After splitting the first day of the Showcase, the Terriers turned in back-to-back wins the next day against Wagner College and Youngstown State University. BU defeated Wagner (4-15) 10-2 in six innings before coming from behind to defeat Youngstown State (3-11) by a score of 6-4.
BU’s offense was highly effective against Wagner, scoring 10 runs on 10 hits as freshman pitcher Lauren Hynes picked up her first win of the season. Hynes’s classmate, designated hitter Haley King, demonstrated her offensive power, going 3-for-3 with two RBIs.
“People are really able to accept their roles and responsibilities,” Gleason said about the two freshmen.
Despite falling behind 4-0 early in the game against Youngstown State, the Terriers gained momentum off of a stellar relief outing by Tuthill, who allowed no hits in four innings pitched. After scoring one run in the second and two in the third, BU took the lead for good when junior catcher Amy Ekart hit a three-run homer in the fifth.
The Terriers closed the weekend with a 7-1 loss to Villanova University. Sophomore right fielder Emily Felbaum’s solo home run in the sixth inning — the first dinger of her career — was BU’s only run.
“It was a great time to learn something about ourselves that we need to improve on,” Gleason said.
After a pair of cancellations, BU picked up play again Wednesday but fell to the University of South Florida in a 1-0 pitcher’s duel. Despite Tuthill shutting down South Florida (21-10), allowing only one run on three hits, the Terrier offense was unable to plate a single runner.
After getting Thursday off, BU began the Clearwater Spring Invitational on the second Friday of its spring break with a doubleheader against Rutgers University and the University of Maryland. The Terriers lost both games by one run, losing 3-2 to Maryland (11-15) before dropping a 4-3 contest against Rutgers (11-9).
“We just left too many people on base,” Gleason said. “And that’s the difference between those one-run games.”
Tuthill allowed two earned runs in the second inning and the Terrapins held their lead until the sixth, when Clendenny knocked junior third baseman Megan Volpano home with an RBI single before scoring on a sacrifice fly. With runners at second and third and two outs in the seventh, a passed ball gave Maryland the victory.
Despite scoring three runs to open the game against Rutgers, the BU offense was unable to produce for the rest of the game and the Terriers fell behind as Schuppert allowed four runs in her third loss of the season.
The Terriers’ offense continued to be erratic in a Saturday doubleheader when, after dropping a 7-1 contest against Oklahoma State University, BU defeated Florida A&M University with an 8-0 run-rule victory.
“Everybody’s tired, everybody’s hot, and we need to get back to consistency,” Gleason said. “We’ve talked about it, and now we just need to put it into play.”
OSU (19-12) scored fast and early against Hynes, plating four runners in the first and three in the second. The Terrier offense was unable to produce against the Cowgirls pitching staff, despite OSU’s inability to score for the remainder of the game
A dominant pitching performance by Tuthill sealed the Terriers’ first shutout of the season against Florida A&M (5-21). Tuthill struck out nine as her teammates provided her with eight runs.
The Terriers finished their trip Sunday morning with a 2-1 loss in 10 innings to Robert Morris University. Ekart provided the only run for BU.
With a packed week of tournament play complete, the Terriers begin regular season America East play Saturday.
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