Unable to capture a victory in its first two tournaments, the Boston University softball team will look to grab its first win of the 2015 season when it participates in the Florida Gulf Coast University Tournament this weekend.
After scoring a measly five runs in the Texas A&M Invitational, the Terriers (0-10) will look to get their bats started when they play five teams in seven games, along with one game against a to be announced opponent.
This will be the first tournament of the year where BU will not be playing a ranked team, instead facing teams such as the University of Pittsburgh and Quinnipiac University.
“Our morale has been pretty good, especially after this week. We had two really good practices, high paced, intense practices,” said BU coach Kathryn Gleason. “They understand it’s a process and it’s one day at a time, so they’ve done a great job maintaining their positivity.”
The Panthers (15-2) have been a formidable team so far this season with only two games lost. They have three players who have started all 17 games and are hitting over .400 for the season to go along with a trio of pitchers with a 3.00 ERA or lower.
The biggest bat on the Panther bench comes from freshman McKayla Taylor, who is hitting .440 with a team-high five home runs, while also leading the team in slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
Pitcher Savannah King is the ace of the staff, as she currently holds a 9-0 record with a 1.75 ERA, which includes a remarkable six complete games so far.
For Quinnipiac (1-3), the Bobcats will be entering their second tournament of the year, coming off a 1-3 performance at the First Pitch Classic. The Bobcats are looking to have a bounce-back year after compiling a 11-36 season the year before.
“We put a lot of time into scouting of opponents,” Gleason said. “Scouting is a big thing in college softball now in terms of teams sharing with each other. We try and contact other teams that have played other people, and they have really helped us out, and we help other teams out too, so I think we’re ready for this trip.”
Even though BU is going into its third tournament, it still has yet to develop an identity. Right now, the team has a total batting average of .215 compared to opponents who are hitting .378. Things on the pitching side are not much better as the staff owns an 8.06 ERA.
The lone bright spot for the Terriers has been freshman pitcher Sydni Overly, who came on in the A&M Invitational and pitched a complete game. Her ERA is currently the lowest of the staff at 3.27.
“All the pitchers have been up and down, but Sydni did a great job with her composure on the mound last weekend, which I think gave a lift to our team in terms of if she strikes out a batter, they’re ready behind her, but if she lets up a walk, her composure has been really impressive,” Gleason said.
Bright spots have also been tough to come by for Long Island University Brooklyn, another one of BU’s opponents this weekend. The Blackbirds (3-15) had a rough first two tournaments where they were only able to muster one victory. However, in the UCF Knights Invitational Tournament, LIU was able to pick up two victories in four games, giving it momentum coming into this one.
LIU has only one player hitting over .237 on the season, junior Whitney West. West currently holds a .322 batting average with 19 hits and is a perfect 6-for-6 on steals this season.
The hosts of this tournament have had their own ups and downs this season. Florida Gulf Coast University sits at 10-11 on the season, having a win streak as big as four and a losing streak as big as five.
Senior Kelsey Carpenter is the Eagles’ top run scorer, leading the team with 14 RBI and a .517 slugging clip. The pitching staff has thrown 11 complete games for the Eagles, as they will look to continue to keep the Terrier bats quiet.
Gleason said this tournament will be another test for BU, who will be looking for a fresh start to its season.
“My message is to press the reset button,” Gleason said. “We talked about at the beginning of the year how we’re building a skyscraper, and every trip, we’re building a floor. Each trip, we go a little higher, so that’s been the message. We’re going to utilize everything we learned from the first two tournaments and use them in the next ten days.”
