Playing in the first of two games in two days against two separate opponents, the Boston University softball team won 7-6 over the University of Massachusetts Lowell Tuesday.
The game came one day before the Terriers (8-20, 1-4 Patriot League) take on rival Boston College on Wednesday afternoon in Chestnut Hill.
In the game against the River Hawks (10-18), the Terriers seemed to have the game in hand heading into the bottom of the sixth inning as sophomore pitcher Melanie Russell had accumulated seven strikeouts, and BU held a 7-1 lead. However, Russell’s less-than-stellar performance in the sixth inning nearly blew her team’s six-run advantage.
Russell let up five runs in that inning, the brunt of them coming on a grand slam by freshman Vanessa Cooper. The San Diego native rebounded after the homerun as she got the next batter to popup to sophomore shortstop Brittany Younan to end the inning.
In the sixth inning alone, Russell issued two of her eight walks on the day. She also finished the game with eight strikeouts.
After that five-run inning, Russell ensured the win for BU as she efficiently closed out the game’s last frame.
The Terriers’ big inning came in the top of the fourth as the team piled on six runs and knocked out opposing pitcher Erica Armenti, who struggled in her 3.1 innings pitched. In the inning, BU got big hits from senior left fielder Mandy Fernandez and Younan. Both players had RBI doubles in the inning with Fernandez’s plating two runs compared to Younan’s three.
The only other BU run came in the third inning when sophomore centerfielder Moriah Connolly blasted an RBI single that scored senior third baseman Kendra Meadows. Meadows had singled, stolen second base and advanced to third on an error by catcher Emilia Davies.
Now that the Terriers have picked up a victory against the River Hawks, they move on to the Eagles (16-15). BC has had a strange season so far as it currently has a plus .500 winning percentage, yet is 1-8 in conference play.
The Eagles have only won two of their last eight games, although only one of their losses has been by more than three runs.
The strength of this year’s BC team resides within its pitching staff. The staff’s ERA sits at 3.33, and the Eagles hold opponents to a .268 batting average.
The pitching staff has carried the Eagles thus far as the team is only hitting .242 on the season, compared to the Terriers, who are hitting a bit better at .272.
BC’s strongest hitters are freshman Annie Murphy and sophomore Taylor Coroneos, who are the only hitters batting over .300 on the year. Coroneos is also listed as a pitcher, appearing in only two games on the season and letting up no runs in the process.
Both teams will be looking to find some sort of offensive momentum going into their respective conference play when they reignite their rivalry.
