The Boston University softball team finally got its offense to produce against cross-river rival Harvard University on Tuesday, winning by a score of 6-2.
Tuesday’s win helped the Terriers (9-23, 1-7 Patriot League) bounce back after a three-game sweep suffered at the hands of the United States Military Academy this past weekend.
In games against Army (18-19, 8-4 Patriot League), the Terriers were outscored 23-13, and left 21 runners on base. Coming into Tuesday’s matchup, the Terriers were still looking for consistency in any and all facets of their game. The Crimson (17-17), on the other hand, had found some recent success. Before the loss on Tuesday, Harvard had won nine of its past 10 contests.
At the start of the contest, it seemed as though both teams were going to continue with these trends. Junior pitcher Melanie Russell got off to a rocky start for the Terriers, walking four of the first five batters she faced, allowing a run to score without the opponent even breaking into the hit column. After replacing Russell, sophomore pitcher Makinna Akers walked in another run, putting the Terriers in an early 2-0 hole.
Akers was able to recover, though, and would go on to allow just one more walk and only three hits in her 6.2 innings of relief, thus keeping the Terriers in the game. BU coach Kathryn Gleason said she was very pleased, both with Akers’ ability to enter the game in a tight spot, and also her ability to stand back and let her field players help her out.
“She came in in a difficult situation with the bases loaded,” Gleason said. “All we do is ask to get us a ground ball, fly ball, give us a chance to let the defense play, and she did that. She was challenged throughout the game, [but] I think she just did a great job of just letting our defense play, and I think our defense had a great day today.”
At the onset of the game, the Terriers’ offense appeared to still be unable to score runs, but like their pitching, the offense would turn it around. In the first three innings against Harvard, BU left five runners on base and went 1-for-6 at the dish with runners in scoring position, but in the fourth inning, the bats came alive.
Senior left fielder Mandy Fernandez got the surge started with a single to right field. Her hit was quickly followed by a left-field shot from freshman third baseman Jilee Schanda and a bunt single from freshman designated player Kaitlin Sahlinger. This ended up plating the Terriers a run thanks to a Crimson error. BU would go on to score three more runs in the fourth inning and added an additional run in each of the next two innings, adding up to six.
Sophomore center fielder Moriah Connolly went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and although sophomore shortstop Brittany Younan went 0-for-2, she drove in two runs on the day.
The only major threat the Terriers faced in this game was in the sixth inning, but it was quickly erased. After Akers allowed the first two runners on base, Crimson sophomore Catherine Callaway hit the ball to right field, but freshman right fielder Emma Wong had an unassisted double play to get the Terriers out of danger. Wong also had one RBI during the game.
“We just did all the little things we needed to do today,” Gleason said. “The defense played really well … Emma had a great play, Younan had a great day and Mandy made a few good catches out there. It was just a team win.”
