After a 10-day layoff from its last tournament, the Boston University softball team looks for a strong start to its conference play when it battles the Providence College Friars in doubleheader action tomorrow afternoon down in Providence.
The Terriers (8-7) are coming off an emotional, topsy-turvy tournament in Florida during Spring Break that saw them come away with a huge victory against No. 5 ranked Stanford University. However, after two disappointing losses to Pennsylvania State University, BU dropped the final contest of the tournament against the University of Maryland.
To make matters worse, BU’s home opener against cross-town rival Boston College this past Saturday was postponed due to the ongoing construction and snow accumulation at Malvern Field. BU coach Amy Hayes said she hopes the team can stay positive despite the delay.
“The girls are dying to get outside,” Hayes said of her team, which has been stuck practicing in the Armory all season. “The team looks motivated to get out there and play some real ball.”
On the other side, the Friars (7-2) enjoyed their stay in Florida earlier this season at the Rebel Games held in Osceola. Providence outscored its opponents, 47-20, during the tournament while its pitchers held opposing hitters to a stingy .183 batting average.
BU looks to have its hands full as it runs into a team seemingly playing on all cylinders. The pitching trio of freshman Cori Van Dusen, sophomore Melissa Peterson and senior standout Robyn West simply made opposing batters look silly during the tournament, striking out 52 while holding them to an average of under a run a game at 0.91.
And if that’s not enough, Providence’s Kerri Jacklets was named the Big East’s Player of the Week on Monday. The senior catcher leads the Friars in every offensive category, including 14 hits and an eye-opening .483 batting average. She also knocked in 12 runs and scored nine, while adding two doubles, a triple and four home runs.
Hayes will count on her own pitching trio of senior captain Robyn King, sophomore Robyn Horrick and sophomore Tiffany Finateri to come through and shut down Jacklets and company. Since the return of King, these three have combined for an earned run average of just over two runs a game (2.25).
“The pitching staff has been very consistent and confident [this season],” Hayes said. “They have to keep that confidence for us to win.”
Hayes will look to senior center fielder Kenya Palmer to spark the offensive fire against the Friars. Like Jacklets, Palmer also leads BU in virtually every offensive category, including batting average (.355), hits (11), slugging percentage (.355) and stolen bases (3).
And with junior third baseman Aryn Rangel and freshman infielder Bridget Dunlap out with back injuries, Hayes will call upon sophomore Kate Abney to step up and fill the void at third base during the doubleheader.
“I’ll be jostling the lineup around,” Hayes said. “But I still need Kenya [Palmer], Abby [Pauley] and Kate [Abney] to come through with big games.”
The Terriers will hope to score a repeat performance of the last meeting between these two teams. BU commenced its 2000 home season with a doubleheader sweep of Providence, 1-0 and 4-1, last year at Malvern Field on March 22.
“They’re going to be looking to take us right from the start and take care of business,” Hayes said. “We need to go out, take charge … lay it all out on the line … and come home with two wins.”
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