If you thought what Pedro Martinez did for the Boston Red Sox yesterday when he struck out 16 batters in a three-hitter through eight innings was anything special, you obviously were not at the Boston University softball team’s doubleheader on Saturday.
He may be the best pitcher in the world, but can he say that he has ever won two conference games on the same day?
Robyn King can.
The senior hurler threw a complete game shutout in the opener against America East rival University of Delaware, scattering four hits and notching 12 strikeouts.
Then, in the nightcap, King relieved sophomore Robyn Horrick with one out in the fifth inning of a tie game. King struck out four more batters, and was the pitcher of record when sophomore shortstop Kristin Knesek hit a double that sophomore right fielder Kate Abney was able to score on to win the game for the Terriers in the bottom of the eighth inning.
King dominated the first game, only allowing four hits while walking only two batters. She got plenty of run support from her teammates, including a two-run bomb hit by junior third baseman Aryn Rangel over the left field scoreboard for her second home run of the season.
All King needed was one, though.
“I just went with what was working,” King said. “My rise ball was working better, and they were chasing pitches.”
King struck out the side twice in the game, in the second and third innings. Delaware tried to put up a fight from there, but it was clear that King, who said she didn’t even feel she had her best stuff, was not going to let the Blue Hens do a thing.
Horrick had put together a good performance in the nightcap, getting to within two outs in the seventh, but facing Delaware’s leadoff hitter, Mandy Welch — who had already gone 2-for-3 against her with one walk — was not in the cards, especially with baserunners on first and second.
“[Welch] had done well against Robyn [Horrick],” said BU coach Amy Hayes. “I didn’t want Robyn to have to face her again.”
That decision brought King into her second game of the afternoon, where she promptly walked Welch on four pitches, loading the bases. She then struck out the next two batters, ending the inning and the Delaware threat.
“In the second game, I was a little nervous,” King said.
It may have been the nerves, or it may have been the fatigue that comes with a heavy day of work, especially after she had a week off to rest her still healing arm, but she seemed vulnerable for the first time all day in the eighth inning. She allowed a double and an infield single. With runners on the corners, King then struck the next two batters out, and fielded the third out on her own.
With Knesek’s double, King had won once more. Her line for the day – 8 2-3 innings, six hits allowed, no runs, three walks and 16 strikeouts. And the two wins upped her record to 5-1, with a 0.69 earned run average and 59 punch-outs.
So she may not have eclipsed Pedro just yet, but think of this: on Saturday, Robyn King won more games than Pedro Martinez has won all year.
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