Softball, Sports

Against the wind

This season has been an up-and-down affair for the Boston University softball team. As they enter a doubleheader against the University of Rhode Island today, the Terriers will be looking to start another upward trend heading into the final weeks of the season.

Right now, the Terriers’ (23-17, 7-2 America East) results schedule looks like a sandwich of juicy, delectable Ws between two slices of burnt Ls. After starting the season 5-9, BU hit a groove over its next 14 games, going 13-1. More recently, however, the Terriers have lost their dominance, going 5-7 in their last 12.

On Tuesday, BU wasted two strong pitching performances by senior and freshman hurlers Cassidi Hardy and Whitney Tuthill, losing back-to-back contests to crosstown rival Boston College.

“I think it is the teams we’ve played,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik of the Terriers’ inconsistency. “I think we’ve played six ranked teams on the year. You’re never going to have easy games with those. We played University of Massachusetts-Amherst twice in the past couple weeks. I think it’s just the schedule. You have some peaks and valleys, and you’ve got some tough conference games in there. It’s hard to take three in conference from somebody. I don’t know when, if ever, a team has gone undefeated in this conference, at least since I’ve been here.”

While it is true that BU’s struggles at the beginning of the year came against some pristine opponents, and its mid-season run may have come against less-accomplished teams, the Terriers capped that run with a three-game sweep of Stony Brook University to open conference play. So far, those are the only three conference losses for the up-and-coming Seawolves, who are 23-12-1, 6-3. The momentum that the Terriers had built helped to stop SBU cold.

After a lull in its last few games, which have contained shutout losses as well as blowout victories, BU will look to regain consistency heading toward the playoffs. That goal will start with URI (15-24, 5-5).

Against common opponents, the Terriers have a clear advantage, going 10-4 as opposed to the Rams’ 2-6. The Rams have already played six games against America East, earning a 2-4 record against the conference. However, Rychcik was not assured by the differences in records.

“Softball’s not really a game that you can throw common opponents at,” he said. “I don’t think it really works that way. Teams match up differently. Some teams hit rise balls better. Some teams hit drop balls better. Some teams are built around speed. It’s not always a true comparison. I look at their schedule, look at their stats. They’re 5-5 in conference. I know they’ve played a decent schedule, going 15-24 overall. We just ran into a team [in BC] that was 12 and whatever and they took two from us. So I don’t think you get caught up looking at stats and matchups. You just need to play well.”

Against the Rams, BU will look to solve sophomore pitcher Alison Hartzell, whose 1.83 ERA is the team’s best. To do so, a Terrier offense that has scored one run in its last 21 innings will have to return to form. URI’s .267 batting average will require the Terriers to remain sharp on the defensive side of the ball as well.

“I think everyone will get some time tomorrow at some point,” Rychcik said. “I wish there were some players that could get some rest right now, but we’re thin on the roster so everybody is going to play at some point.”

BU’s offense, led by junior outfielder April Setterlund, who is batting a national second-best .543, will have to start hitting the gaps in the outfield, as they have done so well this season, again against URI. The team is hitting 1.6 doubles per game, the 11th-best mark in the nation.
URI will counter the Terrier offense with sophomore catcher Nicole Massoni, whose .371 average leads the team.

“I want to get us back on the winning track and I think tomorrow is a good opportunity for it,” Rychcik said. “Again, it’s not going to make or break the weekend [against conference foe Binghamton University] by any means. It’s probably not going to have any effect on it. So we’re just hoping that we play well. And maybe then we’ll catch a little momentum going into the weekend and feel good about ourselves.”

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