The Friars of Providence College had better bring their A-game. With the Boston University softball team’s recent three-game sweep of Binghamton University, the Friars are going to need it.
With the sweep, BU (26-18, 10-2) took sole possession of first place in the America East conference, and BU clinched a playoff berth for the 11th straight season.
But BU holds a less-than-ideal non-conference record at 16-16. A lack of energy and a recent slump against out-of-conference foes Boston College and the University of Rhode Island are part of the reason for the Terrier’s difference in record, in and out of conference. But, possibly more important, is that the Terrier’s non-conference foes have been difficult teams to beat.
“I think we’ve played some tough teams out of conference,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik. “BC is always a good team that has played us tough. We faced UMass [Amherst] a couple times. Ultimately the most important thing is conference. Our girls continue to do things the right way and get it done in conference. I’d like to win those out of conference games but how we play in conference is the most important thing. It’s what I’ll continue to worry about.”
Still, two losses to the Friars (18-24, 7-9) could leave the Terriers momentumless heading into their most important games of the regular season against second place University of Maine.
“Hopefully everybody is in a good frame of mind going into Wednesday and we can get a couple wins,” Rychcik said. “I’ll do everything I can to get my team up and I’m sure they’ll be ready to go. Providence is a Big East school. They play a good schedule. They’re not going to be an easy team for us regardless of their record.”
While Providence’s .234 batting average may not appear too intimidating, they do have some offensive threats throughout their lineup. Junior middle infielder Justine Stratton leads the team offensively with a .336 BA. Sophomore outfielder Michelle Huber and senior infielder Katelyn Revens could also be of concern for the Terriers, not necessarily because of their batting &- .319 and .271, respectively &- but because of their speed. Both players have stolen 17 bases on the season.
“There’s a couple ways to defend the stolen base,” Rychcik said. “One is to get a big lead so teams can’t run and the other is to kick them off the base because you can’t steal first base. We’ll try our best to get those guys out that are obviously key to their offense. If we can shut them down we can have a good chance at winning the game.”
The Friars have had trouble scoring late in games, having driven in just eight runs in the seventh stanza all season. While this fact may help the Terriers in their games, Rychcik is not ready to rely on it.
“I don’t think you can say “Well, we got to the fifth inning. They won’t score now,'” he said. “Our goal will be to just get ahead and try to stay ahead the whole time. That’ll be what we try to do. Try to limit them to as few runs as possible.”
BU has already clinched a playoff berth, and with nine games remaining, the question of resting players starts to become prescient on the minds of most coaches. Rychcik, however, will not rest anybody.
“I’m not a believer in taking games off,” he said. “I think people get in a routine and you play every day and that’s what you know, and then when you’ve got games off, you start thinking about things. We’re going after the top spot. If we can hang onto it, that’s great.”
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