After a disappointing offensive outing in the home opener, the Boston University softball team will look to bounce back in its first America East match-up of the season. The Terriers (12-8) will take on Stony Brook University in a double header on Saturday and a game on Sunday in Stony Brook, N.Y.
“I’d like to see three wins,” said BU coach Shawn Rychcik. “That’s what we’re going down there for. That’s what we’re expecting – we’re expecting to play well in conference. We’ve had 20 games or so to get ready and now it’s conference, so our expectations are to go down there and win, and that’s how you win the conference championships.”
In its last outing, BU fell to Harvard University 2-1. BU was out-hit 8-2 with both hits coming off the bat of freshman catcher Amy Ekart. Ekart’s were both doubles, one to right center field and another down the left field line. Her second double moved pinch runner Kayla Kruper from first to third. Freshman Megan Volpano grounded out to second base to score Kruper for the only BU run of the game.
Missing from the Terriers’ lineup on Tuesday was redshirt freshman catcher Jayme Mask. According to Rychcik, Mask, who was injured during the team’s road trip over spring break, was not quite ready to play yesterday but would most likely play this weekend.
“Probably if it was conference she could have had a chance to go [Tuesday],” Rychcik said. “I’m feeling kind of good about her for the weekend – that’s the plan anyways, that she’s going to have these three, four extra days now and she’s going to be ready to go on Saturday.”
Mask, who has been the leadoff hitter when she has played, has a .424 on-base percentage, the third highest on the team, and a .346 batting average which is second only to senior center fielder April Setterlund.
“It’s just nice to get an extra hitter that’s hitting over .300 into the lineup and that’s what Jayme adds to us,” Rychcik said. “Jayme brings a lot of speed when she’s healthy so that helps with getting stolen bases and things like that. It’d just be nice to have Jayme in the game.”
Since her absence, Setterlund has taken over Mask’s spot in the batting order.
“April’s role changes day-to-day depending on who decides to pitch to her and who not,” Rychcik said. “Some days April is just there to get on base and if we’re fortunate enough to get the lineup to get on around her then she gets opportunities to drive people in.”
Stony Brook (8-9) will be coming into the game after almost a week off from playing. Last weekend, in the Stony Brook Invitational, the Seawolves faced off against College of the Holy Cross and Fairfield University. They went 3-1 on the weekend, defeating Holy Cross twice.
Stony Brook’s offense is led by infielder Bernadette Tenuto, who is hitting .292 with 7 RBIs in 17 games. On the mound, the Seawolves throw two pitchers. The first is Colleen Matthes, who is 5-7 on the season with a 3.24 ERA. Their other pitcher, Taylor Chain, is 3-2 with 3.27 ERA.
The last time the two teams met was in the AE title game on May 15 of last year. The first-seeded Terriers were able to trump the third-seeded Seawolves for BU’s second straight conference title.
“I think that the teams have changed quite a bit since then,” Rychcik said. “There’s players still that were on that team, and there are some different. They’re usually one of the teams that are in the postseason and they’ve been in the championship the past couple of years. We know they’re a worthy opponent and I think that makes us hopefully play our best game.”
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