The Comeback Kids: BU Softball Remains Undefeated at Home
By: Allie Debe
Boston University softball wrapped up home play for the season with a 3-game series against Army West Point, sweeping the series to extend their win streak to 12 games.
The Terriers began the weekend with a doubleheader on Saturday, taking both games 2-1 with knock-out pitching performances from both sophomore Ali DuBois and freshman Emily Gant. In the first game, DuBois started and allowed one run on eight hits before Gant came in for the final out in the seventh. BU saw a homer from freshman AJ Huerta-Leipner in the 6th and a walk-off RBI from freshman Nicole Amodio in the 7th to put the Terriers ahead and end the game.
Gant started the second game and struck out five. Following suit from game one, Gant was relieved by DuBois, who notched her second career save in striking out the final two batters of the game. Senior Analisa Ruff led the charge offensively, slapping an RBI single to right field in the fourth inning. Classmate Alex Heinen continued the momentum in the fifth with an RBI double.
On Sunday, the Terriers finished up the series with an 11-6 win over the Black Knights. DuBois and the infield started out a little rocky in the circle, giving up six runs, four of those in the top of the second to a grand slam by Army’s Emily Ballesteros. Offensively, the Terriers had no trouble getting on base, but they had difficulty closing – four runners were left on base between the first two innings.
However the Terrier’s initial efforts were not left in vain. The bottom of the third brought in seven runs, sparked by senior Alexa Ponce’s two RBI double. Ruff had an RBI and Amodio along senior Emily Morrow each had two RBIs. The next inning included an RBI from sophomore Jen Horita and a 3-run homer from Amodio that secured the W for BU.
“We’re like the comeback kids,” BU head coach Ashley Waters said. “I feel like all year, every time we’ve gotten down, they’ve found a way to answer.”
The Terriers doubled-down defensively with a couple of big catches from Huerta-Leipner and Horita in the 5th and 6th innings respectively. In the 4th inning, Gant relieved DuBois and locked down the game from the circle, striking out 3 of the 7 batters she faced and allowing zero hits.
“With the umpire being a bit more difficult on the pitching end and us getting runners on and not being able to score, I think we just kept persisting,” Amodio said. “Just keep driving the ball and trying to stick to our game.”
Though BU finished up with a perfect 15-0 record at home, this last game of the series marked the final game of the Terrier’s home season and the last game seniors Alex Heinen, Emily Morrow, Analisa Ruff, Alexa Ponce, and Madi Killebrew would play on BU turf.
“They’ve done a great job of embodying what this program should be. They conduct themselves in a manner that’s the perfect model of a BU student. They’re just really great kids,” Waters said of the five seniors, who are the first group she has been with all four years since she took the head coaching position in 2015.
With Army behind them and only four more regular season contests remaining, BU improves to an overall 32-17 and 14-1 conference record. Next up, the Terriers take on Brown (11-24, 4-14) in a midweek matchup in Rhode Island.