Softball: Terriers Sweep Maine in Doubleheader and Extend Win Streak to 18 Games
By Charlie DeMatteo
Boston University Softball (38-7, 9-0 PL) swept a doubleheader at home on Tuesday against the Maine Black Bears (10-29, 3-7 American East) to extend their winning streak to a whopping 18 games.
A 3-0 victory followed by a 9-1 win (five innings) saw BU improve to 9-1 at home this year and continue what has been a stellar season.
In Game 1, senior P Allison Boaz tossed five innings of three-run ball and earned her 18th victory of the season. Boaz struck out five on the day bringing her season total to 118. Freshman P Kasey Ricard closed the game out for the Terriers with two hitless innings as BU secured the win in the first game of the afternoon.
BU started quickly in the first inning by putting the ball in play and scoring on an unearned run thanks to a Maine error. Junior SS Kayla Roncin grounded into a fielder’s choice to third, but a throwing error by Maine’s Anna Margetis allowed junior RF Lauren Keleher to come into score and give BU a 1-0 lead.
BU would tack on two more runs in the sixth inning and cruise to a 3-0 victory. First, senior 3B Caitlin Coker scored on a passed ball by Maine’s catcher Immy Gie, then junior OF Kate Pryor grounded into a fielder’s choice which allowed graduate OF Emily Gant to score.
Freshman 2B Lauren Deppiesse led the Terriers with two hits in Game 1, bringing her batting average up to .294 on the year. Coker’s base hit brought her average up to a whopping .362 on the year.
After only managing six hits in Game 1, BU managed almost double that with 11 hits in just five innings in Game 2, as the Terrier offense allowed BU to cruise to a 9-1 win.
As they did in Game 1, BU got off to a quick start by putting up a four spot in the first. Coker started things off with an RBI double to left field which scored Roncin, her 36th RBI of the year. Then, Gant’s infield single to third base brought in Keleher to make it 2-0 BU.
Junior OF Lauren Nett added to BU’s tally in the opening frame as a base hit to the Maine SS saw Gant and Coker come around to score and make it 4-0 Terriers.
Maine responded in the third inning when Madison Hand singled to right-center causing a throwing error by Coker to allow Maggie Helms to score and briefly cut the deficit to 4-1.
BU immediately responded in the bottom of the third, however, as Deppiesse singled down the left-field line to score Pryor, Deppiesse’s 28th RBI of the year. The Terriers poured it on in the fourth thanks to a three-run double by Nett which scored Gant, Coker, and Roncin to make it 8-1 Terriers.
BU tacked on one more run on a Deppiesse single to score Gant, putting the Terriers up 9-1.
As usual, the Terrier pitching staff was terrific. Senior P Lizzy Avery tossed the first 3.2 innings allowing just one unearned run on four hits. Ricard came in to finish off the last 1.1 innings and earn her second save of the day and fourth of the season as Avery earned her fifth win on the year.
The Terriers look to continue their impressive winning streak when they travel to UMass Amherst for a single game on Wednesday at 2 p.m.