Softball: BU Squeaks by Colgate In Extra Innings, Plus a Walkoff Win To Complete One Full Month Without A Loss

By Jack Hughes

Boston University Softball (42-7, 12-0 PL) swept three games against the Colgate Raiders (16-26, 5-7 PL) at home this weekend, extending the Terrier win streak to 22. With the weekend sweep, BU are now on a streak that spans more than an entire calendar month, with BU last losing versus Yale on March 21.

The lone game on Friday saw the Terriers win 2-1, with the Saturday double header having the Terriers win 7-6 (eight innings), followed by a dominant 6-1 performance.

Senior P Allison Boaz had yet another strong performance, striking out four batters in her five and one third innings, with Freshman P Kasey Ricard closing the game out strong with a hitless one and two-thirds innings. 

While both teams had a number of opportunities in the first three innings, combining for seven hits in the stretch, neither BU or the Raiders were able to capitalize, leaving the game scoreless. 

That changed in the top of the fourth when Colgate’s senior DP Taylor Ludwick homered to right center field with the bases empty to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead. The Terriers and Colgate would both manage to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth respectively, however Ricard and Senior P for the Raiders Bailey Misken managed to work their way out without giving up a run, leaving the score at 1-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth.

After a single from freshman 2B Brooke Deppiesse got the Terriers started on offense, junior RF Lauren Nett doubled on the very first pitch thrown to her to put Deppiesse in scoring position. The graduate student 1B Nicole Amodio would then fly out, with Deppiesse tagging up and tying the game at 1-1. 

After a quick 1-2-3 inning from Ricard with two strikeouts, BU needed only one run to scrape out a win.  Junior CF Lauren Keleher would start the Terriers off strong with a double, and she soon advanced to third off of a groundout from senior 3B Caitlin Coker. After graduate student DP Emily Gant drew a four pitch walk and stole second, BU was in a strong spot with only one out. 

The Terriers proved that breathing room unnecessary, as sophomore LF Tyesha Williams singled to drive in Keleher and win the game for BU. 

After a relatively low scoring first game, it seemed as though the bats for both teams had made strides in figuring out the opposing defense, as the Terriers squeaked out a 6-5 win, needing an extra inning to do so.

Like the Friday matchup, the scoring started out somewhat slow, as the first one and a half innings went by with no runs, despite a three hit half inning from the Terriers in the bottom of the first. 

BU managed to break through in the bottom of the second. A Williams single was followed by a Nett double, with Williams advancing into scoring position off a throwing error. Freshman P for the Raiders Alexa Acker then hit Amodio with a pitch to load the bases. A wild pitch from Acker against senior C Audrey Sellers then advanced all runners, driving in Williams to start off the scoring. Keleher then immediately put the first pitch thrown at her in play, and while she grounded out, she also drove in Nett, giving the Terriers a 2-0 lead going into the third. 

The Terriers tacked on to their lead in the bottom of the third, with Deppiesse reaching on a fielder’s choice, then advancing to second off a wild pitch before being driven in by another Williams single. This gave BU a 3-0 lead going into the fourth 

Colgate then proved that they weren’t going down easily, as sophomore CF Jillian Herbst hit a single off a full count, followed by Junior 1B Kara Fusco drawing a walk on a full count with freshman Dani Rosner pinch running.

Sophomore C Quinn Livesay followed this up by reaching on an error, an error that also advanced Rosner to third and drove in Herbst, giving Colgate their first run of the day.  Senior RF Steph Jacoby then drove in Rosner with a flyout to bring the score to 3-2, bringing the Raiders within a run. 

BU would extend their lead in the bottom of the fourth as Sellers reached on an error to get to second, then quickly advanced to third on a wild pitch. She would be driven in by a Keleher ground out to give the Terriers a 4-2 lead.

Colgate struck back in the fifth with Sophomore 2B Alexis Romero reaching on an error to get herself to second base, followed by Senior SS Rachel Carney executing a sacrifice bunt to get Romero to third, and finally Herbst would drive Romero in off a single to bring Colgate to just a 4-3 deficit. 

Colgate continued their momentum in the sixth, with Livesay doubling before she headed back to the dugout to be pinch run for by senior Bailey Burns. Jacoby then homered to right center field to give the Raiders a 5-4 lead, their first of the game.

The Terriers managed to respond in the bottom of the sixth, with Nett singling, then advancing to second off a sacrifice bunt from Amodio. Nett then headed back to the dugout herself to be pinch run for by freshman Aimee Metz. Metz would then be driven in by a Sellers single, tying the game up at five going into the seventh. 

After neither team proved capable of scoring in the seventh, the game headed into extra innings. The Terriers again held Colgate scoreless in the top of the eighth, then Amodio hit a walk off homer to escape the first half of the double header with a 6-5 win. 

The final game of the weekend proved to be the most dominant for the Terriers, with a monster fourth inning punctuating another sweep of a Patriot league opponent.

Colgate started the game strong, with Carney drawing a walk on a full count, then stealing second and being driven in by a Fusco foul out and a Jacoby single to give Colgate a 1-0 lead. 

The Terrier defense then locked in, not allowing another run for the rest of the game, leaving runners stranded in scoring position multiple times. The offense also came alive, with a Keleher double in the bottom of the third resulting in a tie game after she was driven in by a combination of a lineout from junior SS Kayla Roncin and Coker reaching on a fielder’s choice.

The bottom of the fourth would see a final explosion of scoring from the Terriers, as a Sellers single and a Keleher double drove in Nett, Williams and Amodio, with Sellers and Keleher themselves then being driven in by a Roncin fly out and a Gant double to bring the Terriers a 6-1 lead, which would hold for the rest of the contest.

The Terriers will next make the trip to Chestnut Hill to play a single game at Boston College on Tuesday at 5 p.m.