{"id":48121,"date":"2025-04-22T20:20:49","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T00:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=48121"},"modified":"2025-04-22T20:21:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T00:21:08","slug":"softball-terriers-shut-out-harvard-with-late-inning-surge-2-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2025\/04\/22\/softball-terriers-shut-out-harvard-with-late-inning-surge-2-0\/","title":{"rendered":"Softball: Terriers Shut Out Harvard with Late-Inning Surge, 2-0"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Abigail Stocker<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

BOSTON \u2013 The Boston University Softball Team (30-15, 10-2 PL) wrapped up its eight-game homestand with a 2-0 win over in-state rival Harvard University (20-11, 9-6 Ivy) on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In her first complete game since February, freshman pitcher Danika Nell shut out the Crimson, allowing just three hits and striking out five over seven innings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was really, really proud of Danika. We needed another arm, and I think Danika came out today,\u201d BU Head Coach Ashley Waters said. \u201cShe\u2019s worked back from injury \u2026 We did a really good job playing behind her.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The game opened with a scoreless first inning. BU\u2019s defense was sharp \u2014 not allowing any Harvard players on base \u2014 while Harvard\u2019s pitcher Nicolette Hunter kept BU from breaking through.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the second inning, Nell struck out infielder Maya Douglas. The Crimson then grounded out twice, ending the top half.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BU struggled to find rhythm offensively, as junior pitcher Olivia Delong grounded out, and freshman infielder Kieren McHugh struck out. Senior outfielder Tyesha Williams lined out to shortstop, ending the inning scoreless.<\/span><\/p>\n

The third inning followed a familiar script, with Harvard going quietly on a strikeout and two groundouts. But BU found a spark in the bottom half when sophomore infielder Kyomi Apalit ripped a single into right field to break up the rhythm.<\/span><\/p>\n

A bunt from sophomore infielder Livia Christopher moved Apalit to second base, but BU couldn\u2019t capitalize. Freshman catcher Addie Lucier and sophomore outfielder Kylie Doherty both made outs, leaving Apalit stranded at third.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the top of the fourth, Harvard\u2019s outfielder Audrey Szollosi lined out to third but couldn\u2019t land on base. Infielder Sophie Sun singled to shortstop but was stranded after catcher Alexa Muller struck out and outfielder Savannah Fitzpatrick popped one up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Terriers continued to struggle at the plate in the bottom of the fourth, with freshman outfielder Camryn Lyons grounding out, junior infielder Megan Coyle lining out and Delong striking out to end the frame.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Harvard came up empty in the fifth with two groundouts and a strikeout. BU got sophomore outfielder Sophie Naivar on base with a walk, but couldn\u2019t get her past second, ending the inning scoreless.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nell struck out the side in the sixth, and that momentum finally translated to offense for the Terriers. Lucier opened the bottom half with a walk, and Doherty launched a two-run homer to straightaway center to give BU the lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was a tough weekend for her, so that one had to feel good,\u201d Waters said. \u201cGood for Addie for getting on base before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Harvard tried to make one last push in the top of the seventh but couldn\u2019t score, ending the game with a 2-0 victory for the Terriers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nell\u2019s steady presence in the circle helped BU play clean behind her \u2014 a key difference-maker after defensive miscues plagued the team in its weekend series against Army.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were sharp on defense, and we made the plays we needed to,\u201d Waters said. \u201cWe didn’t do that this weekend, and we did that tonight, so it’s great.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With the win, BU improves to a perfect 10-0 against in-state opponents this season \u2014 a point of pride for the program, though Waters said the goal always extends beyond the state.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, we take a lot of pride in being a team from Massachusetts who can compete,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the game is the game. Regardless of what state, we\u2019re looking for the W at the end of the day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Terriers will now hit the road for a weekend Patriot League series game at Lehigh. First pitch for both games is at 12 p.m., with streaming available on ESPN+.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Abigail Stocker BOSTON \u2013 The Boston University Softball Team (30-15, 10-2 PL) wrapped up its eight-game homestand with a 2-0 win over in-state rival Harvard University (20-11, 9-6 Ivy) on Tuesday.\u00a0 In her first complete game since February, freshman pitcher Danika Nell shut out the Crimson, allowing just three hits and striking out five […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23608,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1052,19,1039],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23608"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48123,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48121\/revisions\/48123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}