Following a cancelled series against Syracuse, the Boston College women’s softball team managed to squeeze in four games before another series—this time against Harvard—was also cancelled.
From these four games, the Eagles took two homes back with them to Chestnut Hill, Mass. Their record is now 16-15.
Bryant
The Eagles started off with a single game against Bryant on March 29, which they clinched in overtime. It was Bryant who drew first blood, and set itself up with an early lead. Pitcher Hayley Bottino had her only hit of the game in the first inning, a single that drove in Madeline Velasquez and put the Bulldogs up 1-0.
Bryant stretched its lead to 4-0 in the second inning, when designated hitter Elle Madsen launched a double that scored three. In the same inning, Madison Paulson gave the Eagles their first runs on the day, with a pop fly that sent two home. At the top of the fourth, Bryant’s Velasquez scored once more, this one off an error, then Madsen touched home in the top of the sixth, also off an error.
The Eagles went into the seventh inning with a four-run deficit. Jordan Chimento, who had scored earlier, set a rally in motion with an initial single that brought home Taylor Coroneos. Taylor Michalski scored from a ground-out at first, Chimento scored off of Jessie Daulton’s single, and finally Dalton completed the four-run momentum swing when Paulson drove her home on a triple.
In the first extra inning, the Eagles clinched the game. Sophomore Tatiana Cortez claimed the game winning RBI—a single that helped Megan Cooley touch home with a final score of 7-6.
Virginia
Winning ways continued as BC played its first game against the University of Virginia last Friday, and saw itself on top, 9-7. The Eagles maintained a sizeable lead, which they amounted early on in the game. Scoring began in the first inning for BC with Annie Murphy, who hit a double that let Cooley add another to her run tally. In the next inning, Daulton hit a solo home run to boost the score line. Chelsea Dimon put Chloe Sharabba on the scoreboard with a double, and finally the Eagles grabbed a 4-0 lead when Cooley drove Dimon home.
In the top of the fourth, Cooley scored Sharabba from a single. Then in the fifth inning, Murphy ripped a solo home run past center field. In that same inning, Virginia recorded its first point of the first five innings—a single home run by McKail Miller.
In the sixth inning, BC added three more runs to their already mounting lead, thanks in part to two singles and a wild pitch. Daulton, Paulson, and Sharabba all made it home. The Cavaliers gave the Eagles a scare in the bottom of the sixth, with a five run rally. Two homers and a score of hits saw the Eagles shaken, but able to retire the side in the end. One run off of a sacrifice fly in the next inning finished the scoring for Virginia and their hopes of starting off the series with a win.
Allyson Frei claimed the win, moving her record to 12-9. She struck out nine batters in the five innings that she pitched.
Jessica Dreswick started on the mound for the Eagles in the next game, also on Friday, but was taken out after two innings and two runs scored.
Those two runs came in the second inning, as Virginia managed to bring in two runners off of a scoring error.
Dimon hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, allowing Sharabba to make it to home plate. Dimon brought the score to within one run.
Virginia’s Lauren Heintzelman quickly made that lead two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, with a home run. Neither side scored again in this matchup, and the game ended 3-1. Frei pitched the final two innings, allowing no runs.
The final game of the series was played on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va. and finished 7-4. Similar to the first game of the series, there was a good deal of offense, and the Eagles again started with the lead. In the top of the second inning, BC sent home three runners. First, it was Paulson’s single that led to Sharabba recording the first run. After that, Paulson scored from a Cortez single and Cortez subsequently scored off a Cooley single.
It took three innings for Cooley to reach home, and she did off of an error when Murphy was at bat. After the top of the fifth inning, BC held a 4-0 lead. But a number of singles, a walk, a double, and a two-run homer, among others, spelled BC’s end in that very same inning. Virginia racked up seven runs in this one inning.
Frei was the losing pitcher, and her record now sits at 12-10.
Harvard
The Eagles were slated to play a doubleheader against Harvard on Tuesday, but it was cancelled due to rain and cold weather in Boston.
The games are rescheduled for later in April.
Featured Image by Emily Fahey / Heights Senior Staff
