The second mini-tournament of the year for Boston College softball went better than the first. After going winless in four games for the Aggie Classic, the Eagles rebounded with a respectable 2-2 mark in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, splitting games with Nebraska and Indiana over the weekend.
BC (3-6) wrapped up the weekend with a 3-0 shutout of the Cornhuskers (8-2). Jessica Dreswick went the distance, striking out four and allowing just three hits in the performance. The senior threw almost 20 innings over the weekend and showcased plenty of talent throughout.
She was lifted by three early runs from the Eagles, who have made a habit of getting ahead early. Carly Severini had an RBI double and Cami Sellers knocked in a run with a single in the first, while Allyson Moore added an RBI single in the second. The three runs were more than enough with Dreswick dealing, as she held the Cornhuskers to 0-for-18 with runners on base.
The day prior, they dropped an 8-3 decision to the Hoosiers (1-7). Despite out-hitting Indiana and taking an early 2-0 lead, a four-run inning vaulted the Hoosiers ahead for good.
Dreswick was chased after two and two-thirds, walking four and allowing four earned runs on two hits. After loading the bases in the third, she walked in a run, then gave up a bases-clearing three-run double to Katie Lacefield.
Ally Frei closed out the game, throwing the final four-plus innings, but let in four runs, two earned. The Hoosiers added late insurance runs as BC managed a lone run in the latter innings. Indiana reliever Josie Wood picked up her team’s first win of the season, going four innings and allowing a lone unearned run while striking out three.
On the challenge’s opening day, the Eagles split their two matchups.
Dreswick pitched well in the opener, throwing six innings and allowing two runs while striking out six, but it wasn’t enough against Nebraska. The Cornhuskers leaned on the duo of Olivia Ferrell and Kaylan Jablonski, who combined to allow just three hits.
One of those hits was a solo home run from Chloe Sharabba in the top of the fourth, but it was offset by Dreswick’s only mistake of the game in the bottom of the same frame. She gave up a two-run shot to Madi Unzicker, a lead that Nebraska wouldn’t concede.
The Eagles bounced back in the second game and continued to impress in the circle, with Frei and Dreswick combining for a shutout. The duo struck out nine and allowed just two hits, en route to the 4-0 win over Indiana.
BC built an early lead in the first inning that would prove to be enough to hold off the Hoosiers the rest of the way. Annie Murphy drew a walk, Severini singled, and Sellers took four pitches to load the bases. A groundout from Jordan Chimento pushed across the game’s first run, then Lexi DiEmmanuele added an RBI single.
C.C. Cook’s first collegiate hit in the sixth inning was a two-out RBI single, and Sharabba added another home run in the seventh.
Sharabba has enjoyed a torrid start to the season. She went hitless in the fourth and final game, snapping an eight-game hitting streak, but still finished the weekend with impressive numbers. Sharabba is 11-for-26 (.423) on the year so far with four doubles and two home runs, an impressive opening act from the senior.
The duo of Frei and Dreswick are a formidable rotation for the Eagles, and paired with a sometimes explosive offense, has BC poised for a strong season. Although BC is three games under .500, it has hung tough with elite competition all February and enter the five-game FIU classic having won two of its last three.
Featured Image by Julia Hopkins / Heights Senior Staff
