The Boston College softball team (22-26, 2-16 ACC) was swept at home by the University of Maryland (32-18, 8-7 ACC) this weekend, losing a doubleheader 4-3 and 4-1 on Saturday and dropping the final game, 11-0, on Sunday afternoon.
“We knew that we could hang with this team, and if we eliminated all the mental and physical errors from [Saturday], we knew that we’d be right there with them,” said head coach Ashley Obrest.
Morgan Kidd started off in the circle for BC on Sunday, but after struggling through the first inning and facing two batters in the second, she was replaced by Amanda Horowitz. Kidd gave up two runs on a walk to leadoff batter and shortstop Kathy McLaughlin, and a single to left fielder Vangie Galindo. Both were doubled in by first baseman Candice Beards after catcher Shannon Bustillos lined out to first.
In the second, center fielder Amanda McCann and designated player Sloane Van Meter singled before Horowitz came into the game and gave up two hits to third baseman Melissa Mancuso and McLaughlin, scoring two more.
A double to Bustillos accounted for the Terps’ third run of the inning, making the score 5-0.
Center fielder Ali Lynette-Krech hit one of BC’s two hits of the game in the second.
Horowitz shut the Terps down in the third and held them to just one run in the fourth. Mancuso hit a long double to the left field wall and tagged up when Galindo lined a ball past first and reached base on an error made by first baseman Courtney LoBue. At the end of the inning, the score stood 6-0, Maryland.
In the fourth, second baseman Nicole D’Argento dove for the ball in an attempt to save it from going into the outfield after the error and injured her ribs in the process. She was taken out of the game, and left fielder Alana DiMaso moved from left field to second. Bree Tanke took over in left.
“She’s had problems with her ribs, and the muscles surrounding her ribs, so when she laid out for that one ball, everything pulled,” Obrest said. “We had this issue a little while ago, and really the only thing to do now is rest it.” Obrest said that D’Argento would likely be ready to play again by Sunday.
Horowitz had a long fifth inning, facing all nine Terrapin batters. McCann singled, Van Meter walked, and Mancuso reached base on an error. Singles by McLaughlin and Galindo capped off the Terps’ streak and left the score at 11-0.
Horowitz earned only two of the seven runs that scored on her watch, having inherited two runners from Kidd.
The other three unearned runs scored as a result of errors committed in the field.
“She’d been struggling lately, so it was nice to see her get on the mound and work through some situations,” Obrest said of Horowitz’s game. “Our defense didn’t back her much, but she didn’t seem to get frustrated on the mound.”
The Eagles kept much closer to the Terps during Saturday’s games. Horowitz stayed in the game for less than an inning and moved to the designated player’s spot after D’Argento came in to pitch 4.2 innings.
McLaughlin scored the first run when she singled and advanced on an unsuccessful pickoff attempt and long single by Bustillos, then broke for home and beat the toss to score. Beards walked, and second baseman Nikki Maier was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for right fielder Sarah Acosta’s RBI single. Mancuso and McLaughlin hit consecutive doubles in the fourth to bring the score up to 3-0.
Neither team scored again until the sixth inning. Kidd hit designated player Kelly Trimble with a pitch, and Bria Taylor pinch-ran for her. She made it to third on a sacrifice bunt, and then took home on a failed attempt to pick her off. The Eagles’ only run of the game came later that inning, when catcher Brittany Wilkins hit her sixth home run of the year.
Kidd, D’Argento, and Horowitz pitched in the same order in the first game of the series. In the first inning, D’Argento hit a home run to start the game with a jolt. The Eagles led until the second inning, when the Terrapins tied the game on two walks and an error at third to tie. Maier stole second, and McCann flew out to center to bring the go-ahead run in.
Maryland scored its next two runs in the fifth. Beards led off with a walk and moved to second on Maier’s single. Beards scored on a pop fly to right, and Maier scored the Terps’ final run of the game on an overthrow to home. The Eagles almost rallied in the seventh. Lynette-Krech led off with a walk and advanced on a single by Speer, and then took off for home on a wild pitch to make the score 4-2. Speer scored on a single by D’Argento, but the Eagles were unable to score again and fell to the Terps by a final score of 4-3.
