Two streaking teams clashed in Boston on Wednesday afternoon, with Commonwealth Avenue rivals Boston University and Boston College softball squaring off. The host Terriers had won eight straight, while the Eagles were no slouch with three wins in a row—fresh off their first ACC series win, a sweep of Virginia.
Fittingly, the game was deadlocked through six scoreless innings, as BU starter Ali Dubois and BC’s Allyson Frei refused to budge, both impressing from the circle as they methodically worked through the opposing lineups. It would be Dubois, however, who blinked first, coughing up a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning to Eagles catcher Jordan Chimento that’d prove to be the difference in a 1-0 win.
Frei finished off the Terriers (16-15) with ease in the bottom of the seventh, capping off her fourth complete game of the season while pulling even with teammate Jessica Dreswick in the record books with her ninth career shutout.
She didn’t need a strikeout, keeping BU off the board by forcing an array of groundouts and working around four hits and three walks. The Terriers couldn’t take advantage of their limited opportunities, leaving seven runners on base, including two in the opening frame.
The Eagles (13-15, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) struggled to crack DuBois throughout as she allowed just three hits all game, a career-low. The only big chance for either team before Chimento’s home run came in the fourth inning. Carly Severini doubled, then Cami Sellers walked, and Chimento was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. Dubois beared down, though, getting a foul out to escape the frame.
She would keep BC in check the rest of the way until Chimento, who had seven home runs a year ago, took a 3-1 pitch and deposited it beyond the fence in left center for her first of the year. The senior has now strung together a six-game hitting streak, punctuated by four RBIs and four runs scored over the span.
It was a disappointing end for Dubois, who easily turned in one of her best efforts of the year for the Terriers—but was left frustrated by one pitch that got away. She walked just two batters and fanned four batters in the loss, her fifth of the year.
The win, BC’s sixth in a row against its crosstown rivals, showcased the team’s biggest strength: pitching. The duo of Frei and Dreswick is one of the best combinations in the conference, at least thus far. After Frei’s seven-inning scoreless performance, the pair have now thrown almost 200 innings and combined for an impressive 2.20 earned run average, good for the third-lowest mark in the ACC. The only teams ahead of them are No. 14 Florida State and Duke, the latter a team that swept them two weekends ago.
Alternating between two of the program’s more talented pitchers in recent memory makes things a lot easier on head coach Ashley Obrest, especially when the Eagles can eke out close games—they beat the Terriers by a run and UVA by three in the series finale. The offense has yet to truly click, placing 14th out of 15 in the conference in runs scored, but if it does—there’s been flashes of it, like freshman C.C. Cook earning ACC Player of the Week honors—BC should be a team that nobody takes lightly.
Featured Image by Julia Hopkins / Heights Senior Staff
