After playing five games in Fort Myers, Fla. one weekend prior, Boston College softball returned for more in games six and seven of the Florida Gulf Coast University Kickoff Classic on Friday.
After going 3–2 in the tournament’s opening weekend, the Eagles (4–3) played another doubleheader Friday, splitting the day with a 4–2 win over Austin Peay (4–1) and an 8–0 loss to Florida Gulf Coast (2–3).
BC won its first game of the day, but Florida Gulf Coast shut the Eagles out in their second game. After a scoreless first inning, Florida Gulf Coast scored five unanswered runs in the second.
Florida Gulf Coast scored three more runs—two in the fourth and one in the fifth—and the game ended after the fifth inning on a mercy rule.
Earlier in the afternoon, BC topped Austin Peay. Ellie Mataya recorded the first hit of the game with a single to left field. A single from Hannah Slike advanced Mataya to second, and a grounder from Nicole Giery brought Mataya home for BC’s first run of the day.
During the next at-bat, Abigail Knight hit a sacrifice fly to score Slike, putting the Eagles up 2–0. The Governors tied it up when Mea Clark singled down the first-base line in the bottom of the first, scoring two runners.
The next five innings passed without a run. During the fifth, the Eagles had runners on second and third, but a Giery pop-up ended the inning and left runners on base. The Governors had similar stats throughout the middle innings, recording a few hits but no runs.
After six innings, the Eagles had one more chance to score and break the 2–2 tie, but BC racked up two outs within its first two at-bats in the top of the seventh.
With two outs, Jordan Benefiel walked Mataya to keep BC alive. Slike then doubled to right center, sending Mataya home, and handing the Eagles a lead.
A single up the middle by Darien McDonough on the next at-bat scored Slike. The Governors had one hit in the seventh, but with two players on base, a ground ball to Giery ended the game and handed BC a 4–2 victory.
As it did in the Eagles’ first weekend of play, BC’s lineup featured much of its freshman class Friday. McDonough and Slike once again led the Eagles, and Slike led the team in hits with four over the two games.
Featured Image by Ikram Ali / Heights Senior Staff
