In the second of three home games of the weekend, Boston College softball put up a fight, but its fight wasn’t strong enough to overcome a 12-run deficit.
The Eagles (15–19, 2–12 Atlantic Coast) submitted to the mercy rule in the bottom of the fifth inning, and the game ended with Georgia Tech (27–11, 8–9) on top 14–2.
BC head coach Amy Kvilhaug said she was happy about the Eagles’ performance early in the game before Georgia Tech took off, especially in getting ahead of Georgia Tech batters in the count.
“I thought we executed the game plan early in terms of getting ahead,” she said. “They were not swinging in 0–0 counts. They were just not swinging at first pitch, so we were getting ahead.”
The Eagles came prepared. In the bottom of the first inning, Ellie Mataya hit a single to left field but was thrown out stealing at second. Hannah Slike fouled out, but Abigail Knight drove a single to left field, and she stole second base. Kamryn Warman doubled to right center, driving Slike in from second for an RBI. The Eagles exited the first inning up 1–0.
After the first inning, the Eagles faced a crushing wave of Yellow Jacket offense. Georgia Tech scored four in the top of the second, seven in the top of the third, and three in the top of the fifth.
Heading into the bottom of the third with a 10-run deficit, Slike stepped up to bat for the Eagles. Slike obliterated a pitch down the center of the plate from Georgia Tech’s Chandler Dennis to give its second run.
The home run was not uncharacteristic of Slike, who has the second-highest batting average on the team at .325 and has consistently made a major impact at the plate. Kvilhaug said she is excited to see what the freshman class has in store.
“One of the reasons they chose to come to BC was to really, kind of, put BC on the map in the softball world,” Kvilhaug said.
After the game, Kvilhaug discussed Georgia Tech’s unstoppable offense and the struggle to defend against it and other teams in a powerhouse ACC conference.
“Last weekend they played Notre Dame, and the scores of their games were 9–8, 12–10, and 15–13, so they are putting up some offense,” Kvilhaug said.
Going into the final game of the series, Kvilhaug said she wants to bring all three parts of the game—pitching, hitting, and defense—together in unison.
“Win or lose, I want to see us pitch, I want to see us play defense, and I want to see us hit,” she said. “I just want a good, solid game, and offensively I want to see us capitalize on having runners in offensive positions.”
Featured Image by Nicole Wei / Heights Staff
