Boston College softball gained serious momentum over Spring Break, finishing 4–0 on the week and extending its win streak to eight games—its longest streak since 2018. The Eagles haven’t lost since Feb. 25 against Villanova.
After finishing up a road trip in La Jolla, Calif. against UC Riverside, BC traveled to Hempstead, N.Y. for a three-game series against Hofstra.
The Eagles (15–7) overcame an early deficit to beat UC Riverside on Monday by a score of 5–3. BC then played Hofstra on Friday and Sunday, winning both games of the Friday doubleheader by scores of 1–0 and 8–0. It finished with a narrow 5–4 victory on Sunday to earn its second consecutive weekend series sweep.
“Playing in a series is a lot of fun,” BC head coach Amy Kvilhaug said. “Facing the same team three times becomes a chess match as both teams learn the strengths and weaknesses of each player pretty extensively over the course of three days.”
After a blowout win against Hofstra (5–13) in the second game of the doubleheader on Friday, the Eagles had to work for a victory on Sunday.
The Pride took an early lead, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning off a double from Becca Vaillancourt. But BC responded in the second inning with a Meghan Schouten double that brought home Nicole Giery and cut Hofstra’s lead to one.
The third inning featured a fielder’s choice that allowed Giery to reach base and Zoe Hines to score and tie the game. A walk for Kamryn Warman then put BC in front 3–2 as it brought home Kali Case.
Hofstra tied the game 3–3 in the fourth inning with a single by Alanna Morse and then took a 4–3 lead in the fifth inning following a home run by Meghan Giordano.
The Eagles, however, responded in the top of the sixth inning. Hannah Slike hit a single, allowing Alexis Dale to score, and Abigail Knight followed with an RBI single to put BC ahead 5–4. BC managed to close out the game in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings, allowing Hofstra only one more hit, as Sofia Earle and Abby Dunning each threw a scoreless inning.
BC had a decisive 8–0 victory in the second game of its Friday doubleheader, earning its second run-ahead rule victory of the season. Two home runs by Slike, one home run by Schouten, and lights out pitching by Susannah Anderson powered the Eagles.
Slike started the game off with a bang in the first inning with her first home run of the game to take a 1–0 lead. A double by Schouten in the second inning and a single by Erika Andal in the third inning put BC up 3–0.
Schouten then hit a solo home run in the fourth inning that was followed by a two-run homer by Slike, giving BC a 6–0 lead. The Eagles scored two more runs in the sixth inning to end the game on the run-ahead rule.
Anderson improved to 6–5 on the season with the win. She struck out four batters, walked four, and only allowed two hits over six innings.
The Eagles came away with a 1–0 win in their first game Friday against Hofstra behind strong defense and another strong pitching performance by Dunning.
BC scored the only run of the game in the first inning on a single by Slike that allowed Case to score due to a throwing error by Hofstra. Despite recording eight hits, the Eagles failed to bring home any more runs, leaving a total of eight runners on base over the course of the game, including three in the sixth inning.
Dunning recorded seven strikeouts but gave up four walks and six hits.
BC started off the week with a 5–3 victory over UC Riverside (13–12).
The Eagles went down in the fourth inning after a single by Leah Brito brought home two runs for Hosftra, but responded in the fifth inning when Darien McDonough sent a triple to right center. A throwing error then allowed BC to cut the lead to one.
Capitalizing on more UC Riverside errors, McDonough reached base in the sixth inning due to a
fielding error by the Highlanders, and Warman got on base due to a fielder’s choice. Another error allowed Gianna Sarlo to get on base which scored Giery and McDonough for two unearned runs. The Highlanders then had a third fielding error that allowed Case to get on base, bringing home Warman to put BC ahead 4–2.
While the Highlanders scored a run in the bottom of the seventh, BC had already expanded its lead in the top of the inning and walked away with a 5–3 victory.
Anderson pitched seven innings and recorded 10 strikeouts and five walks while giving up three hits and two earned runs.
“Our approach to competing to win games is pretty consistent, whether we play in a tournament, single, or series—we need solid pitching, timely hitting, and sound defense,” Kvilhaug said. “It’s obviously the goal once we get to ACC play to win—or sweep)—series so we can talk about the importance of doing just that but what’s most important is that we execute pitch to pitch in every game we play in.”
