It took nine innings for Boston College softball to finish out its game against Santa Clara on Tuesday afternoon.
Even then, the Eagles squeaked by with a one-run win.
But a win is a win, and BC now has four in a row.
Neither team scored in the first inning of the game, and it headed into the fourth tied 2–2.
No runs were scored again until the ninth inning, when designated hitter Abby Ptak flied out to center field, scoring Jordan Stephens on what became the game-winning run. And BC (9–5) shut out Santa Clara (10–8) in the bottom of the inning to come away with a 3–2 win.
A quick three outs in the top of the first inning kept BC silent as Gator Robinson, Hannah Slike, and Emma Jackson all struck out.
Abby Dunning got the start on the mound in the bottom half of the inning, but was taken out after Cairah Curren’s leadoff single. Dunning was immediately pulled for Kelly Colleran.
Colleran’s first-inning appearance was not much better. With one ball and no strikes on the board, Rebecca Rubio hit a bunt single, putting two runners on bases.
Santa Clara might have become too eager after that, and it ended in the Eagles’ favor. Rubio advanced to second, but Curren was caught stealing.
After that, Colleran walked Taryn Clements, putting yet another Bronco on base. Somehow, though, the Eagles left the inning unscathed as Hope Alley struck out looking and Abigail Charpentier struck out swinging.
In the top of the second, the Eagles got going offensively, gathering two runs on three hits.
Jordan Stephens hit a leadoff single to second base, then Zoe Hines followed that up with a single of her own.
Two batters later, Janis Espinoza’s groundout pushed Stephens to third and Hines to second. Meghan Schouten stepped up to the plate and delivered, smacking a double into right field that scored both runners.
Schouten was eventually stranded on base, but the Eagles went into the third inning with a 2–0 lead after shutting the Broncos out in the bottom of the second.
The Eagles’ lead dissipated in the bottom of the third inning, however, as the Broncos put two runs on the board off an RBI double from Clements and an RBI single from Alley.
Suddenly, the game was knotted up.
Neither team could score another run for the next four straight innings, though, forcing the game into extra frames.
The Eagles entered the ninth after a scoreless eighth inning in need of a go-ahead run.
That’s what they got, thanks to a leadoff double from Stephens. But she didn’t do it alone.
A sacrifice bunt from Hines and a sacrifice fly from Ptak are what pushed Stephens through home plate, putting BC up 3–2 headed into the bottom of the inning.
Bailey Kendziorski, who had relieved Colleran in the bottom of the fifth after Colleran walked two straight batters, stepped onto the mound, knowing what she needed to do. If she could shut down the Broncos for one more half-inning, the win would be in BC’s hands.
Kendziorski gave up no hits in the crucial inning, and a pop up from Rubio handed Santa Clara three outs. The game ended with the Eagles on top as Kendziorski was credited with her first win of the season.
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