Boston College softball, seemingly not hampered by the cold and windy conditions on the field, had a hot start on offense in Sunday’s series finale against NC State, as a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning from Hannah Slike gave the Eagles the early lead and their first of the weekend.
In a long-ball showdown, BC (12–14, 1–8 Atlantic Coast) powered past the Wolfpack (20–12, 4–5) 10–7 to earn both its first ACC and first home win of the season.
“If we want to meet our goals and be here in May, then you know, we’ve got to start winning some ACC games,” BC head coach Amy Kvilhaug said.
In the top of the first, freshman pitcher Bailey Kendziorski made quick work of the top of NC State’s lineup, registering two strikeouts while allowing only one baserunner due to a full-count walk.
After the Eagles’ two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, the Wolfpack allowed BC to put two runners on base. Opting for an early pitching change, they pulled starting pitcher Rylee Wyman.
NC State relief pitcher Wynne Gore, however, failed to extinguish BC’s early offensive spark, loading the bases after hitting a batter and allowing one run to score off of a groundout.
Gore’s outing would end soon after, as a three-run shot to left field from Meghan Schouten pushed the Eagles’ lead to six and forced the Wolfpack to once again call upon their bullpen—a decision which enabled them to finally escape the first inning.
NC State, needing a strong response to counter BC’s explosive start, got an early runner in scoring position after a leadoff double to left center field and seemed prime to do some damage.
And though the Wolfpack would capitalize thanks to an RBI single that went over the head of center fielder Zoe Hines, Kendziorski limited the counterpunch by inducing a double play to end the top of the second.
Though it appeared the Wolfpack would get out of the inning unscathed after a quick two outs, a solo shot to center field from Jordan Stephens pushed BC’s lead back to six in the bottom of the second.
In a day dominated by the long ball, NC State answered the Eagles’ solo shot in the second with one of its own, once again cutting into BC’s lead.
Unshaken by the leadoff home run, Kendziorski made easy work of the next three Wolfpack batters to again limit the damage to one run.
“I think Bailey would fall a little bit,” Kvilhaug said. “But [she] just gutted it out and did a fantastic job.”
With her second extra-base hit of the day, a towering double to center field from Schouten set the Eagles up with runners on second and third with one out. Abby Ptak then capitalized, ripping a double that scored BC’s eighth run of the game.
Kendziorski’s strong outing continued in the top of the fourth, as an efficient 1-2-3 performance got the Eagles’ offense back to the plate quickly.
The Eagles went down quickly in the bottom of the fourth, though. For the first time all game, neither squad notched a run in the inning.
The top of the fifth was similarly quiet for the Wolfpack, as a jumping catch from Emma Jackson and strong pitching from Kendziorski allowed only one runner to reach base.
NC State escaped the bottom of the inning unscathed, and the game remained at 8–2 heading into the sixth inning. The Wolfpack, though facing a sizable deficit, continued to fight in the top of the sixth. Back-to-back singles put two runners on base, allowing NC State to cut the deficit to three after a three-run home run over the left-center-field wall.
Kendziorski’s resilience proved vital yet again, as strategic pitching after conceding the home run coupled with strong defensive plays on the field kept the score 8–5.
Responding to the Wolfpack’s strong offensive showing in the top of the inning, the Eagles found themselves with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the sixth.
A two-RBI knock into left field from Hines gave the Eagles some much-needed insurance runs and marked their first time scoring double-digit runs in a game this season.
Desperately needing a rally, NC State led off the top of the seventh inning with a single into right field to get a player on base with no outs.
A two-run homer into center field from the Wolfpack cut the Eagles’ lead to three, but Kendziorski yet again settled down to slam the door on NC State’s comeback, ending the game at 10–7.
“Softball is an accumulation of a bunch of individual efforts,” Kvilhaug said. “So each person had adjustments that they had to make offensively coming into the game. And obviously, they did.”
In the previous day’s matchup, NC State secured a series victory over the Eagles with a 5–0 shutout.
After a quiet first inning from both offenses, the Wolfpack drew first blood behind back-to-back solo homers to put them up 2–0 in the top of the second inning. This one-two punch seemed to awaken the Wolfpack offense, as it scored two more runs in the inning to push the lead to 4–0.
The Eagles struggled to make contact with the ball, though, as they recorded seven strikeouts as a team compared to NC State’s one. The Wolfpack’s early surge proved decisive, as both offenses went quiet until NC State capped off the win with its third solo shot of the game in the seventh, sealing a 5–0 triumph.
To open the weekend series, NC State routed BC 19–5 in five innings on Friday afternoon.
The Wolfpack came out hot, scoring 14 unanswered runs off 12 hits over the first three innings. BC, staring down such a substantial deficit, finally managed to muster some resistance to NC State’s offensive onslaught, scoring one run in the third and four runs in the fourth, aided by fielding errors in the Wolfpack infield.
Their rally proved insufficient, though, as the Eagles, needing seven runs to stave off being mercy-ruled, were blanked in the bottom of the fifth to solidify an early end to their home opener.
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