Under the lights of Harrington Athletics Village in a late-night matchup against Massachusetts, it seemed like the Eagles were going to pull off a comeback against the Minutewomen in the pouring rain.
With two outs, Carly Bunnell on second, and Meghan Schouten on third, the game was in the hands of pinch hitter Maycee Hilt.
But as the clock approached 11 p.m., Hilt was unable to come away with a hit, and the Eagles (15–17, 3–9 Atlantic Coast) suffered their third consecutive loss, falling 5–4 to UMass (9–22, 3–6 Atlantic 10).
“If we’re going to give up four runs a game, we have to score five, and we have to score six, seven, eight, nine, 10-plus,” BC head coach Amy Kvilhaug said.
While it took Kvilhaug’s team a while to score any runs at all, the Minutewomen put up runs within the first inning.
After the game’s first at-bat, UMass had almost made it around to home plate thanks to a monster leadoff triple from Riain Keefe.
Then, after two consecutive outs, Lydia Castro doubled to right field, scoring Keefe on the play. The Minutewomen had already created a 1–0 lead before the Eagles had their chance to bat.
For the first two innings, the Eagles couldn’t get anything going offensively. But in the third, Gator Robinson advanced to second off a wild pitch after walking and was in prime position for BC.
Emma Jackson took advantage of that. Slamming a triple to right field, Jackson scored Robinson, knotting the game 1–1.
After Hannah Slike fouled out to first base on the next play, Jordan Stephens gave the Eagles another run, scoring Jackson off a double to center field. For the first time all game, BC had stolen the lead from the Minutewomen.
For the next few innings, it seemed like the Eagles had figured something out. That was until the top of the fifth when UMass scored three runs off four hits, resulting in a pitching change from Bailey Kendziorski to Kelly Colleran.
“Bailey wasn’t sharp, and I think Bailey wasn’t hitting her spots like she typically does, and she was falling behind hitters,” Kvilhaug said. “I think then Kelly came out and battled, and other than that, I think she did a good job of mixing the speeds.”
After leading 4–2 for almost an inning and a half, UMass lost its lead after Jackson doubled to left center in the bottom of the sixth, though, scoring Robinson and Tavye Borders.
The score was knotted 4–4, and the game would have to be settled in the seventh inning. And it was.
Rattling a rocket out of the ballpark, Castro delivered for her team and gave UMass a 5–4 edge. While it seemed like the Eagles may come close to a last-minute comeback in the bottom of the inning after a single and a walk, they were unable to score any runs and dropped the game by a single run.
“At the end of the day, we need to figure out how to execute, and we are not executing,” Kvilhaug said. “We’re just not. We’re getting the runners in scoring position, and we are just not coming up with the timely hit.”
Leave a Reply