Sunday: W, 7–6
Coming off a close loss from an extra-innings Saturday night game, Boston College softball was looking to clinch a win on Sunday afternoon to close out the weekend against Syracuse.
The sun was out, and the wind was blowing at Harrington Athletics Village to set the scene for the Eagles (12–29, 3–12 Atlantic Coast) as they secured a 7–6 win in the final game of their weekend series with the Orange (14–17, 3–10).
A sacrifice fly to deep center field from Janis Espinoza was enough to bring Emma Knight home and advance Abby Ptak to third base in the first inning. Next up to bat was Holly Paharik, who was hit by a pitch and caused Ptak to cross home for the second run of the day and put the Eagles up 2–0.
The second came and went with no scoring, but that didn’t last long as BC increased its lead to three in the bottom of the third. Once again, Espinoza was up to bat with a single that brought Ptak to home plate.
With three hits and some great offensive plays, Espinoza was a crucial piece in Sunday’s win.
“She’s come back from her injury and just really played all out for us, and she’s ready to go out with a bang, and she’s fighting tooth and nail to make sure our teams are on the top side of things,” said BC head coach Beth Krysiak.
Krysiak made a call to the mound in the top of the fourth as Kelly Colleran held strong for the opening three innings, but was subbed for Halie Pappion. One inning later, Pappion would be subbed by Alyx Rossi to try her hand at defusing Syracuse’s offense.
Syracuse had been quiet for the first three innings but put up one run in the fourth and one run in the fifth, while BC had no additional scoring. The sixth inning went scoreless, leaving the score at 3–2 going into the final inning.
All BC needed to do was get out of the seventh without giving up a run, but Syracuse wasn’t going to let that happen. The Orange plated four runs in the final inning, putting themselves up 6–3.
BC was on its toes going into the bottom of the seventh, needing four runs to win the game, and four runs is exactly what it got.
“They’re just not giving up on themselves, and they’re not giving up on their teammates or the vision of the program, and that goes so far,” said Krysiak when asked about the improvement over the weekend. “I’m really proud of their mental capacity to stay in it. It’s been a long season and a hard season of a lot of change, and we’re really young, so I’m really proud of the mental toughness factor.”
Adriana Martinez doubled to left center, allowing Bailey Kendziorski to score from second base. Next was a shallow single from Espinoza, allowing pinch runner Tannis Jackin to score. Espinoza would be next to score off a passed ball that advanced Tavye Borders to third and tied the game up for the Eagles.
It was Nicole Riddell striding up to bat when the Eagles needed one more run to secure the win. Four balls gave her a base, and a wild pitch was all Borders needed to sprint home and grab the winning run for the Eagles.
“We’re feeling good coming off this win, but I think there’s so many softball things we’ve gotta keep getting better at and fix, and some of the mental stuff too,” Krysiak said. “But I think the main lesson is how to switch the mentality into fighters, and I think they did that in this game, and if we can continue that, then we’re gonna be alright.”
Saturday: L, 6–4
BC sent its game against Syracuse into extra innings thanks to a three-run surge in the sixth and seventh innings of Saturday’s game, but the Orange scored two runs in the ninth and held BC scoreless in the bottom of the frame to earn a 6–4 win and steal the weekend series.
Knight led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a home run, tying the game 4–4 and forcing an eighth frame. Rossi pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the eighth, forcing two Syracuse strikeouts to give BC another chance.
The Eagles could not respond in the bottom of the frame, though. Paharik struck out, and Riddell struck out but managed to reach on a wild pitch. Riddell advanced to third on yet another wild pitch the next at-bat, but a Sammy Horn groundout ended the frame, and the game remained tied.
Rossi struggled in the ninth, allowing a leadoff double and then a wild pitch advanced Kaylee Eubanks to third base. She tossed two strikeouts, but things went downhill again soon after.
Rose Cano hit an RBI single into right field to score Eubanks, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Gabby Lantier went in to pinch run for Cano, and a Jadyn Burney single scored Lantier from second to put the Orange up 6–4. The Eagles couldn’t respond in the bottom of the frame and suffered their sixth straight defeat.
Syracuse was up 2–1 as the game headed into the third inning following a two-RBI single from Lantier and a deep homer into right field from Riddell. Syracuse put up two more runs in the fifth, but BC responded with some sixth- and seventh-inning success. Unfortunately for the Eagles, that was not enough as they fell in extra innings, and Syracuse secured an ACC weekend series win.
