The Eagles cruised to an 8–0 win against Bryant on Tuesday afternoon, extending their win streak over the Bulldogs to 13.
Following a devastating 3–0 weekend series defeat to No. 15 Duke, Boston College softball (13–32, 3–15 Atlantic Coast) needed a win. That victory came in the best way possible: a five-inning run-rule shutout to defeat Bryant (16–21, 13–4 America East). The two teams met earlier in the season when the Eagles came out on top 13–0 in six innings. Despite the lopsided result, the Eagles remained focused on approaching the game with a clean slate.
“We talked about us and our process, and it doesn’t matter who’s in the other dugout,” BC head coach Beth Krysiak said. “We have to play a good version of softball for ourselves, and we shouldn’t play down or up to whoever’s on the other side of the field.”
The victory was an equal mix of consistent pitching from Halie Pappion and poor fielding from the Bulldogs.
Pappion took to the mound and promptly took out Bryant’s hitters 1-2-3. The senior pitcher spent the entirety of last season recovering from surgery due to stress reactions in her throwing arm, and her results have since been inconsistent. The game stood out as a marked improvement from her 16 earned runs allowed over 15.2 innings played this season.
“She came in, and she did a good job,” Krysiak said. “She was hitting spots early on, and got to chase some stuff out of the zone and result in some strikeouts, which was big for her.”
In BC’s first at-bat, Sammy Horn recorded a bunt single and was bumped to second courtesy of Emma Knight’s seven-pitch walk. Abby Ptak loaded the bases with a single, pressuring Adriana Martinez to bring it home with zero outs on the board.
Martinez’s shot to the hot corner was snatched up by the Bryant third baseman, who narrowly took out Horn before she could slide home. Fifth in line, Janis Espinoza came up to the plate and doubled to score Knight and Ptak, advancing Martinez to third.
A whirlwind of fielding struggles let Holly Paharik reach on a fielder’s choice and advance to second on the throw. The frenzy resulted in Espinoza scoring while Martinez was taken out, making it 3–0. Rocky pitching from the Bulldogs led to Nicole Riddell walking and stealing second on the play, before Kae DePerio lined out to wrap up the first.
The Bulldogs went down in order—first a strikeout, then a groundout, and finally a flyout, failing to chip away at BC’s lead. Horn continued the onslaught with a double to right field and made it to third on a passed ball. Shortly after, Knight sauntered to first base on a walk.
More defensive struggles for Bryant resulted in back-to-back steals with Horn taking home and Knight snagging second. Ptak launched a double sending Knight to third, and a fielding error brought her home and put Ptak in scoring position. The two-run frame ended with two left on base and added insurance to the 5–0 tally.
Bryant’s Jadyn Jenks singled for the team’s first hit of the afternoon and stole second off a failed pickoff attempt, but that was the extent of Bryant’s success in the third after Arriana Williams popped up to center.
In an attempt to quell BC’s lead, Maddy Wachter came on as relief for the Bulldogs. Not even a minute later, Riddell sent it out of the park, rounding the bases for her fifth homer of the season.
“I think we did a really good job making adjustments in the box, and they brought in three different pitchers, and it kind of didn’t matter,” Krysiak said. “We made adjustments really, really quickly, and they played as a team, despite cold temperatures.”
To add insult to injury, Knight hit a single and advanced to second off a Bryant error. The same blunder scored Horn, raising the Eagles’ lead to 7–0. Consecutive Ptak and Martinez walks put ducks on the pond with two outs on the count, but an Espinoza pop-up nipped the potential in the bud.
Kicking off the fourth, Kelly Colleran came up to the bump as relief. Papillon’s stint as pitcher saw zero runs allowed, only one hit, and no walks to her name. In the wake of the transition, Bryant’s Gabriella Gesualdo and Bryce Clendenin put up singles, and the Bulldogs saw their best opportunity of the game when a wild pitch put players on third and second.
Before any damage could be done, Colleran settled into her rhythm and struck out the next batter, sending the Eagles back on offense. The frame was by far BC’s least successful, as hitters were met with a foul, groundout, and flyout to make it a scoreless fourth inning.
Scoring picked back up in the bottom of the fifth after Knight drew a walk and Tavye Borders came in as a pinch runner. Borders immediately executed, stealing second and advancing to third off a Ptak lineout. In picture-perfect fashion, Martinez singled, scoring Borders and ending the game on a walk-off for the mercy rule.
“She struck out in her first at-bat and then walked in her second and then got that hit there in the end,” Krysiak said on Martinez’s game-winning hit. “That’s what we had talked about after, she has to just trust her training and trust who she is, and she doesn’t have to press and make a moment too big, and she did exactly that.”
