The Boston College softball team fell to .500 on the season when it dropped both games of a doubleheader to Harvard on Tuesday afternoon. The Eagles led at times in both games, but were unable to hold off the Crimson, losing 4-2 in the first and 4-3 in the second game.
BC opened up a quick 1-0 lead in game one with a run in the first inning in what turned out to be a pitchers’ duel for most of the afternoon. The Eagles’ run in the top of the first was the last sign of offense until BC doubled its lead in the seventh. Nicole D’Argento pitched well for the Eagles for almost the entire game, but the Crimson bats came to life in the bottom of the last inning. Adrienne Hume hit a two-run home run just two batters in to tie the game, and Kasey Lange popped a two-run shot of her own just minutes later to give Harvard the walk-off win. D’Argento pitched well for the Eagles, striking out seven and allowing seven hits, most of which came in the seventh inning. BC struggled offensively, however, mustering only five hits, but it benefited from Harvard’s suspect defense, which committed four errors on the day.
Game two was a similar story for the Eagles, who again were unable to hold a late lead. It was Harvard that jumped ahead with a run in the first inning this time, but BC answered back with two runs of its own in the third. Tory Speer drove in both runs with a two-run double to right center, but the Crimson struck right back with a run in the bottom of the inning. Speer gave BC the lead with another double in the fifth inning, but the team was again unable to make a late lead stand up. In the bottom of the fifth, pitcher Jordan Weed found herself in trouble after a leadoff double and a sacrifice bunt put a runner on third with only one out. Once again, it was Lange who came up big with a double into left that tied the game. Katherine Lantz followed up with a single that scored Lange and put Harvard ahead 4-3. BC got its leadoff batter on base to start the sixth, but she never got past second base, and the Eagles dropped the game 4-3.
The Eagles’ offense struggled noticeably during the double header, mustering 11 hits in the two games combined. The defense, however, looked almost perfect, making only one error in the two games and helping out when D’Argento and Weed were pitching toward contact.
The two losses mark four in a row for the Eagles and have dropped them to 15-15 on the season after a fast start. They return to action on Thursday when they host cross-town rivals Boston University at BU before playing ACC foe Pittsburgh in a three-game weekend series.
