Jessie Daulton waited patiently at bat for the the field to set, circling her wrists only slightly in anticipation of her swing. She steadied just as the pitcher flinched and started to wind, the outfield collectively crouching low into ready position to wait for the hit to come.
But it never did. As the ball came in, Daulton calmly shifted her hands so the bat was was level with the incoming throw. Bat and ball made contact just above Daulton’s chokehold grip and the tap dropped the ball right to the dirt. Before any fielder even touched their mitt to it, Annie Murphy had already slipped into home from third, scoring the tying run for the Eagles against the leading Harvard Crimson.
After falling to their Catholic school rival this past weekend, the Eagles took on their city rivals, the Harvard Crimson. And while the Notre Dame Fighting Irish left the maroon and gold in the dust with a weekend sweep, the softball team came back to squeeze out Harvard for a win, 5-4.
The Crimson (17-18) pulled ahead of Boston College (17-18) in their first time up to bat. Crimson’s Giana Panariello hit a three-run homer to set the scoreboard at 3-0 in the top of the first.
The game looked bleak for the Eagles, who couldn’t score any runs in the first couple innings. Harvard scored another run in the fourth with a left single from Zoe Galindo that sent Cat Callaway to home plate, making it 4-0 at the top of the third.
The Eagles found their bearings, however, in the bottom of the third when Megan Cooley slammed a pitch down the line past the Harvard rightfielder and wheeled around the bases to for an inside-the-park home run, also bringing Chloe Sharabba in with her to score. BC trailed Harvard 4-2 as the third rounded out.
With a kickstart to the BC scoreboard, the Eagles controlled the rest of the game, holding Harvard to its four runs and accumulating three more to just edge the Crimson out in the final score. Jordan Chimento kept the momentum going in the bottom of the sixth with a single through to center field that sent Taylor Coroneos to home plate.
Daulton eventually tied the game with the suicide squeeze that brought Murphy straight home to make it to four runs apiece.
The sealer came from Sharabba, who nailed a sacrifice fly to send Chimento in for the score and the game-winning run. The Eagles ended the game up a single run over Harvard, 5-4.
Highlights included Cooley’s inside-the-park homer—her second of the season—as well as Daulton’s suicide squeeze that tied up the game. Jess Dreswick was also the winning pitcher of the game, securing 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief.
With a solid win on their backs, the Eagles will look to keep the momentum going to widen the gap between their almost-equal number of wins and losses. They’ll hope to tip the scale towards more wins as they round the final corner of the season and head into the ACC Championships on a high..
Featured Image by Emily Fahey / Heights Senior Staff
