UMass Wins Slugfest Over Terrier Softball In Home Opener
April 12, 2004 | Softball
BOSTON - Shortstop Hilary Puglia hit a three-run double in the second inning to stake the University of Massachusetts softball team to a 5-0 lead and the Minutewomen withstood a pair of Boston University comebacks in an 11-6 win over the Terriers at the B.U. Softball Field on Monday, April 12.
It was the 12th straight win for UMass, which improved to 19-11. B.U., playing in its home opener, fell to 15-22.
With the wind blowing straight out to center field, it was a day for the offenses, as the teams combined for four home runs and 24 hits. Puglia and KC Budrewicz went deep for the Minutewomen, while sophomore first baseman Liz Alley (Aurora, Colo.) and freshman second baseman Chiya Louie (Seattle, Wash.) hit homers for B.U. It was Alley's eighth home run of the season, tying the team record for single-season homeruns set by Cathleen Crowley in 1994 and Robyn King in 2000.
Alley went 3-for-4 on the day with two RBI. She was one of six Terriers with two or more hits. Louie was 2-for-4 with two runs and her two-run homer. Puglia trumped them all, going 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBI.
B.U. starting pitcher Brittany Detwiler (Souderton, Pa.) walked the first two UMass batters, and after a wild pitch moved them up, Katie Jo Kelley drove in one run with a sacrifice fly to center. The visitors then went up, 2-0, on a fielder's choice.
Freshman pitcher Ashlee Freeman (Northridge, Calif.) replaced Detwiler early in the second, and after a fielding error loaded the bases, Puglia responded with a bases clearing double to make it 5-0 in favor of the Minutewomen.
It wasn't until the bottom of the third that B.U. got back on track, as Alley hit her two-run homer to right center to cut the lead to 5-2. Puglia recorded her fourth RBI of the game with a solo homer to center that pushed the lead to 6-2.
The Terrier offense got two of the runs back in the fourth inning on run-scoring double by sophomore designated player Erin McDonald (Macon, Ill.) and a bases-loaded walk by senior center fielder Abbey Pauley (Spring, Texas) that made the score 6-4.
B.U. had a golden chance in the fifth, loading the bases with no outs on a single, error, and two fielder's choices before Freeman lined into a double play to squelch the opportunity. Detwiler, playing right field, struck out looking to end the threat.
UMass put the game away in the top of the sixth, as a fielding error and passed ball led to another two runs, and a Jamie Cahalan double led to another as UMass went up, 9-4.
UMass put two more runs on the board in the top of the seventh, and B.U. did the same in the bottom of the seventh on a Louie homer.
The Minutewomen's Kelli Arnold (9-5) got the win in relief. Detwiler took the loss to fall to 3-7.
The Terriers are scheduled to play an America East doubleheader on Wednesday, April 14 at 3 p.m., but the possibility of rain on Tuesday into Wednesday threatens those games.
