ALBANY, N.Y. – Freshman hurler Cassidi Hardy took a perfect game into the seventh inning and dominated Albany as the Boston University softball team defeated the Great Danes 4-1 Sunday afternoon in the rubber game of a three-game series. Hardy ended up with a one-hitter – her second in two days – as the Terriers improved to 25-25 on the season, 10-8 in America East play. Albany fell to 29-9-1, 10-5.

Hardy retired the first 18 batters she faced, as the Terriers built her a 4-0 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Albany shortstop Sarah Larsen hit a high foul pop up that BU catcher Christy Leath could not come up with. Two pitches later, Larsen hit a home run to left field to break up the perfect game, no-hitter and shutout. Hardy (14-9) responded by setting down the next three Great Dane batters to record her third one-hitter of the season. She finished with six strikeouts en route to her 18^th complete game of the season. 

On Saturday, Hardy allowed only a double – also by Larsen – in the sixth inning of a 2-1 Terrier victory.

BU allowed Hardy to pitch with a lead by scoring single runs in the third and fourth innings. In the third, 3B Brooke Hudson was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a sacrifice and scored on Tyler Benson’s RBI single. In the fourth, 2B Brandi Shields walked, stole second and scored on Liz Alley’s double.

The Terriers added some insurance in the seventh, plating two more runs. With two outs, Hudson singled and came all the way around to score on Shayne Lotito’s triple. Lotito then touched home on an RBI single by Benson to propel BU to its 4-0 advantage.

Benson was 3-4 with two RBI to lead the Terrier offense, while Hudson was 1-2 with two runs scored.

At 10-8, BU is now tied for third in the America East standings with UMBC. Stony Brook – the Terriers’ next opponent - is fifth at 8-7. The top four teams qualify for the conference postseason tournament May 11-13.

BU travels to Stony Brook for a three-game series to conclude the regular season. The teams will play a doubleheader on May 6, followed by a single game on May 7.