April 22, 2015

Box Score | Highlights

BOSTON - With the score tied in the fifth, sophomore Brittany Younan delivered a two-out, two-RBI single to help the Boston University softball team pull away from UMass, 10-6, on Wednesday afternoon at home.

BU's top four hitters combined for eight runs, six RBIs, six hits, four stolen bases and three walks, as the Terriers (13-24) posted a season-high four-game win streak and also triumphed in their first regular season meeting against UMass (14-21) since 1994. BU last defeated the Minutewomen at the 2010 NCAA regionals in Amherst.

The in-state rivals were originally scheduled to have a doubleheader, but the first game went over two and a half hours, prompting the cancellation of the second contest due to the limited timeframe to play a rematch with the sun setting.

After the Minutewomen scored four runs in the fourth against sophomore Makinna Akers to grab a 6-5 lead, junior Melanie Russell pitched 3.1 scoreless innings to collect the win and improve to 5-6. Reigning A-10 Player of the Week Quianna Diaz-Patterson went 2-of-2 with two RBIs and three runs scored to keep UMass within striking distance.

Ranked second in the nation in batting average at .525, she opened the contest with a double to right center and eventually scored following a sacrifice bunt and single to center for the early 1-0 lead. Sophomore Moriah Connolly responded with a lead-off triple on a hard hit over the left fielder and scored on freshman Emma Wong's RBI single up the middle. Younan followed with another RBI hit to put BU ahead, 2-1.

Following a scoreless second inning, UMass took advantage of a BU infield error to plate Diaz-Patterson, who was on second after a walk and single. The Minutewomen repaid the favor with two errors in the top of the third after Wong and Younan led off with back-to-back walks. Both freshman Jilee Schanda and senior reigning Patriot League Player of the Week Emily Felbaum had RBI singles to push the Terriers ahead, 5-2.

With the three-run lead, BU had the bases loaded and zero outs but could not extend the lead further against Caroline Raymond (10-13), who earned two swinging strikeouts and a foul out. Keyed by Diaz-Patterson's two-RBI triple and a pair of favorable bounces down the left field line, UMass stormed back with four runs off five hits against Akers to retake the 6-5 lead.

Russell relieved Akers and earned the third out to keep the deficit at one. Facing two outs with Schanda at second in the bottom of the fourth, sophomore Gabi Martinez drilled a single to center to tie the game.

Younan broke open the game one inning later in the fifth with a two-out single to score senior Mandy Fernandez and Connolly. She would later steal second and score BU's ninth run of the game on Schanda's RBI-single.

The Minutewomen committed two errors in the sixth, allowing BU to grab a 10-6 lead without a hit in the sixth. Russell quickly retired the side in the seventh and only allowed a total of three runners on base for the victory.

BU will remain home and continue its six-game homestand against Colgate on Saturday (April 25) with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.