Boston University
0-2
Charleston Southern
4-0
Terriers Drop Pair on Opening Day at CSU Invitational
February 19, 2016 | Softball
Box Scores - Western Carolina (L, 9-1 / 6 inn.) | Charleston Southern (L, 6-3)
Saturday Live Stats - Western Carolina (9 a.m.) | North Carolina A&T (11 a.m.)
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Despite scoring first in both games, the Boston University softball team opened the Charleston Southern University (CSU) Invitational with losses to Western Carolina (9-1) and the host Buccaneers (6-3) on Friday afternoon.
Highlighted by junior Gabi Martinez's solo homer, four Terriers finished with two hits apiece in the doubleheader against the Catamounts (5-1) and Bucs (4-0). The only team to not have played last week, BU (0-2) faced both schools for the first time in program history.
WCU and CSU only combined for three more hits than the Terriers but drew six extra walks while adding two more homers to post a 15-4 advantage in RBIs.
In the first matchup with WCU, BU struck first in the bottom half of the opening inning. Junior Moriah Connolly singled to short, advanced to second on a throwing error, reached third on sophomore Emma Wong's sacrifice bunt and scored on junior Brittany Younan's RBI groundout.
The Terriers recorded two singles in the second off the bats of senior Lauren Hynes and sophomore Jilee Schanda but stranded both runners. They would only have one more runner in scoring position in the fifth, as Lily Hayes (1-0) recorded three strikeouts against just one hit allowed in the final three innings for the win.
WCU tied the game in the third against Hynes (0-1) on a solo shot by Victoria Mariscal and then pulled away with eight runs over the following three innings. Mariscal delivered a two-RBI single to right in the fourth to help the Catamounts pull away.
In the first inning of the second game, Younan recorded a two-out single and then used her speed to reach home on freshman Alex Heinen's single to center. The lead was short-lived however, as Stephanie Bergmann delivered a two-out, three-run homer against senior Melanie Russell (0-1).
CSU added a run in the second, but BU managed to keep the deficit at two in the next half inning on freshman Emily Morrow's RBI single that plated Connolly from second. Jade Gandara created some distance between the two teams in the fifth with a two-run blast for the 6-2 advantage.
The Terriers tried to mount a rally in the seventh on Martinez's one-out solo shot. Morrow added her second single of the contest, but BU left her and five other runners on base for the three-run loss.
BU will conclude the CSU Invitational on Saturday with a rematch against WCU at 9 a.m. and first-ever meeting against North Carolina A&T at 11 a.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: ELKINS, H. (2-0)
L: Russell, Melanie (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Martinez, Gabi 1
HR: Martinez, Gabi 1
RBI: Morrow, Emily 1 ; Heinen, Alex 1 ; Martinez, Gabi 1
SH: Schanda, Jilee 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Connolly, Moriah 1 ; Younan, Brittany 1 ; Martinez, Gabi 1
SB: Connolly, Moriah 1 ; Schanda, Jilee 1
Batting:
HR: GANDARA, J. 1 ; BERGMANN, S. 1
RBI: GANDARA, J. 2 ; BERGMANN, S. 3 ; YONAN, N. 1
SH: EWING, D. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MATSUMOTO, A 1 ; GANDARA, J. 2 ; BARO, S. 1 ; BERGMANN, S. 1 ; ROBINSON, C. 1
SB: MATSUMOTO, A 1 ; ROBINSON, C. 1
CS: GANDARA, J. 1
