BOSTON – Competing in the northeast for the first time this season, the Boston University softball team will head to New York for the two-day St. John's Invitational over the weekend.
The Terriers will first visit Hofstra at 11 a.m. on Saturday (March 17) and then make the short trek over to St. John's for a 3 p.m. start time. They will then return on Sunday (March 18) to Hofstra for matchups against UMass at 11 a.m. and then Binghamton at 1:15 p.m.
TERRIER TIDBITS
- BU is 2-6 in the last eight games with a pair of victories against San Diego State and tough losses to then-No. 21 Long Beach State (1-0, 8 inn.), defending Mountain West champion San Jose State (5-3, 10 inn.) and Loyola Marymount (4-3).
- The Terriers are 1-5 in true road games this year with a win at SDSU (1-0) and 2-1 loss at defending WAC champion New Mexico State.
- BU is hitting .258 as a team and is holding opponents to .288 with 8-3 advantage in triples ... Opponents though have 7-0 lead in homers.
- Juniors Alex Heinen and Madi Killebrew are hitting .328 apiece with an identical seven doubles ... Heinen owns a team-high 12 RBIs, while senior Brittany Younan (.233 avg.) has a team-high 12 runs scored.
- Senior Emma Wong is hitting .313 with eight RBIs and eight runs scored ... She was named the Patriot League Player of the Week on Monday after hitting over .400 at the San Diego Classic.
- BU owns a .962 field percentage with 12 fewer errors than opponents (.948).
- Freshman Ali Dubois (4-3, 2.66 ERA) owns a team-high 23 strikeouts in 47.1 innings, while Cali Dolfi (3-5, 2.41 ERA) has 22 in 52.1 innings.
- Both sophomores Lizzie Annerino (1-3, 2.43 ERA) and Kali Magane (0-1, 4.10 ERA) have combined for seven starts.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
@ Hofstra (Saturday, 11 a.m.)
- Highlighted by a 1-0 (10 inn.) win over then-No. 13 Florida State, the Pride are 7-10 this season after finishing CAA runner-up last season with a 27-23 overall record.
- Hofstra will be playing its first home game this year following earlier key wins against Texas Tech, FIU (2x) and FGCU.
- The Pride are hitting .206 as a team but are holding opponents to an even smaller .176.
- Brittany Allocca is hitting .300 with nine RBIs and five runs scored, while Sara Edwards (.256 avg.) has two homers and seven RBIs.
- Sarah Cornell (5-4, 1.53 ERA) owns 90 strikeouts in 78.0 innings, while Sophie Dandola (5-3, 1.53) has 24 strikeouts in 45.2 innings.
- BU is 10-23-1 all-time in the series dating back to 1990 and will be facing Hofstra for the first time since a 2-1 loss in New York in 2010.
@ St. John's (Saturday, 3 p.m.)
- The Red Storm are 5-16 after going 32-16 last season and reaching the Big East title game.
- St. John's owns wins over East Carolina, FIU, UC Riverside, Idaho State and Quinnipiac ... The Red Storm fell previously to Patriot League member Bucknell, 6-1, on March 4.
- St. John's is hitting .262 as a team and is holding opponents to .314 with 17-9 advantage in homers.
- Melendez is batting .397 with 15 RBIs, while Puga is hitting .361 with nine homers, 20 runs scored and 23 RBIs ... Rizzi (.311) is the third member hitting over .300 with four homers and 15 RBIs.
- Morris (4-6, 4.38 ERA) and Murray (1-9, 8.05 ERA) have combined for 86 strikeouts in 112 innings of work.
- BU won the lone meeting in 1997, 1-0, in Orlando, Florida.
vs. UMass (@ Hofstra, Sunday, 11 a.m.)
- UMass is 9-8 this season after going 29-24 last year and finishing runner-up in the A-10 title game.
- The Minutewomen own key wins against Louisville, UC Santa Barbara, Delaware and Ohio.
- UMass is hitting .284 and holding opponents to .273 with 36-30 advantage in extra-base hits.
- Jena Cozza is hitting .471 with eight homers and 17 RBIs, while Kaycee Carbone (.375 avg.) owns four homers and a team-high 19 RBIs.
- Kiara Oliver (5-1, 3.08 ERA), Quinn Breidenbach (2-4, 3.41 ERA) and Meg Colleran (2-3, 3.76 ERA) all have at least four starts apiece ... Oliver has posted 56 strikeouts in 52.1 innings.
- BU is 4-15 all-time in the series and will look to avenge last year's doubleheader sweep at UMass (6-4, 3-1).
vs. Binghamton (@ Hofstra, Sunday, 1:15 p.m.)
- The Bearcats are 3-6 after going 22-25 last season and reaching the America East semifinals with wins over Loyola Chicago, Delaware and Northern Kentucky.
- Binghamton is hitting .245 as a team and is holding opponents to .228 with a 4-0 advantage in homers.
- Jessica Rutherford (.387 avg.) owns a team-high five RBIs, while Kate Richard (.290 avg.) has two homers and seven RBIs.
- Rozlyn Price (2-2, 2.25 ERA), has pitched two complete games ... She is one of three Bearcats to earn three starts alongside Chelsea Howard (1-1, 2.45 ERA) and Rayn Gibson (0-3, 5.85 ERA).
- The Terriers are 32-7 all-time and will be facing their former America East rivals for the first time since claiming an 11-1 win at the 2016 Maryland Invitational.
