BOSTON – Looking to secure hosting rights for the Patriot League tournament, the Boston University softball team will conclude the regular season at Colgate over the weekend. The Terriers and Raiders will open at Eaton Street Field on Saturday with a doubleheader slated for 12 p.m. and then meet a third time on Sunday with another 12 p.m. start time.
Both teams enter the series with much to play for. Currently sitting atop the PL standings at 12-3, the Terriers need one win to claim the top seed for the tournament after winning two of three contests against Bucknell (13-5 PL) last week. The Raiders are 6-9 and need to finish with more wins than Army (7-8 PL), who will be facing Lafayette (3-12 PL).
TERRIER TIDBITS
- The Terriers' 33 most wins are the most since BU went 36-21 in 2014.
- BU is 11-8 in true road games this season and has won the last six, including most recently a doubleheader sweep at UMass Lowell by a combined score of 20-3 ... In conference play, the Terriers are 5-1 on the road with three wins at Holy Cross by a combined score of 20-7 and 2-1 record at Army West Point (3-0, 2-3, 7-0).
- BU ranks 60th nationally in batting average (.290) while ranking tops in the nation in triples per game (0.57) and 74th in scoring (4.94 runs per game).
- Junior Alex Heinen leads BU in hitting at .374 and ranks 33rd nationally at 65 hits while tallying a team-high three homers and 43 RBIs ... She also owns 11 doubles, just two behind junior Madi Killbrew (.314 avg.).
- Senior Emma Wong (.335 avg.) has scored a team-high 44 runs, five ahead of classmate Brittany Younan (.295 avg.).
- Senior Jilee Schanda (.324 avg.) is the fourth Terrier batting over .300 and ranks second on the team with 34 RBIs while also ranking second nationally at eight triples ... Younan leads the NCAA with 10 triples.
- Freshman Ali DuBois (23-7, 1.89 ERA) ranks 10th nationally with 23 wins and owns eight shutouts, 15th most, while tallying 159 strikeouts for the No. 61st spot.
- Sophomore Lizzie Annerino (3-3, 2.55 ERA) pitched a shutout last week against Providence and teamed with freshman Cali Dolfi (4-7, 2.48 ERA, 1 SV) for a key win over Bucknell ... Sophomore Kali Magane (3-1, 3.67 ERA) has made six starts.
SCOUTING COLGATE
- Colgate is 2-4 at home with wins against Cornell (6-3) and Binghamton (3-1) ... The Raiders fell to Binghamton as well and to Bucknell in three games by a combined score of 17-9.
- In conference play, the Raiders own an 8-1 win against defending PL champion Lehigh, Army (8-5) and Lafayette (8-5) with a recent three-game sweep at Holy Cross by a combined score of 10-2.
- Colgate is batting .213 and holds opponents to .294 with opponents owning a 43-16 advantage in stolen bases and 58-49 lead in doubles.
- Holly Geranen leads the Raiders at .322 with a team-high four homers while tying Jordan Miller (.239 avg.) at 24 RBIs ... Virginia Irby (.309 avg.) is the other Raider batting over .300.
- Bella Crow (5-14, 3.99 ERA) owns a team-high 19 starts with 68 strikeouts in 94.2 innings ... Kyle Griswold (1-9, 3.80 ERA) and Jessica Hay (4-6, 3.59 ERA) have combined for the other 21 starts.
SERIES HISTORY
- The Terriers lead the all-time series, 11-1, with the lone loss occurring at Colgate in 2016 on a third-inning solo homer.
- BU had an 8-2 advantage in hits but could not overcome the homer ... The Terriers rebounded by winning the next two games by a combined score of 14-2.
- BU swept the Raiders on the road in 2014 by a combined score of 20-5.
- Last season at home, the Terriers rallied from a 5-2 deficit to send the game to extra innings and eventually prevailed on Schanda's walk-off homer, 9-7, in the 10th ... They won the next two games by a combined score of 12-1.
