LEWISBURG, Pa. – Solidifying its hold on first place in the Patriot League standings, the Boston University softball team completed the weekend series sweep with a pair of 3-2 victories at Bucknell on Sunday afternoon.
Junior
Emily Gant (3-2) led the charge with an RBI single in the first game and a 142-pitch, nine-strikeout performance in the second to help the Terriers (24-2, 13-1 PL) extend their road win streak to 14 games, third best in the nation. The Bison entered the series 69th in the NCAA with a .294 batting average but was held to .134 in four games to fall to 10-9 (7-5 PL) on the season.
Senior
Ali DuBois remained perfect on the year at 17-0 by tallying eight strikeouts for her third win of the series with freshman
Lauren Nett and junior
Bella Gargicevich-Almeida contributing RBI hits alongside Gant. Freshman
Lauren Keleher then went 3-for-4 in the final matchup with an RBI single, and senior
Marina Sylvestri delivered a crucial two-out, two-RBI double in the fifth.
GAME 1: BU 3, Bucknell 2
HOW IT HAPPENED
- BU threatened in the second with a one-out single by freshman Alex-Rose Molinar and double down the left field line from junior Nicole Amodio before Bucknell's Olivia Marinelli (2-3) earned a strikeout and ground out to end the threat.
- The Bison also had two on in the bottom half thanks to a throwing error and infield single, but DuBois kept the game scoreless on a ground out and strikeout of her own.
- After Bucknell turned a double play on a hard liner in the third, Sylvestri singled to third and scored on Nett's RBI double to left center.
- Gant extended the lead to 3-0 with a single up the middle.
- Bucknell loaded the bases in the fifth on a pair of singles and two-out walk before DuBois earned a swinging strikeout.
- Molinar scored what proved to be the game-winning run in the sixth by singling to third, taking second on junior Nicole Amodio's sac bunt and scoring in Gargicevich-Almeida's RBI single through the right side.
- DuBois started the seventh with a strikeout but ran into trouble with a walk, double and RBI single.
- The Bison plated another run with a ground out and then had the go-ahead run at first on a hit-by-pitch.
- Molinar sealed the victory by collecting a grounder to short and throwing to first for final out.
GAME 2: BU 3, Bucknell 2
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Looking for its first lead of the weekend, Bucknell started off with a walk and then had two in scoring position following a fielding error and stolen base.
- Gant kept the game scoreless with back-to-back strikeouts.
- BU got on the scoreboard first in the third, as Amodio singled up the middle, took second on sophomore Caitlin Coker's walk and scored on Keleher's RBI single to left.
- Kaiya Burton kept Bucknell's deficit at 1-0 with a pair of fly outs and ground out.
- The Terriers added two more runs in the fifth on Keleher's single, sophomore Audrey Seller's walk and Sylvestri's two-RBI double to center.
- Held hitless through the first five innings, Bucknell plated a couple of runs with a lead-off single and two-run blast from Nicole Rivait.
- Gant bounced back with four straight outs but ran into trouble in the seventh following a one-out single and fielding error.
- Gant sealed the victory with a 1-2 fly out and 2-2 swinging strikeout that included three foul balls.
DOUBLEHEADER NOTES
- DuBois is now just 12 strikeouts away from becoming the fourth pitcher in Patriot League history to reach 600 total.
- Keleher became the fourth Terrier this season to tally three hits in a game.
- Nett finished the weekend series with a team-high .500 batting average and three doubles, while Sylvestri had four RBIs.
- Gant earned at least nine strikeouts in the circle for the first time since recording nine strikeouts at Lafayette on April 20, 2019.
- BU moved to 16-7 all-time against Bucknell.
- The Terriers finished the four-game series with a 35-13 advantage in hits and tied the 1992 squad with four straight one-run victories.
- BU had three straight one-run wins in 2012, 2011 and 1997.
NEXT UP: Lafayette
- Next weekend's originally-scheduled four-game series against Holy Cross on April 24-25 has been postponed due to a positive COVID test within the Crusader program.
- The Terriers are now next currently scheduled to host Lafayette on May 1-2.
- BU is 18-0 all-time against the Leopards after earning three-game sweeps on the road in 2019 and at home in 2018.