BOSTON – Boosted by junior
Lizzy Avery's 10 strikeouts and senior
Aliyah Huerta-Leipner's pair of RBI hits, the Boston University softball team earned a 6-0 home victory over UMass on Wednesday afternoon.
Finishing with a 9-1 advantage in hits, the Terriers (27-13) extended their win streak to 16 games and the nation's second-longest active home win streak to 20 contests, as the Minutewomen fell to 12-23. Already owning a no-hitter against Merrimack this season, Avery claimed her fourth solo shutout and second one-hitter of the spring.
At the plate, Huerta-Leipner went 2-for-3 with a season-high three RBIs, while graduate student
Jen Horita also went 2-for-3 with an RBI triple and two runs scored. Junior
Caitlin Coker was the third Terrier with two hits, as she finished with a personal-best four stolen bases, one shy of both the program and Patriot League record set by Jayme Mask ('14) in 2014.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After UMass earned a one-out walk, Avery recorded a strikeout and ground out to end the threat.
- After Coker reached base on an error to start the bottom of the first and stole second base, she scored on senior Emily Gant's two-out, RBI single through the left side.
- Horita followed with an RBI triple and eventually scored alongside senior Nicole Amodio (hit-by-pitch) on Huerta-Leipner's two-RBI single up the middle for the 4-0 advantage.
- The Minutewomen earned their lone hit in the second, as Avery recorded all three outs via strikeout.
- Coker added another run by singling to center, stealing second and then reaching home after Gant (walk) drew a throw toward second on a steal attempt.
- Horita scored the final run in the bottom of the fifth by hitting an infield single, stealing second and scoring on Huerta-Leioner's RBI double.
- Avery earned her 10th strikeout in the top of the seventh before collecting a grounder and throwing to first to seal the shutout.
GAME NOTES
- Avery became the second-ever Terrier to shut out the Minutewomen and first since a 1-0 win in 1996, as BU moved to 7-15 all-time in the series with its first-ever three-game win streak. The Terriers last pulled out a 3-1 home victory in 2019.
- The 6-0 win was BU's largest margin of victory in the series since the Terriers posted a 10-4 victory in 2010.
- Avery claimed her fourth solo shutout of the season and BU's ninth overall.
- Horita earned her 10th multi-hit game of the season, while Huerta-Leipner claimed her fifth.
- BU's 16-game win streak is tied for the fourth longest in program history after the Terriers recorded both a 17-game and 18-game win streak last season.
UP NEXT
- BU will remain home and next resume Patriot League play by hosting Holy Cross in a three-game weekend series with Saturday's (April 16) doubleheader slated for 12 p.m.
- The Terriers are 43-8 all-time in the series and have won the last 16 meetings.