FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Highlighted by a combined 23 strikeouts and timely hitting, the Boston University softball team rolled to a doubleheader shutout sweep at Fairfield Saturday afternoon.
The Terriers (19-6) first tallied a season-high 16 hits and watched senior
Allison Boaz (10-3) post a career-high 10 strikeouts for a game-one 9-0 victory over the Stags (3-11). In the second contest, BU scored two early runs that proved to be enough in a 2-0 win, as senior
Lizzy Avery (3-1) and freshman
Kasey Ricard (SV) combined for 13 strikeouts in a one-hit shutout.
On the offensive front, juniors
Lauren Keleher and
Kayla Roncin tallied four hits apiece in the DH with Keleher collecting a pair of key doubles alongside a solo homer. Junior
Kate Pryor and senior
Caitlin Coker both had three hits, while junior
Lauren Nett and sophomore
Tyesha Williams recorded two each.
GAME 1: BU - 9, Fairfield - 0
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Keleher led off the day with a double and scored alongside Roncin (single) on Coker's RBI single that prompted an errant throw from right to grab a 2-0 lead.
- After Boaz collected four strikeouts over the first two innings, Roncin started the third with a triple to left and scored on Coker's second RBI single to move ahead, 3-0.
- The Stags broke up Boaz's no-hit bid in the fourth with a two-out triple down the right field line, but she bounced back by getting a ground out to graduate student Nicole Amodio at first.
- BU pulled away in the top of the seventh with six runs off hits.
- Like the first inning, Keleher provided the spark on an extra base hit, this time lining to right for her first homer of the season.
- Amodio followed Nett's RBI single with a two-RBI single and scored on Pryor's RBI triple to right.
- Sophomore Sydney Pecoraro earned her first career RBI single to right for the final run of the game.
- Boaz ended the game with two more strikeouts for her fourth solo shutout of the year.
GAME 2: BU - 2, Fairfield - 0
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After the Stags retired five straight Terriers, Nett doubled with two outs down the left field line and scored on Williams' RBI single to center.
- Williams advanced to second on senior Audrey Sellers' single to left and scored the contest's final run on Keleher's RBI double.
- Avery struck out the side in the second and finished the third by earning another strikeout with a 4-6-3 ground out double play.
- Fairfield broke up Avery's no-hit bid with a lead-off single in the fifth and advanced the runner with a sacrifice bunt.
- Avery claimed a strikeout on the next at-bat, and Nett made an impressive running catch in the right center gap with an outstretched glove to maintain the shutout.
- Ricard entered the circle in the sixth and struck out all six Stags she faced to claim her first career save.
DOUBLEHEADER NOTES
- The Terriers now have 11 shutouts on the season with their second DH shutout sweep following stellar pitching performances against Kent State and Georgia Tech back on Feb. 24.
- With the inclusion of last week's 2-0 win over then-No. 12 Baylor, the pitching staff has recorded double-digit strikeouts in three consecutive contests for the first time since 2019.
- Boaz moved into a tie for 10th all-time in the program record book at 37 career wins, and Keleher reached the same ranking with 70 career walks.
- Keleher became the fourth Terrier to hit a homer this season, while Pryor became the sixth to earn a triple.
- BU faced Fairfield for the first time since 2003 and extended its lead in the series to 15-3.
UP NEXT
- BU will open the 13-game home slate on Tuesday (March 21) with a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. against Yale.
- The Terriers will face the Bulldogs for the first time since claiming a 7-3 neutral win in 2016 and will host a matchup between the two programs for the first time since 1996.
