Softball Pulls Away Late to Earn DH Sweep over Harvard

Tuesday, April 11

Boston, MA

3 PM

Boston University

32-7

Harvard

18-11-1

Harvard

Boston University

Photo by: Eliza Nuestro

Softball Pulls Away Late to Earn DH Sweep over Harvard

April 11, 2023 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 G1 Box (W, 5-4 / 8 inn.)G2 Box (W, 3-1 / 5 inn.)Highlights

BOSTON – Extending its win streak to a season-high 13 games, the Boston University softball team earned a home doubleheader sweep over Harvard on Tuesday evening.

The Terriers (33-7) walked off the first game in eight innings, 5-4, and then rallied late to defeat the Crimson (18-12-1), 3-1, in a second contest that was called after five innings due to darkness.

Junior Kayla Roncin went 3-for-4 in the first contest with a three-run homer and four total two-out RBIs before junior Lauren Keleher, junior Lauren Nett and sophomore Tyesha Williams all collected an RBI in the rematch. Coincidentally, graduate student Emily Gant scored the final run both times.

In the circle, senior Allison Boaz (16-4) recorded two wins by pitching the final 1.1 innings of the first meeting and then going the distance in the second. She limited the Crimson to just four combined hits with the help of six strikeouts.

GAME 1: BU - 5, Harvard - 4 (8 innings)

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Crimson started off with a lead-off single and stolen base but stranded the runner at second, as senior Lizzy Avery earned a pair of strikeouts to end the threat.
Avery began the top of the second with a ground out but then ran into trouble allowing four straight singles to face a 2-0 deficit and prompt the entrance of freshman Kasey Ricard, who collected an infield pop up and fly out to left.
After the Crimson retired seven straight Terriers, senior Audrey Sellers singled to right with two outs in the bottom of the third, took second on Keleher's single through the right side and finally scored on Roncin's three-run blast to left for the 3-2 advantage.
Roncin came up clutch again in the fifth after Amodio earned a lead-off walk and eventually scored on her two-out hard RBI grounder off the diving third baseman.
Ricard was seemingly in control with a 4-2 lead, having retired 12 straight Crimson players, but gave up a one-out walk in the top of the sixth and then a two-out and game-tying two-run homer to left.
Ricard started the seventh with two quick outs but then allowed a walk, which led to Boaz entering the circle to earn a ground out.
Using international tiebreaker rules with a runner starting at second, Harvard first successfully laid down a sacrifice bunt before Boaz kept the game tied with a huge strikeout and finally a ground out to second.
Freshman Brooke Deppiesse had a lead-off sac bunt as well that eventually led to Gant scoring from third on Nett's grounder that was misplayed by the shortstop for the walk-off victory.

GAME 2: BU - 3, Harvard - 1

HOW IT HAPPENED

Knowing that time was not on their side due to the first contest going long, the teams only had a 20-minute break instead of the normal 30 to get the game underway as quickly as possible.
Boaz retired four of the first six Harvard players with a strikeout.
In the bottom of the second, both Deppiesse and Williams singled to the outfield before the Crimson ended the threat with an infield pop up and fly out.
Harvard threatened in the next half inning with a lead-off single but ended up stranding the runner at third unable to get the ball out of the infield.
The Crimson though managed to grab a 1-0 lead one inning later with three singles, including a hard two-out RBI liner that went off the glove of a diving Deppiesse at second.
With the contest in danger of being called shortly, the Terriers wasted no time in rallying back and loaded the bases on Gant's lead-off single and back-to-back full-count walks from Deppiesse and junior Kate Pryor.
Williams followed with an RBI single, and Keleher later drew a two-out and full-count RBI walk to grab the lead for good.
After Boaz quickly retired the side in the fifth, Gant recorded a one-out single, took second on a ground out and finally scored an insurance run on Nett's clutch RBI single through the left side.

UP NEXT

BU will resume Patriot League play by visiting Bucknell on April 15-16 with Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's single game set to begin at 12 p.m.
The Terriers won all three home games last season by a combined score of 21-1 after winning all four road contests in 2021 by one run apiece.