Once Again, Softball Terriers Host Patriot League Tournament
Players’ goal this weekend: defend championship title and return to NCAA regional
In many ways, the BU softball team’s postseason began with the last series of the regular season—against Bucknell last weekend. Up for grabs was the top seed in the playoffs, the right to host the Patriot League Tournament, and the regular season title. The two teams ultimately split the series after rain washed out a scheduled third game on Sunday, helping the Terriers finish on top of the standings for the second year in a row.
Coming into the Bucknell series on a 13-game winning streak, BU lost the regular season final game. Asked about the impact of that, BU head coach Ashley Waters shrugs it off, saying the season had become increasingly more challenging as it progressed.
“I feel like there was more parity amongst the conference this year, which made every single weekend a little bit more difficult,” Waters says. “That’s what college softball is all about: you want to be competitive, and you want to be challenged….We just need to be prepared every single game.”
It’s a philosophy that paid off on Thursday when the Terriers defeated Colgate, 3-0, at the BU Softball Field in the opening round of the 2019 Patriot League Tournament. BU will now play Lehigh in the semifinal round Friday at 10 am.
Hosting the tournament provides an added advantage for the Terriers, who finished the regular season with a 15-0 record at home. But players are careful not to assume that hosting the tournament translates to a guaranteed victory. “I think it’s great to have the familiarity of being at home, but either way, it’s softball,” freshman Aliyah Huerta-Leipner (CAS) says. “We’ve been doing this our whole lives, so we just have to go out there and play.”
Waters says that key to their performance in the playoffs will be “staying consistent and doing what we’ve been doing all year. I think a softball game is really difficult to win, and it’s just a matter of us firing on all cylinders.”
It’s a formula that worked throughout the regular season. In conference play, the Terriers ranked second in batting average (.300), first in ERA (0.67), and third in fielding (.972). That success was acknowledged by the league with a record-breaking 10 members receiving All-Conference honors this season.
Senior Alex Heinen (CGS, COM) earned her second Patriot League Player of the Year while also garnering Defensive Player of the Year, and sophomore Ali DuBois (ENG) was again chosen Pitcher of the Year. Both were named to the All-Patriot League First Team.
Along with Heinen and DuBois, the First Team includes freshmen Nicole Amodio (Sargent) and Emily Gant (Sargent), sophomore Marina Sylvestri (COM), and seniors Alexa Ponce (CAS) and Emily Morrow (CGS, Sargent). Named to the Second Team were Huerta-Leipner, sophomore Jen Horita (Questrom), and senior Maddie Killebrew (CAS).
As the defending champions, the team’s goal is clear this weekend: win the conference title and return to the NCAA regional tournament.
“I think that chance to compete in the biggest stage in softball—that’s what you play for,” Waters says. “I think our kids believe that at that next level, that regional level, they can compete and do something.”
The BU softball team plays Lehigh in the semifinal round of the Patriot League Tournament on Friday, May 10, at 10 am. The final will be played on Saturday, May 11, at 11 am. All games will be played at the BU Softball Field, on Ashford Street, across from the Track & Tennis Center. Tickets are free.
Senior Jonathan Chang (COM) can be reached at jchang19@bu.edu; follow him on Twitter @jonathanychang.
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