Kylie Doherty (CAS’27) greeted by her teammates at home plate after hitting a home run against Kentucky at the BU Softball Field April 11. The Terriers own the most potent offense in the conference, which will be key in this weekend’s tournament. Photo by Nate Adams/BU Athletics

Athletics

BU Softball Looks to Win Third Straight Patriot League Title

Terriers enter as No. 2 seed in tournament, starting Thursday at West Point

The juggernaut Boston University softball team is searching for its third straight Patriot League title this weekend. However, this year’s conference tournament will feel a little different from the past few years for the Terriers: for the first time since 2017, the tournament won’t be at BU.

Instead of their familiar spot as top seed, the Terriers are seeded No. 2, ending a six-year streak as Patriot League regular season champions. A mix of injuries and inexperience this season hampered the Terriers, who lost the regular season crown to Army.

However, head coach Ashley Waters says, it might be good for the young team to go elsewhere for the tournament, avoiding the pressure of the champion squads that preceded them.

“It’s the ghosts of BU past,” Waters says. “There’s a heavy weight here. There’s an established championship culture we have on this field. I think it’s going to be good to go somewhere else.”

The tournament will take place this weekend, May 8 to 11, at the Army West Point Softball Complex, in a double-elimination format. The Terriers are slated to face Lehigh on Thursday at 1:30 pm in their opening game. 

BU enters the weekend riding a five-game win streak, including a three-game sweep of Lafayette. The Terriers lost only four games in conference play, with two losses to Army and Lehigh each. Overall, BU is 5-4 against teams in this year’s tournament. 

“When they’re on, they’re on. They can win, and I think they believe they can win,” Waters says. “That’s the most important part.”

The strength of BU’s game—and the key, if they are to defend their title—is its offensive power. The team has scored the most runs in the Patriot League by a wide margin this season, with 55 more than the next closest team. The Terriers have won 11 games by run rule and own a batting average of .310.

Brooke Deppiesse (Questrom’26) leads the offense with a .416 batting average, which ranks third in the conference. Kylie Doherty (CAS’27), Libby Walsh (COM’27), and Megan Coyle (CAS’26) follow with averages all eclipsing .300. Doherty leads the team in home runs with 13, while Coyle owns a team-leading 51 RBIs.

Deppiesse says this year’s team might not have the firepower of previous seasons, but it is still able to put pressure on opposing teams. 

“We’re a lot more scrappy this year,” she says. “We are a team that just gets a lot of singles and puts the ball in play and puts pressure on them. We’ve done a good job this year, just scrapping up runs.”

Waters emphasizes that the offense is key this weekend, since the Terriers are “too good of hitters to be taking outs.”

Standout pitcher Kasey Ricard (Sargent’26) has continued her dominance in the circle this season. With two key pieces of the rotation graduating last season, Ricard has had to navigate a different pitching room this season, especially after pitcher Danika Nell (Sargent’28) went out with an injury from late February to early March.

Ricard, who was named Patriot League Pitcher of the Year for the second season in a row, handled the pressure with poise. She led the Patriot League in ERA with a 1.99 and wins with 24. Most impressively, Ricard led the conference in strikeouts, with 212—the 13th most in the nation. Nell returned to the circle on April 4 and has provided quality backup with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.

“Kasey’s feeling a lot of confidence, and knows that Danika can come in behind her and get it done, too,” Waters says.

Earlier in the season, the coach noted the defense as a key area in need of improvement. She now points to the three-game sets against Lehigh and Army as an indication that it’s still a problem. In those two series, the Terriers committed eight and seven errors, respectively. 

“We were in two of those games and highly competitive,” Waters says. “But, when you give people the opportunity to be on base, they’re going to take advantage of it.”

She says the defense has improved over the last five games. Deppiesse was just named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. She has played out of her normal position of second base this season, displaying her versatility with 96 putouts and a .975 fielding percentage.

But for BU to bring home the championship trophy, Waters says, the team will need its high-motor offense to show up, and must play clean defense and have lights-out pitching. 

“We’ve just got to focus on having a lot of heart out there,” Deppiesse says. “It really comes down to just who wants it more, so having each other’s back and just having a lot of confidence.”

The BU softball team will begin Patriot League tournament play Thursday, May 8, against Lehigh at 1:30 pm at the Army West Point Softball Complex in West Point, N.Y. The tournament, which is a double-elimination format, will continue on Saturday, May 10, and Sunday, May 11. All games will be streamed on ESPN+.