The BU softball team in a huddle against Duke at the UCF Black and Gold Invitational February 6, a game the Terriers won 2-1. Photos by Jon Rose, BU Athletics

Varsity Sports

BU Softball: Confidence Growing Amidst Winning Streak

Terriers have won their last 11 games as they take on Stonehill Wednesday

The first 28 games into the season for the Boston University softball team have been filled with highs and lows, head coach Ashley Waters says. 

The Terriers went 8-10 during their preseason, which they played in Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. BU’s schedule was packed with top-end competitors, as the they took on major programs like Duke, South Carolina, Louisville, Northwestern, Maryland, and Ohio State.

“Anytime you’re in a preseason, especially a difficult preseason, I feel like we put ourselves in a position to challenge ourselves, to play great opponents, and figure out who we are,” Waters (Wheelock’22) says.

Who the Terriers are, as their coach has discovered, is a team that has no quit.

“We’ve always had that ‘I fear not competing, I don’t fear losing.’ There’s gonna be a winner, there’s gonna be a loser,” she says. “It’s not supposed to be easy, and that’s what makes it special—you’ve got to embrace the hard.”

But since returning to the Northeast, the Terriers haven’t lost a single game. They are on an 11-game winning streak and sit at 18-10 overall as they prepare to host Stonehill on March 18 before heading to Easton, Pa., for three games against Lafayette this weekend. 

Leading the offensive charge is Brooke Deppiesse (Questrom’26), who is batting a team-high .385, with 22 runs batted in, tied for second on the team. Then there’s Kylie Doherty (CAS’27), whose 10 home runs and 34 RBIs are both team highs. 

BU has had to rely on its offense so far, a shift from years past when reigning back-to-back Patriot League Pitcher of the Year Kasey Ricard (Sargent’26) anchored the pitching staff. The Terriers’ earned run average is 4.23, up from 2.62 last season.

“I feel like we have not yet played on all three cylinders, where we have the pitching, we have the defense, we have the offense,” Waters says. “I feel like we’ve always had certain parts at each game.” 

But with cocaptains Deppiesse, Ricard, and Haley Ganino (CAS’26) helming the team, Waters is confident her players will continue to hone their skills. “The three of them together—they complement each other,” she says. “They all have this intensity, they all have this willingness to win.”

The team’s five seniors have already notched three Patriot League conference titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances, and they say the goal this year is to add a fourth to their résumés. But winning isn’t their only priority. 

“Obviously one goal is to win the Patriot League,” Ricard says. “But I think this year, our team’s really focusing on having fun again when we’re playing.”

Looking back to last season, she says she put too much pressure on herself—and that took a mental toll when the results didn’t follow. “Last year I took the fun out of it on my own, because I tried to dominate so much,” Ricard says, “and then what comes with that is you don’t end up dominating because you’re not being yourself and having fun and staying loose and playing free. This year I’m just trying to play free, be myself, and then from that, hopefully results come.”

And while all the players are anxious to win a fourth consecutive championship, they’re determined not to stop there. 

“The goal for this year is especially to win the championship, but also to make a further run in regionals once we get to that point,” Deppiesse says.

And Waters has cautioned her team not to rest on their laurels. 

“Our goal is not preseason—our goal is the end of the season,” the coach says. “We want to win every single game—but we’ve got to win the last game.”

The Boston University softball team will face Stonehill in a doubleheader Wednesday, March 18, starting at 2 pm on the BU Softball Field. Admission is free. Both games will stream live on ESPN+.