BU has a score to settle
Softball team is driven by loss in ’22 Patriot tourney
Winning is commonplace for Boston University’s softball team.
The Terriers won Patriot League championships in 2018, 2019, and 2021, and just captured their fifth-straight league regular-season title last weekend. This season, they had a 28-game winning streak, the second-longest in all of Division 1 and a league record.
But despite all of the winning, it is losing that motivates top-seeded BU (48-8) as it hosts the Patriot League championship starting Thursday at noon with an opening-round game against Bucknell.
“Last year we lost in the Patriot League championship game,” said coach Ashley Waters, an Amesbury native in her eighth season leading the Terriers. “Sometimes when you fail, that’s when you learn the most.”
That 4-1 loss to Lehigh a year ago seemed to set this season’s success in motion. Last year’s Terrier squad was 40-17 and defeated teams such as Purdue, Georgia, Delaware, and six California programs. They were expected to continue the rise nationally that the program has been on since Waters took over in 2015. But the loss to Lehigh ended their season and kept them out of the NCAA Tournament.
This year, the Terriers are focusing on what they can do to make sure this season doesn’t end like the last. That means shutting out the noise from their opponents.
“Our motto is ‘Nobody but us,’ ” said junior outfielder Lauren Keleher, a former Abington High School standout. “Our other one is ‘Control the controllable.’ All that matters is how we play, not what anyone else is doing.”
The tunnel vision has worked. BU players lead all but one of the Patriot League’s major statistical categories, with junior Kayla Roncin leading the way. Last year’s league Player of the Year, Roncin has a .434 batting average and nine home runs. She is third in the nation with 85 hits and is in the top 25 in batting average.
Caitlin Coker also has been a key cog, with 49 runs. Keleher is right behind her with 48, and along with Roncin (53), they sit atop the conference’s leaderboard. Coker also has 10 triples, while Keleher leads the league with 17 doubles.
If BU’s bats weren’t impressive enough, its pitching has dominated the Patriot League. Senior
Allison Boaz has picked up 22 wins, striking out 141 batters and allowing only 38 runs. Kasey Ricard, a freshman from Littleton, has 19 wins under her belt, and four saves.
Serving as stellar support for the pitching staff is senior catcher Audrey Sellers, leading the league in fielding percentage and putouts (377).
“They are a complete team,” said Waters. “There are some years where you don’t, but this year, I feel like we have all the parts. When offense needs help, defense steps up.”
A team effort powered the Terriers to an 11-0 shutout of Boston College April 25. The level of play the Terriers achieved in that game is their ideal.
“We really put runs across the board,” said Keleher. “We hope our offense stays hot like that.”
“Offensively, that is where I want us to be,” said Waters.
Given how well they are playing, it could be easy for the Terriers to get ahead of themselves. They have dominated league opponents all season, and it would be easy to make the leap to say they will continue that as they host the league tournament. But Waters has been coaching her team to be much more present this season.
“It’s something that I preach,” said Waters. “You need to be very present and you need to be in the moment. You can’t assume you’ll be in a championship game. You can’t assume you’ll be in a semifinal. If you take care of business, you’ve given yourself a good chance.”
BU opens its bid for the fifth Patriot League championship in program history with a game against Bucknell, a team it has a 10-game winning streak against, including sweeping a road series in mid-April. In their last six games against the Bison, the Terriers have scored five or more runs five times. However, they won’t take any atbat lightly.
“We have a refuse-to-lose mentality,” said Keleher. “We go out for every pitch and compete.”
Last year’s tournament loss stung, but it fed the massive success BU has had this spring. Waters believes her team will not let that disappointment happen again.
“It’s been a remarkable season, but I think it stems from failing,” said Waters. “They have a one-track mind of what they want to get.”