Up 3-0 in the top of the seventh, all Boston College softball had to do was close out the half-inning and its victory would be guaranteed. Halie Pappion was on the mound for the Eagles, looking to continue her domination of the game.
From the opening at-bat, Pappion set the tone for the game. After hurling her first pitch of the game, Georgetown’s Claire Turner watched it sail right by—strike one. Pappion fired the second pitch, and Turner saw the ball zip past her for a second time—strike two. Pappion let the third pitch fly. Turner swung and missed—strike three.
Seven innings later, Papillon was up to 10 strikeouts and needed three more outs. She struck out the first batter of the final inning in five pitches and then forced two consecutive pop outs—game over. Pappion recorded 11 strikeouts, a no-hitter, and moved to 2–0 on the season as a starter.
“She was terrific today and funny enough, she actually didn’t have her best stuff, like she didn’t have two of her best pitches … we didn’t have her changeup or we didn’t have her curveball, so we had to rely on her screwball and riseball to really get her through,” BC head coach Amy Kvilhaug said. “To be able to do that and still throw a no-hitter is pretty commendable.”
Boston College softball’s 3-0 win over Georgetown puts the Eagles at 4–1 on the season. BC’s only loss came earlier in the day, losing to Long Island 9–1 in the first game of the Eagles’ doubleheader.
Despite losing the first game of the doubleheader, Kvilhaug said the Eagles’ subsequent win demonstrated what BC softball is about.
“What a show of what we’re about … look at how we responded in the circle after giving up nine hits,” Kvilhaug said.
The first score of the game came in the bottom of the second when Nicole Giery doubled to center field and Emma Jackson scored. BC added two more runs when Makenna Segal doubled and sent Jules Shields and Zoe Hines home.
The Eagles recorded seven hits and three RBIs, with Giery leading the team in hits with two and Segal posting a team-high two RBIs. Hannah Slike, Shields, Hines, and Jordan Stephens also each had a hit.
Despite the low-scoring game, BC’s latest win is part of its trend of winning gritty battles. The Eagles’ margin of victory in their last four wins has been three runs or less.
“I think we’ve prepared quite a bit,” Kvilhaug said.“The bats are gonna come around, but for now we need to do our job by putting up zeroes or putting up low numbers to keep our offense in it until they are able to sort of break open.”
In spite of their 4–1 start, Kvilhaug said her offense has room to become more dynamic. With reinforcements like Addison Jackson on the way, however, Kvilhaug said she knows their offense will improve.
On what makes this year different than last year—where the Eagles also started 4–1—Kvilhaug pointed to the team’s culture.
“Everything we do we try to make it so that somebody isn’t the superstar,” said Kvlihaug. “We do everything for the program, everything for the team.”
Earlier on Saturday, the Eagles lost their first game of the season to LIU. BC gave up nine runs to the Sharks. The Eagles recorded five hits and one RBI. BC pitcher Gabriella Aughton recorded zero strikeouts.
“We had a stern discussion after the first game, and I think our team responded,” Kvilhaug said. “We can talk to the team sternly because we have discussed all of the culture and what we want to be about and the standard that we wanna set, and they wanna be held to that standard.”
