Going into Friday’s game against Holy Cross, Boston College softball had played the Crusaders 28 times and won 26 of those games. Friday’s match up told a similar story.
The Eagles (14–8, 1–2 Atlantic Coast) defeated Holy Cross 3–2 after seven innings of play at Harrington Athletics Village.
“We did a good job at holding onto a one-run ball game and having the ice water in your veins to be able to do that,” BC head coach Amy Kvilhaug said.
For the first three innings of the game, both teams were unable to convert plays into home runs, and both BC and the Crusaders remained scoreless.
It wasn’t until the top of the fourth inning when that changed, when pinch hitter Maycee Hilt came into the game.
“I had it in my mind that Maycee was going to be the first person I went to,” Kvilhaug said. “In fact, I was on the fence about whether or not she was going to start today, and I didn’t start her, but she came in off the bench, and did great. So I think that was a key moment.”
Megan Yurkchick pitched and Hilt nailed a double to right center field. As Hilt sprinted to second base, her play brought two home runs for the Eagles as Elizabeth Laviolette and Addison Jackson both ran home.
And BC was not done yet.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Hannah Slike singled to center field. The following play, Nicole Giery was the difference maker that BC needed. Giery hammered a double to left field and Slike brought in one more home run for BC, extending the Eagles’ lead to three runs.
Holy Cross responded in the top of the sixth inning.
After being hit with Abby Dunning’s pitch, the Crusaders’ Jessica Mott walked to first. Then, Ava Gambichler singled to left field and Mott advanced to second base.
Anna Brait then singled to center field and got to second base after a BC fielding error, allowing Mott and Gambichler both to score runs on the play.
Holy Cross finally seemed to be in the contest—until BC put away the game in the top of the seventh inning.
Despite Holy Cross’ Morgan Jensen completing a successful single to center field, Abby Dunning solidified an Eagles’ win after two strikeouts and a Mott foul ball to right field.
“With Abby Dunning coming in, striking out the first batter I believed she faced, that set the tone for her relief appearance,” Kvilhaug said. “That helped cement the win for us.”
Even though the Eagles came out victorious, Kvilhaug named some improvements the Eagles can make.
“I want our defense to clean up a few things specifically in the outfield,” Kvilhaug said. “I thought they were a little sloppy today. And I would like to see more situational hitting. I want to see us able to situationally move runners a little bit better, and we just didn’t do a good job of doing that. And if we’re hitting the ball and driving the ball, that will be icing on the cake.”
BC’s victory marks its fourteenth win of the season, coming off a 2023 season where the Eagles went 24–28 and 6–18 in ACC play.
And Kvilhaug recognizes the difficulty in coming away with a close win like this one.
“It’s not easy to win one-run games,” Kvilhaug said. “Sometimes, when you’re on the ropes, you know, and then they get that base hit in that seventh inning, and you are one swing away from being down. I think being able to hold on to that one-run victory was also important.”
