The last time Boston College softball played Pittsburgh was in 2022, when the Eagles went 2–1 in their series against the Panthers.
Two years later, the roles reversed. BC (24–13, 5–7 Atlantic Coast) concluded the weekend 1–2 against the Panthers (11–25, 3–12).
On Sunday afternoon, the Eagles ended their two-game losing streak by defeating Pitt 3–2 at Harrington Athletics Village.
Unlike BC’s previous two matchups, in which the early innings were silent, Pittsburgh started scoring early in Sunday’s game. At the top of the first inning with Abby Dunning pitching for the Eagles, the Panthers’ Kylie Griggs walked to first base.
Then, Macy Hamilton reached first base on a fielder’s choice, and Griggs was tagged out at second base.
The next play told a similar story as Kat Rodriguez reached first base on a fielder’s choice.
Cami Compson hammered the ball past the fence to give the Panthers a home run, and Rodriguez and Compson both advanced through home to give Pitt a 2–0.
It did not take long for the Eagles to respond. In the bottom of the first inning, Hannah Slike singled to right field, then Makenna Segal homered to center field, scoring both Segal and Slike, and tying the game.
For the next five innings, the game remained scoreless, until BC finally broke the stalemate in the bottom of the sixth inning.
After Elisabeth Laviolette advanced to first base after a Pitt fielding error, Slike singled down the left-field line, allowing Laviolette to advance to second. The next play, a Nicole Giery bunt loaded the bases for the Eagles.
The last scoring play of the game came when Segal flew out to center field, allowing Laviolette to score unearned and give BC a 3–2 win to end the series.
In Friday’s doubleheader against the Panthers, BC lost both matchups to Pitt, dropping the first game 4–0.
It wasn’t until the top of the fourth inning when Pitt’s Amanda Ramirez fired a two-run homer out of the ballpark.
In the top of the fifth inning, Griggs hit the Panthers’ second two-run shot in as many innings to increase their lead to four.
“Coming out of the first game, we needed to find a way to get our offense going,” BC head coach Amy Kvilhaug said. “And that’s what we are going to work on. I’m going to try to figure out the best way to keep the ball in the ballpark against this team.”
In the next matchup against the Eagles two hours later, the Panthers put the first runs on the board in the top of the second inning.
Compton and Jordan George both sent home runs out of the ballpark, giving the Panthers a 2–0 lead.
In the bottom of the second inning, Laviolette advanced to first base after being hit by a pitch.
A Segal double to left field advanced Laviolette to third base. Tannis Jackin then pinch-ran for Segal and scored alongside Laviolette after an Emma Jackson hit.
For the first time all day, BC took the lead in the bottom of the third inning.
Slike doubled to left field, then Gator Robinson reached base off a bunt, allowing Slike to advance to third base.
The next play, Shields scored Slike off a sacrifice fly, bringing the Eagles to a 3–2 lead.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Panthers tied the game up 3–3.
Then, in the bottom of the sixth inning, BC recaptured the lead off a Segal homer to left field to bring the score to 4–3.
When it seemed as if the Eagles would end the game with a victory, Pitts’ Griggs also homered to left field to give the Panthers a 5–4 lead in the top of the seventh.
The Eagles were unable to score again in the seventh inning, and the Panthers took the 5–4 win.
“After they went up, we knew that we had our best chance coming ahead of us,” Kvilhaug said. “We had the top of the lineup coming up with Hannah, our best hitter, and so there was hope. It was just hopeful and inspiring, and we fought, Hannah led the inning, but we just weren’t able to get anything going after that.”
After the two losses to the Panthers, Kvilhaug expanded on some aspects of the game that BC can improve on.
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