Boston College Softball didn’t register a hit until the second inning of its game against Connecticut. But once the Eagles got going, they never looked back.
Behind a trio of home runs from Emma Jackson, Zoe Hines, and Janis Espinoza, as well as a barrage of timely hits in the middle innings, BC (22–27, 5–17 ACC) stormed past UConn (31–15, 17–4) 10–5 on Tuesday.
“It was a really good win against a really good team.” BC head coach Amy Kvilhaug said. “We came together and did what we had to do to win.”
The Eagles scored four of their runs in the fifth inning, overcoming an early 0–1 deficit that came off a home run from UConn in the first inning. BC also had to overpower a pair of UConn homers in the fifth inning.
Despite a fiery offensive performance, the game got off to a quiet start for BC offensively. UConn starter Hope Jenkins retired Jackson, Gator Robinson, and Hannah Slike in order in the first, and the Huskies quickly got on the board in the bottom half.
After a leadoff groundout, Grace Jenkins launched a solo shot to right-center off BC starter Kelly Colleran’s pitch to give UConn an early 1–0 lead.
The second inning, however, saw a dramatic turn.
BC benefitted from three straight errors by UConn third baseman Kelsey Breslin, which loaded the bases with no outs. Jenkins nearly escaped the jam by striking out the next two batters, but Kali Case laced a single down the left field line to drive in two unearned runs.
Although it was the Eagles’ only hit of the inning, BC left the frame with a 2–1 lead.
UConn responded in the third. After singles by Lexi Hastings and Jenkins, Kaiea Higa reached on a fielder’s choice, which led to a UConn run thanks to a BC throwing error.
Cat Petteys added an RBI single down the left field line to cap a two-run frame.
The Eagles then had to respond.
Hines did just that in the top of the fourth, as she tied the game with a leadoff solo home run to left.
Then, in the fifth, Tavye Borders opened the inning with a double and scored when Jackson crushed a fastball deep to right field for a two-run homer.
“She’s swinging away and hitting balls out of the park.” Kvilhaug said. “She’s building her toolbox and getting better with the tools that she now has. It was nice to see.”
Walks from Robinson and Slike followed, and after a groundout from Jordan Stephens and a sacrifice fly by Hines, Espinoza and Segal came through with back-to-back RBI hits to put BC up 8–3.
Jenkins did her best to keep the Huskies in it as she homered again in the bottom of the fifth to pull UConn within four. Kaitlyn Breslin followed suit with a solo shot of her own to make it 8–5.
Colleran allowed 12 hits, but minimized the damage by walking no batters in her complete-game effort.
Espinoza worked to Colleran her some breathing room in the seventh. After Hines singled to left field, Espinoza connected on a two-run blast to left to stretch the lead to 10–5. She finished the day 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs and two runs scored.
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