BC Goes 4–1 to Start Season

By Brassil Moran Heights Staff

Not only did Boston College softball go 4–1 in the first tournament of its 2023 season, but it recorded 15 runs, three home runs, and a no-hitter in the process.

BC (4–1) opened its season at the USF tournament with a 4–0 win against Illinois State and a 4–2 win over South Florida on Friday, a 2–1 win over Saint Joseph’s and 9–0 loss to No. 4 Florida on Saturday, and a 5–4 extra innings win over South Florida on Sunday.

The 4–1 tournament performance marks the Eagles’ best start since 2017.

Susannah Anderson threw 136 pitches over nine innings in BC’s 5–4 extra-innings win over South Florida (2–3) on Sunday. In the top of the third, Hannah Slike homered to give the Eagles a 2–0 lead. A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly in the fifth and sixth innings, however, granted South Florida two runs to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

Each team scored a run in the eighth, but Abigail Knight broke the tie with a double in the top of the ninth— her fifth hit of the tournament—to secure the win.

BC snapped its three-game win streak and recorded its first loss of the season against Florida (3–0) on Saturday. The Gators poured in nine runs—five in the first inning and four in the second—to shut out BC.

Anderson gave up four hits and five runs against seven batters in just the first inning. A double from Avery Goelz put the Gators up 5–0 in the inning, and BC failed to record an out with Anderson on the mound. Graduate transfer Sofia Earle replaced Anderson to close out the first inning, but Earle let up four runs.

BC never recovered and Florida won via mercy rule in the top of the fifth. The Eagles recorded one hit in 15 at-bats and struck out seven times.

BC defeated Saint Joseph’s (0–4) 2–1 on Saturday. The Eagles got off to a hot start, with Nicole Giery and Knight launching two solo homers—BC’s only runs of the game.

Knight homered to right field to put BC up 2–0 on her second home run of the tournament.

Halie Pappion and Abby Dunning pitched 3.2 and 3.1 innings, respectively, holding the Hawks to three hits and one run in the victory.

Anderson helped lead BC to a 4–2 victory over South Florida on Friday afternoon. She pitched all seven innings, registering four strikeouts and allowing five hits.

The Eagles’ bats showed up as well. After trailing 2–1 in the top of the seventh with one out, Knight stepped up to the plate for BC. With a 1–0 count, Knight homered to right field, bringing in three runs to give BC a commanding 4–1 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Bulls went three-up, three-down, as all three of South Florida’s players grounded out, and BC sealed its second victory of the year.

BC opened the tournament with a 4–0 win against Illinois State (1–3) on Friday. Dunning got the start for the Eagles and tossed a no-hitter—the first of her collegiate career. She recorded eight strikeouts in her first career complete game. Her previous career-high in innings pitched came when she pitched five innings against Long Island in the pick up where they left off in the second quarter. Medjid continued her tear, tallying her third goal of the game less than two minutes into the second quarter, and Davis notched her second of the game at the 1:07 mark. Annabelle Hasselbeck also joined the scoring frenzy, and BC entered half with an 8–1 advantage.

The Eagles commanded the draws in the first half, holding an 8–3 draw advantage over Southern California.

“We had a brand new draw team which was awesome,” Walker-Weinstein said. “And you know, we won a lot of the draw circle, the draws, but then we also had, you know, great execution on our ride, and I think top to bottom it was a great start.”

The third period resulted in similar BC domination. Martello tallied her second goal of the season just 41 seconds into the quarter, and Medjid added to her impressive statline with her fourth goal of the game at the 5:45 mark.

Southern California finally broke through the Eagles’ defense for two late goals, both coming under 2:30 remaining in the third frame.

The Eagles tallied four more goals in the final quarter, but play was halted with 3:22 remaining when Medjid went down with an apparent lower leg injury. Medjid was helped to the sidelines where she spent the remainder of the game being tended to by trainers.

“She’s, she’s fine,” Walker Weinstein said. “She’s gonna be fine. It just looked worse than it was. She’s gonna be fine.”

Anchoring down the defense was Hall and freshman goaltender Shea Dolce, with Hall playing the first three quarters of the game and Dolce checking in for the final quarter. Dolce made her NCAA debut Saturday, snatching two saves and letting up no goals.

And despite the statement win, Walker-Weinstein acknowledged the Eagles have a larger goal in sight.

“We want to win a national championship,” Walker-Weinstein said. “We take it one game at a time, but that is the ultimate goal." n