The next stop on the Boston University Terriers “Revenge Tour” is Athens, Ga.
After missing last season’s NCAA Division 1 softball tournament, the Terriers began the 2023 campaign determined to avenge their lost opportunity.
The Terriers rolled through a solid non-league slate and the Patriot League regular season at a record pace. The run culminated in a 2-0 victory over Army in the PL championship game that secured an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.
“I think this team is really special,” said Terriers third basewomen Caitlin Coker, after a spirited practice on Tuesday morning at BU Softball Field. “2021 was a great year because we won as well, but this whole year our motto was the Revenge Tour because we lost last year.
“We are playing with a little bit of a chip on our shoulders and that kept us hungry all season. It does not matter who is on the other side of the field. We are just worried about us and trying to get the job done.
“It has been our motto the whole season and we do not want anybody to count us out. We are a really strong and impressive program and that is what we are trying to show this year.”
The No. 25 ranked Terriers (51-8) were awarded the No. 3 seed and will engage the No. 2 seed and 24th ranked Virginia Tech Hokies (37-18) on Friday in the Athens Regional at Georgia’s Jack Turner Stadium
The No. 14 ranked Georgia Bulldogs (39-13) drew the top seed and will face No. 4 North Carolina Central (19-33) in the double elimination format that is speared over three days.
The Terriers’ 51 wins were the most by a team from the Northeast since UMass won 53 in 2002. That breaks down to 18-1 at home, 21-3 on the road and 12-4 at a neutral site. The previous BU record was 43 wins. BU is making its 12th trip to the NCAA tournament with a record of 7-22.
“It was an extraordinary year,” said BU coach Ashley Watters, who is in her eighth season on Commonwealth Avenue “When I imagined coming over here and building this program and putting it back on top, but I never imagined this feat being set.
“We challenged them in the season and put them up against the best. They answered the call all year and it is a highly talented team and a highly motivated team. All I can say is I am obviously impressed.”
Twenty times two
BU is the nation’s fifth-ranked team in fielding percentage (0.981) and that commitment to defense helped produced a rarity in Division 1 softball. BU enters the NCAA tournament with two hurlers with 20 or more wins.
Lefty Allison Boaz, who shut out Army in the PL title game, is 24-4 in 29 starts over with 174.1 innings pitched. She posted a 1.37 ERA with 155 strikeouts. Boaz is a control pitcher who keeps the ball on the ground and counts on the defense to make plays.
Freshman right-hander Kasey Ricard of Littleton, Mass., relies more on her rise and fastball to get batters out. Ricard is 20-2 in 17 starts (37 appearances) with 144.2 innings pitched. She has a 1.69 ERA with 191 strikeouts and an opposing batting average of .174. Senior right-hander Lizzy Avery is 7-2 in 17 starts with a 1.78 ERA. The player who keeps the three of them honest is catcher Audrey Sellers.
“We can’t do anything without her (Sellers) as the other part of the battery and she has caught nearly every game this season,” said Boaz. “She’s consistent and dependable and makes our job so much easier.”
Triple threat
The most exciting pay in softball is the triple. The three-base hit requires power, foot speed and good judgement on the basepaths. Those attributes are combined with an aggressive bent and a smattering of luck because there is usually a play at the bag or the plate with runners on.
BU tops Division 1 with 33 triples and Coker, a left hander from Downingtown, Pa., leads the nation with 11. Coker is the 2021 Patriot League Player of the Year and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year with just one error in her three years as a starter at the hot corner. Lauren Keleher is second on the team with seven triples.
Changing gears
Kayla Roncin has won back-to-back Patriot League Player of the Year Awards (2022-23) since making the conversion from the outfield to shortstop. Roncin, a junior from Toms River, N.J., is the Terriers’ best shot for All-America honors this season.
Roncin is batting .429 with 88 hits, 55 runs, nine homers, four triples, 13 doubles, 53 RBI and 136 total bases.
“It took some time to be a shortstop,” said Roncin. “It took extra reps and extra reps with coach and my teammates helped make the transition a lot easier.”
