Softball

Terriers' Softball Team Set to Open NCAAs at No. 4 Oklahoma on Friday Night on ESPN2

Courtesy of Boston University Athletic Communications Department 

NORMAN, Okla. – In a postseason battle of conference champions, the Patriot League's Boston University softball team (39-18) will open the double-elimination NCAA Regional at the Big 12's No. 4 national seed Oklahoma (50-3) on Friday night with the ESPN2 broadcast slated to begin at 7 p.m. ET.

American Athletic Conference champion Tulsa (33-23) and SEC's at-large bid recipient Missouri (28-27) will first clash at 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN3. The TV schedule for Saturday's games will be announced following the conclusion of all of Friday's NCAA softball action.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

  • BU is 7-16 all-time in the NCAA tournament and making its first appearance since 2016 ... Collected at least one win in five of the eight appearances (1996, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014).
  • Reached two regional finals ... Eliminated UConn and UMass in 1996 (two losses to Princeton) ... Eliminated Iowa and Auburn in 2009 (two losses to Georgia Tech). 
  • The Terriers were a No. 3 seed for the first time ever in 2012 ... Edged by Arkansas, 3-2, before eliminating Iona, 4-3, in 13 innings ... Fell at No. 1 national seed Cal, 8-0 (6).
  • In 2014, BU was edged by No. 11 seed Arizona, 9-6, in the first game ... Only No. 4 seed that year to earn a win with 8-3 victory over AAC champ Louisville (now in the ACC) ... Was one out away from second win over No. 23 ranked LSU before the Tigers rallied to eliminate BU, 8-3 ... Just six runs allowed in the three games were earned.
  • Two years ago at No. 14 national seed Louisiana-Lafayette, BU led off with three singles and got a two-out hit-by-pitch to grab 1-0 lead ... Ranked No. 9, the Ragin' Cajuns scored seven straight runs over the first three innings ... BU scored three in the fifth and had two on in the sixth with the game-tying run at the plate before falling, 9-5 ... After posting 13-9 advantage in hits, the Terriers then fell to 16th-ranked Texas A&M, 6-0, accumulating just three hits in the loss.

PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONS

  • Fifth-year member BU is representing the 10-member Patriot League (seven in softball) after earning automatic an NCAA berth with 8-0(5) win over No. 4 Army, 6-4 win against No. 2 Bucknell and then 8-0(5) victory over No. 3 Lehigh. 
  • The win against Lehigh marked BU's second-ever run-rule decision in a conference title game following 8-0(5) win over Army at Lehigh in 2016.
  • BU was the top seed and host for first time in the PL after posting a 15-3 record ... Last hosted conference tourney since winning the 2012 America East regular season title.

ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT TEAM

  • Junior Madi Killebrew was named PL Tournament MVP ... Set a new PL tournament record with 10 RBIs (nine was previous high set by Lehigh in 2017) ... Batted .500 (5-of-10) with lead-taking 2-RBI single in game 1, lead-taking 3-run HR + two RBI doubles in game 2 and game-sealing 3-RBI triple in game three.
  • Freshman Ali DuBois, senior Brittany Younan and senior Emma Wong were named to the All-Tournament Team with Killebrew.
  • DuBois collected all three wins and pitched 16.1 of the 17 innings with 16 strikeouts against four walks ... Had two five-inning shutouts with opponents batting combined .177.
  • Wong batted 6-of-10 (.600) with two doubles, four RBIs and four runs.

HISTORY WITH NORMAN REGIONAL PARTICIPANTS

  • BU is 2-3 all-time against Oklahoma with a 4-2 win in 1993 and 1-0 loss in 1994 in Florida ... OU won again in 1998 (5-0) ... Four BU seniors played first-ever game against OU in 14-4 (5 inn.) loss in 2015 with the team committing four errors ... The Terriers stunned the Sooners back in February, 4-3, with both Wong and Sahlinger collecting two RBIs apiece ... Sophomore Lizzie Annerino collected her first career win by pitching 4.2 scoreless innings.
  • Missouri is 4-1 all-time against BU with three wins in 2008 at home (3-0, 7-6, 12-6) during the Tiger Invite ... BU edged Missouri, 8-7 (8), following a 4-0 loss at the 2003 Houston Crowne Plaza Classic. 
  • The Terriers and Tulsa have never met on the diamond.

TERRIERS HONORED BY PL

  • The Terriers are the only team in the NCAAs to sweep all of a conference's major athletic awards ... BU became the first in PL history to sweep all five since Defensive Player of the Year award was introduced in 2014.
  • BU's DuBois (28-7, 1.77 ERA) and Michigan's Meghan Beaubien are the only two in the country to earn both their conference's Pitcher and Rookie of the Year awards ... DuBois was the second in PL history and first in BU history to accomplish the feat.
  • Junior Alex Heinen was the second catcher in PL history to earn Player of the Year honors ... She earned BU's 12th overall Player of the Year award after senior Jilee Schanda was recognized in 2017.
  • Younan prevented Lehigh from claiming an awards sweep in 2014 by earning Rookie of the Year honors ... She completed the 2018 sweep by claiming BU's first-ever Defensive Player of the Year award.
  • Ashley Waters earned BU's first PL Coach of the Year award and first from a conference since Shawn Rychick was recognized in 2012 by the America East before departing for the NC State job that summer.
  • Both junior Emily Morrow and senior Kaitlin Sahlinger earned All-PL honors for the first time in their careers, while Schanda earned her third career All-PL award by joining them on the second team.

NCAA EXPERIENCE

  • A fifth-year senior, Younan is making her third NCAA appearance, having started five contests ... Started at 3B in 2014, hitting combined 3-of-9 with three runs scored (two vs. Louisville) and an RBI vs. LSU (two hits) ... Went 2-of-8 (.250) in 2016 with one run scored and two strikeouts ... Younan has yet to commit an error in the infield in the NCAAs with a combined 16 putouts and seven assists.
  • Besides Younan, BU has seven other players who appeared in the 2016 NCAAs ... Ponce had the best weekend, batting 3-of-6 with a two-RBI double and RBI hbp against ULL ... Heinen hit a solo homer against ULL, while Morrow had an RBI single in the same game.
  • Younan, Ponce, Heinen, Morrow, Schanda, Sahlinger and Wong combined for 13 of the 16 hits against 13 strikeouts in 2016 with Moriah Connolly ('17) collecting the other three hits.
  • All five Terrier pitchers are underclassmen and will be making their first NCAA appearance.
NCAA RANKINGS
  • The Terriers lead the nation averaging 0.56 triples per game and 31st in team ERA at 2.20.
  • BU also ranks 50th with a 0.293 batting average and 52nd in fielding percentage (0.969).
  • Individually, Younan leads the NCAA with 10 triples, while Schanda ranks third at eight.
  • DuBois is second nationally with 28 victories and 47th with 191 strikeouts.
  • Schanda is the 16th toughest to strike out, averaging 31.5 at-bats before the next K, while Morrow ranks 18th at 30.4.
  • Heinen's 71 hits rank 32nd nationally, while Wong ranks 48th at 0.91 runs per game.
OKLAHOMA TIDBITS
  • Winner of the last two Women's College World Series (WCWS) titles, Oklahoma is making its 25th straight NCAA appearance and is coming off the program's first-ever 18-0 record in Big 12 play.
  • Oklahoma is batting .330 as a team while holding opponents to .185 with a 71-19 advantage in homers.
  • The Sooners are led by four-time Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Paige Parker (26-2, 0.94 ERA), Defensive Player of the Year Kelsey Arnold (.298 avg., .993 FLD% at short), Big 12 Freshman of the Year Jocelyn Alo (.416 avg., 24 HR, 63 RBIs) and All-Big 12 First Team member Sydney Romero (.445 avg., 12 HRs, 57 RBIs.).
MISSOURI TIDBITS
  • Missouri went 6-17 in the SEC this year but still made the tournament based off an impressive No. 24 RPI ranking.
  • The Tigers have made 12 straight NCAA appearances and last won a regional title in 2016.
  • They are batting .288 as a team while holding opponents to .275 with a 78-45 advantage in doubles and 61-34 lead in stolen bases.
  • Amanda Sanchez (.371 avg.) and Cayla Kessinger (.320 avg.) both own 10 homers apiece to lead the offense.
  • Lauren Rice (11-14, 3.20 ERA) and Madi Norman (9-7, 3.32 ERA) have combined for 43 of the 55 starts.
TULSA TIDBITS
  • Owning a No. 47 RPI, Tulsa has won the last three straight AAC tournament titles and is making its 10th overall NCAA appearance after going 2-2 at the Norman Regional last season.
  • TU is batting .274 as a team and is holding opponents to .245 with a 15-6 advantage in triples and 44-30 lead in stolen bases.
  • All-AAC First Team member Julia Hollingsworth leads the Hurricane at .394 avg., while Shelby Estocado (.354 avg.) owns seven homers and 41 RBIs.
  • Emily Watson (23-11, 1.55 ERA) leads the pitching staff with 300 strikeouts in 225.2 innings.