WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross softball team will take on Boston University in a pair of doubleheaders this Friday, April 23 at 1 p.m. in Boston and Saturday, April 24 at 12 p.m. in Worcester. The games on Friday were originally scheduled to be played this Sunday, but were moved to Friday to avoid expected rain.

The matchup will feature the top two pitching staffs in the Patriot League coming into the weekend. Boston University is first in the league with a staff 1.28 ERA, .163 opponent batting average, and 159 strikeouts. Holy Cross is second in all of the same categories with a staff 2.55 ERA, .240 opponent batting average, and 121 strikeouts. The Crusaders have the edge in Ks per seven innings with a 7.72 mark compared to the Terriers' 6.36.

All four games will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

Things to Know About the Crusaders (6-10, 2-6 PL):

• Friday will be Holy Cross' first conference games since taking on Lehigh on April 9. Since then, the Crusaders have played just two non-conference games, an 8-5 win against Brown and a 9-4 loss to Albany this past Wednesday.
• In conference games this season, Bailey Chavez leads all Crusaders with a .308 average. On the season, she is hitting .286 including a 7-for-11 stretch (.636) over the last three games.
• Erin Bengston has also been hot as of late, taking over the team lead in average (.349), slugging percentage (.558) and on-base percentage (.463). She continues to lead also in doubles (6), RBI (12), and walks (9).
• Megan Yurchick hit her first collegiate home run against Albany. The two run shot added to her RBI total giving the freshman six on the year. In the circle, she is putting together a solid rookie year with a 3.03 ERA over 32.1 innings of work.
• Kelly Nelson has only thrown one inning since the Lehigh series, but will likely be featured heavily this weekend. Her 1.09 ERA and 95 strikeouts both lead the team.

Things to Know About the Terriers (24-2, 13-1 PL):

• BU most recently completed a four-game sweep of Bucknell last weekend, with each game being decided by a single run. On Saturday, the Terriers won both games by identical 2-1 scores and on Sunday both meetings ended at 3-2 in favor of BU.
• On the season, the Terrier offense is hitting .299 as a team, led by Jen Horita's .415 average. Nicole Amodio has a team-leading 18 RBI and Audrey Sellers has a hit a team-best three home runs.
• In the circle, Ali Dubois leads BU with a .75 ERA and 100 strikeouts and is a perfect 17-0 on the season. Allison Boaz's .140 opponent batting average leads the team.