Two outs later, pitcher/designated player Chelsea Thoke popped up to short center field. The Terrier fielders were unable to coordinate their movement, and the ball bounced off a fielder's glove. Two more runs scored on the error.

B.U. came right back in the top of the second. Whitton pitched for the Crimson but had little success. She walked Terrier first baseman Robyn King, and then gave up a single.

Finateri delivered the punishing blow. She took Whitton's 2-0 offering over the right field fence. The score was 3-3 and Whitton's pitching day was over.

"I was trying to get her to work out her earlier problems," Allard said. "That was a bad decision on my part. I should have pulled her out earlier."

Thoke then came in and retired the side.

The pitching and defense on both sides settled down for the next two innings. Thoke struck out four in that stretch, and junior Lisa Watanabe saved an extra-base hit with a diving catch in left field in the fourth inning. On the Terrier side, Finateri continued to work her way out of jams despite giving up several hits.

Thoke made only one bad pitch in her four innings of work, but it nearly cost the Crimson the game. In the top of the fifth, B.U. second baseman Kerry Herr nailed a Thoke pitch 20 feet over the trees behind the left field fence. It was the first and only hit off Thoke, and it put the Terriers up 4-3. Then Thoke walked the next batter on four straight pitches.