Ailing the Boston University softball team this season is a propensity for games to get canceled or postponed due to weather.

The Terriers (20-18, 5-4 Patriot League) were set to take on the University of Massachusetts-Amherst on Tuesday afternoon before high winds and strong rain in the Boston area prevented the game from taking place.

“It’s just things we can’t control, we can’t control the weather,” said BU coach Kathryn Gleason.  “We’re just picking out the positives, like we have another day to rest. We gave them a day of rest because we’re at the point of the season where those are so few and far between.”

Since the start of the season, the weather has prevented the Terriers from playing on eight occasions, last year there were 11 of these instances. However, this year’s team still has a significant portion of the season to go.

Whether or not the games are subject to weather delays, Gleason said she believes that this team has the mental toughness to endure these changes and handle them well.

“They [the team] wanted to play today,” Gleason said. “You get prepared to play and just wait for the call, so I think they’re very flexible to anything that occurs.”

Close losses

In its last game, BU overcame the College of the Holy Cross in an 11-1 victory to snap a four-game losing streak.

During that losing stretch though, the Terriers lost several close games, including two games by one run, one game by two runs and one game by three runs.

“Again, we just talked about controlling what we can control and focusing on what we can focus on,” Gleason said of the close games. “We’re not trying to do too much and we’re just saying what is your part, what is your role and going out and doing that.”

In their second game against the Crusaders (7-16, 5-4 Patriot League) Saturday, the Terriers committed four errors during the game. But after taking the lead in the top of the seventh after an RBI single by senior shortstop Brittany Clendenny, the Terriers allowed the home team to score twice in the bottom of the frame to walk off with the 6-5 victory over BU.

The game before walk-off loss, the Terriers narrowly fell in a 4-2 contest, getting burned by a three-run third inning. Even with the close losses during the series, Gleason said she was pleased with the way the team came back and responded during the final game.

“I think we rebounded really well on Sunday against Holy Cross and we just have to keep picking ourselves up after games like that,” she said.

Defensive miscues

The Terriers’ defensive troubles Saturday epitomize their play in the field so far this season.

BU is tied with Colgate University for the Patriot League lead in errors with 57.  The team also has the third-worst fielding percentage in the league (.950).

“I think we had a good stretch of defense during that 13-game streak when [sophomore pitcher] Lauren [Hynes] was in the circle,” Gleason said. “We had a little lapse on Saturday, but I think it comes down to focus.”

The team defense has certainly improved as the season has gone on, though. They only committed one error in their latest game against Holy Cross and only had one during a game against Dartmouth College on April 9.

“I think we weren’t focusing on communicating,” she said. “We didn’t attack the ball and that led to a couple errors on Saturday. But again, it’s all about the focus from the players, and we did a good job on Sunday and hopefully we’ll do it again.”