The women's softball team extended its win streak to five games after sweeping a doubleheader against Springfield College on Tuesday afternoon. The victories improved Tufts' mark to 18-7 on the season and 11-2 since its spring break trip to California. Making the win even more sweet was the fact that the team's struggling offense seemed to shake its slump in the 8-5, 6-2 victories.
As usual, senior co-captain Jodie Moreau led the way for the Jumbos as she pitched the opener of the twinbill. Despite not being in top form and allowing four earned runs, Moreau managed to bear down when she had to and upped her record to a whopping 13-1.
Entering the contest, Moreau's ERA was a microscopic 0.37. Although she was not her normal dominant self, Moreau still managed to strike out ten and kept her team in the game.
"She is still the best pitcher around," coach Kris Talon said. "She gives up a few runs and everyone asks, 'what's going on?' Springfield is an excellent hitting team. They just got the bat on the ball. They just went with the pitch. You got to give them credit. Jodie is not going to get everyone out all the time and it's no cause for alarm."
Senior first baseman Tiffany Trahan and sophomore outfielder Julie Fox carried the team offensively - the duo collected two and three RBI, respectively, while also scoring two runs apiece.
For the second time in a row for the Jumbos, the game ended in extra innings and the International Tie Breaker rule went into effect. The International Tie Breaker rule states that when a game goes into extra frames, the batter who made the final out in the seventh inning is put on second base to begin the eighth. On Sunday, senior co-captain/second baseman Emily Ferrazza was put on second base and she subsequently scored the game winning run against Eastern Connecticut.
On Tuesday, sophomore third baseman Deana Davidian began the top of the eighth inning on second base as the go-ahead run. Davidian ended up scoring what turned out to be the game-winning run when senior shortstop Jen Mackey doubled her home with one out in the inning. The Jumbos scratched together two more runs in the inning and then Moreau sealed the deal in the bottom half of the eighth to give Tufts the win.
"We had a lot of opportunities with that many hits [13]," Talon said. "We certainly left many runners on base to go into extra innings. The good news is they fought back and we went ahead for good in the end. We have a talented team."
In the second half of the double header, freshman Caroline Grieco continued her emergence as the team's number two starter. After throwing 7.1 solid innings (surrendering only one run and five hits) in the nightcap of Sunday's doubleheader against Eastern Connecticut, Grieco was once again in top form on Tuesday.
In a complete game effort, Grieco gave up two runs - only one of which was earned - and scattered eight hits while striking out one. With the win, Grieco bettered her record to 4-2 on the season.
"She has done really well," Talon said of her freshman hurler. "Yesterday, her control wasn't quite as good [as it was on Sunday]. She mixed her speeds well. We have some kids swinging at her rising fastball and if she is hitting her spots. We are pleased with her progress. When she is on she is good and she is getting better all the time."
Although Grieco managed to keep most of Springfield's hitters off balance over the course of the afternoon, junior first baseman Ali Gerrish had her way with Greico, going 4-4. The base hits were meaningless, however, as none of them resulted in RBI.
Unlike the first game, the outcome of the second game was never in much doubt - the Jumbos scored three runs in the top of the first, building a lead that they would never relinquish. Incidentally, it wasn't a big hit that set up the rally; rather Tufts played small ball to muster together the three runs, capitalizing on a few singles and walks to go along with a series of poor fielding plays on Springfield's part.
For the game, Mackey, junior catcher Lis Drake, and freshman outfielder Courtney Bongiolatti all had two hits for the Jumbos.
After eight consecutive non-conference games, the team finally gets back into its NESCAC schedule on Saturday with a doubleheader against Bates in Lewiston, ME.
"One of our goals is to be undefeated in the NESCAC," Talon said. "Bates and Colby are both worthy opponents. [Bates is a] young team and [it has] struggled. In the immediate past they have definitely done better. We expect that were the better team. We feel like we really need to go up and dominate them.
