Pulling away from NESCAC East teams in the standings, Tufts further secured their top spot in the division with three conference wins last weekend. Playing double headers against both Bates and Colby this past weekend at Bates, the Jumbos came home with a split against Colby and a sweep at Bates.
Playing two make-up games against Bates on Sunday from previously cancelled games, the team returned home with 10-3 and 8-0 wins. The sweep improved the Jumbos' conference record to 5-1 (with a winning percentage of .833).
The squad opened the day with a 10-3 victory against the Bobcats behind the pitching of sophomore Caroline Grieco and freshmen Sarah Conroy. Despite the many changes to its schedule and the unanticipated trip to Maine, the team did not allow the situation to further lower their spirits.
"It's difficult to play without a lot of practice. There are little things that we could be better at if we had been practicing," freshman Julia Brenta said.
Still, without a usual week of practice, the Jumbos strengths came through on Sunday helping them complete the sweep.
In Game One the Bobcats seemed to jump on Grieco early, scoring all three of their runs in the top of the first inning. Tufts bats responded to the Bobcats in the bottom of the first, though, taking the lead with four runs of their own.
"She got off to a rough start but she came back from it and the offense really stepped things up," senior co-captain Nikki Blotner said.
Tufts' runs came on both a two run home run by sophomore Courtney Bongiolatti and a two run triple from sophomore Katie Smith.
Unlike Bates, the Jumbos' offense did not rest after gaining a lead either. Tufts struck again in the third inning with more "small ball" as it used sacrifice bunts and sacrifice flies to move runners and bring them home. The inning's runs came from junior Deana Davidian's two run double and a sacrifice fly from Blotner.
As the Jumbos continued to score offensively, Grieco settled down, blanking the Bobcats for the next four innings. She was relieved by Conroy in the fifth who continued the strong pitching for the team, recording two scoreless innings to finish off the game.
Tufts scored again in the fifth and the sixth innings to record the day's first victory. The Jumbos bats did not rest for long though as they continued to swing hard in the second game of the day as well. Scoring another 13 hits in game two and eight more runs, Tufts finished their sweep of the Bobcats with an 8-0 victory called in five innings due to the eight run slaughter rule.
Senior co-captain Lis Drake continued her hot hitting, opening the game with a two run home run. The blast was her sixth of the year. After breaking the Jumbos career RBI record on Thursday against Bridegewater State, Drake continued her offensive onslaught through the team's weekend trip.
However, Drake was not the only Jumbo to have a strong offensive day as junior Julie Fox, Bongiolatti, and Blotner were all able to add to Tufts' run tally. After a week of practicing indoors only due to field conditions, the Jumbos credit perhaps their focus on hitting for the reason behind their offensive performance this weekend.
Meanwhile, silencing the Bobcats offense was junior Pam Swidler who the finished the day with five innings, three hits and no runs allowed.
"It was a must win because we really want to host the NESCAC tournament," Blotner said. "We had to shut down Bates. There was no question about."
The Jumbos offense and defense looked just as strong in Game One on Saturday as well as Tufts took on Colby. Due to poor field conditions in Medford, the team played Colby at Bates as the home team.
The day began well for the Jumbos as they stretched their winning streak to three games with an 8-0 victory behind another strong pitching performance from Grieco paired with an offensive explosion from the Jumbos.
The game started as Fox hit a two run home run in the first inning to give the Jumbos the 3-0 lead they would never let go. Drake's offensive hot streak continued as she hit a three run home run in the fourth to put Tufts up 8-0. After the Mules were unable to score in the top of the fifth, the game was called due to the mercy rule.
"[Drake is] the kind of player that wants to be in clutch situations and the kind we want in good situations," said Blotner.
Unfortunately, the Jumbos could not continue with their winning ways in the afternoon's second game. Tufts began the game by taking the lead 1-0 in the top of the first. Behind Brenta's pitching, the team was able to hold that lead until the Mules tied it up in the top of the fourth.
The pitching duel continued until the top of the sixth when Colby's offense finally showed life, scoring four runs to secure the lead. In the end, the White Mules were able to pull off the upset, 5-2.
"We had won the first game and came into the second game being ready to mercy rule them and get it over with, we may not have had the intensity to go after it," Blotner said. "They're the sort of team you can't let down your guard on or they'll come back and bite you and they did."
Brenta added, "When you play the game before up by eight, you go into the next game and have to clear the slate completely since it is a completely different game. But, you feel like you have a lead even when the score is 0-0."
Despite the conference loss, the Jumbos sit four games ahead of Bowdoin in the NESCAC East standings with a good chance of hosting the NESCAC tournament. Bowdoin is the next conference opponent the Jumbos face in an away double header this Saturday. Currently, the team's focus is on out of conference foe Babson who they are scheduled to play this afternoon at 4:30 p.m at Babson College.
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