The women's softball team faces a busy upcoming weekend in which it will see three teams in doubleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday. The Jumbos will play a double header at home on Saturday in another important NESCAC match-up. Yet, the team's true test should come on Sunday when it matches up against Western Connecticut College and Wheaton College, two of the strongest teams in New England.
While the two doubleheaders will be trying on the squad, the Jumbos are confident that they can handle the onslaught of competition. Considering that both of their Sunday opponents also have Saturday doubleheaders on their schedule, the Jumbos will have the advantage playing on their home field.
"It's not our favorite schedule but there's nothing you can really do in the springtime," coach Kris Herman said.
Saturday will pit Tufts against NESCAC rival Bates. The Bobcats enter with a 1-5 overall record, having yet to play a conference game. The competition should not be too stiff as Tufts easily handled the Bobcats 8-0 and 5-2 in last year's doubleheader. While the team has improved from last season, the strides it has taken will most likely not be enough to challenge the Jumbos.
"They were not a strong team in the NESCAC last year and they're probably a little bit better but not a lot," Herman said. "They're a team we should beat."
While Bates may not be the Jumbos strongest opponent, the fact that it is a NESCAC rival makes them the most important opponent for the team this weekend. It is their NESCAC record that will determine their post-season conference tournament seeding.
The true test for the Jumbos strength will come on Sunday when they face out of conference teams Western Connecticut and Wheaton. Western Connecticut enters ranked seventh in New England while Wheaton at 16-2 currently sits atop the rankings. Tufts is currently ranked sixth.
Each team will bring strong pitching and hitting against the Jumbos, but Herman is confident that her team will be able to pull out a victory in the end.
"We don't really need to do anything too different," Herman said. "We're just going to go out there and give it our best shot."
With her pitching lineup still unsettled for the weekend, Herman has hopes of using sophomore Caroline Grieco on both Saturday and Sunday. Plagued with an arm injury early in the season, Grieco was held to pitching only four innings in last weekend's match up against Trinity. Yet, Herman hopes that her injury will not force her into limited play again this weekend.
If Grieco is unable to perform, the Jumbos still have a strong core of pitchers to choose from. This includes freshman Julia Brenta who recorded a seven inning one run victory last weekend and junior Pam Swidler, who gained the most experience pitching for the Jumbos over spring break.
Along with strong pitching, the team also brings a solid lineup to the plate. While hitters such as sophomores Katie Smith and Courtney Bongiolatti quickly come to mind for their key hits against Trinity, Herman is pleased with the recent performance of most of her hitters.
"We kind of have a lot of people doing some good things right now. We're pretty confident in our lineup up and down. I don't think anybody is especially hotter than another right now," Herman said.
Despite the strength of pitching they will be facing in on Sunday, Herman once again hopes her team's power hitting ability will come into play, instead of choosing to play 'small-ball.'
"We're a power hitting team. They [Western Connecticut and Wheaton] both have excellent top of the line pitchers but there's nobody we can't hit," Herman said.
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