Behind another strong pitching performance from sophomore Caroline Grieco, the softball team improved its record to 16-9 overall on Tuesday afternoon beating out conference foe Babson 4-2.
Rushing to get out of classes to make it over to Babson Park, the team had no trouble getting the offense going, putting three runs on the board in the top of the first.
"It was tough to get in a rhythm early but we came out and scored and got on the board early," coach Kris Herman said.
After a tough loss 7-2 loss to Babson during the spring break trip to California, Babson entered the game with a 12-12 record that included a tough win over Wheaton College last week. Therefore, the Jumbos were prepared to face-off against this strong out of conference opponent and happy to turn the tables.
Moving runners into scoring position through walks and wild pitches, the Jumbos first run came when junior Deana Davidian scored on a wild pitch. The next two runs came off of a sacrifice fly from senior co-captain Lis Drake driving in senior co-captain Nikki Blotner, and an RBI single from junior Julie Fox.
After scoring early in the first, the Jumbos offense settled down and scored again on a fourth inning RBI single from freshman Jess Barrett. Unfortunately for the Jumbos, the hot offense that carried the team through the weekend did not continue to shine.
"You always wish you could score whenever you want to, but we didn't need to," Herman said. "Offensively we did okay."
Behind 4-0 going into the fifth inning, the Beavers were unwilling to go quietly; to the Jumbos though, scoring two runs to cut the lead in half.
With only a two run lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Beavers once again threatened with the help of a few defensive lapses on the Jumbos behalf. Two errors from the short stop position allowed the Beavers to put two runners on the bases. Another single given up by Grieco loaded the basses with only one out putting the Jumbos in a precarious position.
Fortunately, Grieco was able to take herself out of a jam on a pop out and grounder to give Tufts the final 4-2 victory.
Despite her injury early in the season, Grieco has been able to pitch well for the Jumbos. The sophomore has a torn ligament in her elbow but her ailment has not worsened from pitching. Despite the availability of other pitchers, Herman wanted to use Grieco in order to keep to keep her sharp for the upcoming weekend.
"We have a lot of pitchers who can pitch for us, but we wanted to get more innings in for her," Herman said.
As the team prepares for another busy weekend against NESCAC opponents, Herman is not concerned with the offensive issues from Tuesday.
"I'm not really too concerned about [Tuesday's] hitting. We have a lot of talent on our team so we'll be ok," Herman said. "We will work on our hitting in practice the rest of the week but not in response to anything."
For the rest of the week, the Jumbos now focus on NESCAC opponents Bowdoin, who they face in a road trip double header on Saturday.
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