Heading back onto the road twice this weekend, the women's softball team looks forward to a doubleheader against NESCAC East competitor Bowdoin on Saturday followed by a tough doubleheader against arch rival Williams on Patriots Day.
Restricted from playing at home since late March due to inclement weather, the team has yet to let the constant travel wear on its playing ability.
"The travel is just a necessary evil," coach Kris Herman said. "The NESCAC games are games we'd like to play well so we're always fired up to do it."
The weekend will start off in Maine as the Jumbos take on the Bowdoin Polar Bears in an inter-conference matchup. These games are especially important to the team because a sweep of the Polar Bears would help assure the Jumbos a chance to host the NESCAC tournament. Losses might put the team's ability to host the tournament in jeopardy.
"If we don't take two at Bowdoin we probably will not host the tournament and we really want to host the tournament," Herman said.
Currently the Jumbos (5-1 NESCAC) sit four games ahead of Bowdoin (2-2) and Colby (2-2). Yet losses would open the door for both of these later teams to enter the running for the division championship and tournament hosting honors.
While both Colby and Bowdoin have many NESCAC games left to play in order to help their own positions within the conference, a Jumbo sweep of the Bears would basically guarantee Tufts the division title.
"We want to take care of business on our end," Herman said.
Last season, the team had little trouble with the Polar Bears, shutting them out in a two game sweep, 2-0 and 8-0. Bowdoin has a 7-13 record overall and graduated a fair amount of seniors from last year's squad. Herman is confident that the Jumbos will be able to pull off the wins.
"They're an average team, I think that we're certainly better than they are," Herman said.
After facing-off against Bowdoin on Saturday, the team will be able to enjoy Easter Sunday before hitting the road again Monday to face the Williams College Ephs. The pre-season favorite to win the NESCAC West and the Jumbos' former opponent at the NESCAC Championships, the Ephs will be one of the tougher opponents the team has on its schedule.
Though the match-ups against Williams do not count against the Jumbos' NESCAC East record, the games are still important because NESCAC games outside of a team's division are used as the first tiebreaker in deciding who will host the tournament.
"Williams was the favorite to win the West and they've played a very tough schedule. It should be a good game," Herman said.
Going into the contest, Tufts is carrying a fair number of pitchers who will be able to help the team to victory if called upon. While sophomore Caroline Grieco will most likely be asked to pitch, freshman Julia Brenta, junior Pam Swidler and freshman Sarah Conroy have all been pitching well and could step up if needed.
Though Brenta had a tough start against Colby last weekend, Herman is not concerned about the loss she accumulated during her last pitching appearance.
"Julia didn't have a great game on paper, but really it was some junky hits that you can't do anything about," Herman said.
Conroy pitched two scoreless innings against Bates while Swidler shut out the Bobcats in the second game of the Bates doubleheader.
Along with solid pitching, the team carries several hot hitters into the game as well. Senior co-captain Lis Drake along with sophomore Kim Smith and junior Julie Fox have each been hitting the ball hard in the team's last games. Though the offense did have some troubles scoring past the first inning against Babson on Tuesday, the Jumbos hope that the hitting deluge that took place throughout the weekend will pick up again this weekend.
More from The Tufts Daily
