Coming off two disappointing losses on the front and back end of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Springfield Pride, the softball team looks to begin its climb back to .500 tomorrow afternoon when it tees off against NESCAC opponent Bowdoin at Spicer Field.
Tufts will look for some of the same offensive power that it produced against the Pride, when it was led by senior tri-captain Julie Fox, junior shortstop Courtney Bongiolatti and first baseman Katie Smith, and sophomore DH Sarah Conroy. All four Jumbos homered and drove in eight of Tufts' ten runs on the afternoon.
Normally, five runs per game is plenty for the Jumbos' solid pitching and defense. The squad allowed five or fewer scores in seven of its first ten contests this season and in 33 of 39 games last season. But Junior Caroline Grieco started game one and allowed nine runs (six earned) on 13 hits and two walks, striking out three. Grieco started off and finished strong, allowing just two combined runs in innings one, two, and six. However in the middle innings Grieco struggled, allowing seven runs on ten hits.
"I don't think she's pitched as well as she's capable of pitching," senior tri-captain Deana Davidian said. "But she did an okay job and we still could have won that game with her pitching performance."
Sophomore hurler Julia Brenta took the hill for Tufts in the nightcap, fairing somewhat better than Grieco but still unable to earn the W. Brenta gave up six runs (five earned) on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts in six innings pitched. The sophomore was perfect in the first and last two innings of the contest, but got rocked for six runs on eight hits in the third and fourth innings.
"I think that I pitched well," Brenta said. "There were definitely some key hits in their favor, but I felt my pitches were working and for the most part the balls they connected on were hit on the ground."
In addition to the squad's shaky pitching, the Jumbos committed four errors in the first game and two more in the second, leading to a combined four unearned runs over the two games.
"Our defense has been struggling lately. Our errors on defense in the Springfield game were a carryover from the second half of our spring break trip when we struggled on defense," Davidian said. "I'm not really sure what the deal is but it's something we're aware of and working out in practice, and I expect it to improve drastically in the future."
Tufts will have to be on top of its game, both offensively and defensively, to outlast the Polar Bears. Bowdoin finished the NESCAC East in third place last season with a record of 4-3, just a game and a half behind the Jumbos and Colby White Mules in first. Tufts and Bowdoin split their doubleheader last year, with the Polar Bears winning the first game 2-1 and the Jumbos drawing even in game two with an 11-5 rout. The Polar Bears so far are 9-5 overall, albeit against much weaker competition than the Jumbos have faced. The key to the Jumbos coming out on top, according to Davidian and Brenta, is team defense.
"We have one of the strongest offensive lineups in New England, so our offense will always come around," Davidian said. "But we need to focus on having a clean game on defense, minimizing our errors and keeping the other team's run total down so we can let offense go to work."
Brenta agreed.
"We are definitely the better team and we need to come out there and prove it to them," she said. "The key to our team winning right now is playing solid defense. We have been getting into innings in which we struggle, but if we can play solidly as a team and pick each other up we will win."
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