Hot on the heels of a five game winning streak, the Tufts softball team, ranked No. 24 in the nation, continued its NESCAC domination on Friday, defeating Wesleyan 7-1 in convincing fashion. The victory elevated the team to the No. 4 spot in New England.
The win was made even more memorable as senior shortstop Courtney Bongiolatti's home run in the third inning broke the Tufts softball record for single-season home runs. Bongiolatti has hit ten home runs in the past 26 games, besting Lis Drake's 2002 record of nine home runs.
Junior pitcher Sarah Conroy came through for the Jumbos once again, allowing just three hits and one run to improve her pitching record to 7-0. The Cardinals got off to a strong start in the first inning with an early run when freshman center fielder Becca Feiden scored off of sophomore Molly Gaebe's single to left field. However, the Cardinals put three batters at the plate in the next four innings.
"Sarah Conroy is a power pitcher for us," coach Cheryl Milligan said. "She has not always been consistent with her technique, but lots of things are working well and coming together for her, like busting the inside corner. Her power potential has come all the way around."
Wesleyan would not lead for long, as the Tufts lineup came alive in the second inning, ripping four hits for two runs. Freshman Heather Kleinberger and junior Laura Spring drove in the two runs, scoring Bongiolatti and senior co-captain Katie Smith.
Two Wesleyan errors in the third inning enabled Tufts to score six runs, increasing their lead to 7-1. Freshman Danielle Lopez scored on a fielder's choice grounder hit by freshman Erica Bailey. Bongiolatti smashed her record-breaking home run, driving in two runs and sealing the win for Tufts. Freshman Megan Cusick followed Bongiolatti's long shot with one of her own for an additional score.
After the Jumbos' third-inning rally, Wesleyan replaced starter Karla Hargrave with reliever Molly Gaebe, who was able to silence the Tufts bats, not allowing a single hit during the rest of the game. Hargrave took the loss and dropped to 5-9.
Though Coach Milligan was impressed with the Jumbo's strong pitching and hitting throughout the games, she was disappointed at the team's response to the new relief pitcher.
"The only disappointing part of the entire game was that we couldn't hit after a while." Milligan said. "7-1 was a respectable score but they put in a new pitcher. It doesn't speak to the fact that we will have to learn to adjust in the future."
Bongiolatti went 2-3 with the record breaking homer to lead the Tufts offense, which also included two runs from Smith.
The softball team was scheduled to play a double-header against Trinity on Saturday, but the games have been rescheduled to Sunday, May 1 due to rain. Trinity stands at 2-2 in the NESCAC East, and would need to sweep the Jumbos in order to catch Tufts for the league lead.
The Jumbos' next contest will take place at Williams College on Tuesday at 4:30 pm. Although playing in NESCAC, Williams is in the West Division, so the game will not have any direct impact on Tufts' league record.
