A full 12 days after it last took the field, the softball team showed little sign of rust.
Behind the strength of six home runs, the Jumbos swept a doubleheader from out-of-conference foe Bridgewater State yesterday afternoon at Spicer Field. Tufts routed the Bears 10-0 in a five-inning mercy-rule contest before taking the second game 5-1.
The games were the Jumbos' first live-game action since March 22, the finale of a spring-break trip to the Sun West Tournament in Orange, Calif. Tufts had a three-game series against Bowdoin wiped out last weekend because of rainy and unseasonably frigid conditions in the Boston area, making the team anxious to get back on the field and get some games under its belt.
"I think everyone was over-ready," senior co-captain Danielle Lopez said. "We've been waiting a long time since the weather's been so bad, and so we were all ready to get out here. It feels good to be back outside playing. You can practice a lot, but there's nothing like playing a game outdoors. We needed that, and it was good for us."
A Tufts offense that was averaging nearly nine runs a game coming into the contest continued to produce yesterday, particularly in the first game. In just five innings, the Jumbos pounded out 12 hits and 10 runs, cruising to their sixth mercy-rule victory of the season.
Lopez helped Tufts set the tone right off the bat, blasting a three-run home run off of Bridgewater State sophomore Jillian Vancelette in the first inning. Two innings later, the rout was on. Two Bears errors led to three Jumbos runs in the second, while a three-run homer from sophomore shortstop Casey Sullivan in the third put Tufts up by an insurmountable 10 runs.
"I think a lot of deep fly balls to the outfield are a good indication that we're seeing the ball well," coach Cheryl Milligan said. "We're a better hitting team than we have been of late, and we can even be a lot better than we are now. I think we had a few very quality at-bats today and just made a lot of things happen."
The pitching duo of junior Lauren Gelmetti and freshman Izzie Santone took care of the rest, tallying a combined six strikeouts over five innings while limiting Bridgewater State to just four hits.
The combination of a potent offense and stellar pitching was at work again in the latter half of the doubleheader. All five of Tufts' runs came via the long ball, and once again, Lopez got the Jumbos' scoring started, this time with a two-run homer in the first inning.
Tufts added solo shots from sophomore first baseman Christy Tinker, senior pinch hitter Heather Kleinberger and junior designated hitter Cara Hovhanessian in the final three innings to pad its lead. The Jumbos' four home runs in the second game were the most the team has hit in a single game during Milligan's five-year tenure as coach.
Meanwhile, sophomore pitcher Stefanie Tong held Bridgewater State's offense down, tossing a complete-game four-hitter with seven strikeouts. Tong struggled with her control at times, walking five Bears and putting runners in scoring position in each of the final four innings, but she battled through to earn her second win of the season.
"Both LG and Tong threw very well today," Milligan said. "Tong got herself out of some jams. That's just the way her knuckleball is sometimes, but she always seems to come through for us, and that was definitely the case today."
The team will take the momentum of its victories into a jam-packed weekend, in which it is scheduled to make up its series against Bowdoin and play a doubleheader at defending MASCAC champion Wellesley. Though Tufts is pleased with its performance yesterday, it still sees the opportunity to improve this weekend.
"We did hit six home runs, but we also didn't get very many other base hits," Lopez said. "We want to make sure we're doing the little things right, too, like getting our lead runners on and moving them over, just doing the small things. So it's nice to get the big hits, but we're not going to win every game like that, so we still have some things to work on."
"There were times we could have played a little bit better," Milligan added. "We had some really bright spots, but we still have some work to do. We're not quite in midseason form yet, not quite in postseason form, which is what we're working towards. Every game counts, but we are looking towards being ready in May."
