Tufts softball took on Middlebury College and Williams College in two NESCAC double-headers last weekend. Prior to the games, the Jumbos held a 10–10 overall record and a 6–0 conference record.
With much of the season behind them, the Jumbos were pleased with how they’ve performed. “We feel good about the season so far. Every game gives us another lesson to learn from to continue to grow and work towards our goal of a NESCAC championship,” sophomore infielder Heaven Oliva wrote in an email to the Daily.
The Jumbos hoped to continue the positivity through the games last weekend. “Our mentality was to play for each other and support one another in any way we can,” Oliva wrote.
In the first game of the weekend, the Jumbos travelled to Middlebury, Vt. on Friday to take on the Panthers, who went into the games with a 17–7 overall record. Tufts came out strong in the first inning of the game, with a home run by graduate student infielder Bela Jimenez giving them a 1–0 lead. Middlebury was quick to tie it up, however, with an unearned run in the bottom of the third.
Fortunately for the Jumbos, the Panthers were unable to produce any more offense, while the Jumbos went on to score two more runs off an RBI single by Oliva in the fifth and a throwing error by the pitcher in the sixth. The seven-inning game ended 3–1 in the Jumbos’ favor.
There was little time to celebrate before Tufts and Middlebury were set to face off again in the second game of the double-header. “When going into the second game we didn’t want to take Middlebury for granted,” Oliva wrote.
Tufts once again took the first lead in the second game on an RBI single, with junior utility player Lauryn Horita knocking in one run in the top of the third. The Panthers took no time to respond, scoring an unearned run to tie the game up in the bottom of the third. In contrast to the first game, the Panthers were able to kickstart their offense in the fourth inning with a two-run RBI double, which gave Middlebury a 3–1 lead. The rest of the game was quiet, with no more runs scored, and the Jumbos left Vermont with one win and one loss added to their record.
“We fell short of what we wanted to accomplish that game, but learned from it,” Oliva wrote. “We were trying to continue to play for one another and trying to improve on our energy. We typically have high energy and in the second game we saw it fall a little bit flat.”
On Sunday, the Jumbos travelled to Williamstown, Mass. to take on the Ephs in their second double-header of the weekend. The Ephs went into the games with an overall record of 14–6.
Even with only one day off, the Jumbos were ready for the Ephs. “Our mentality for Williams was wanting to prove something,” Oliva wrote. “Prove that we can compete with anyone and go into the game wanting to showcase all the hard work we have done preparing for this series.”
The Jumbos took another early lead in the first game of the day — as was on par for them over the weekend — with a home run by junior utility player Kaitlyn Perucci to make the score 1–0. Tufts held onto the lead for two innings before Williams pulled ahead with a three-run home run.
The Ephs tried to maintain their lead, but their efforts proved unsuccessful when, in the fifth inning, Perucci landed an RBI double, knocking in two runs and tying up the game. The Jumbos kept the heat on and went on to score one more in the inning, with Horita singling to knock in Perucci and make the score 4–3 in the Jumbos’ favor. Neither team was able to make another move in the final two innings, and the game ended with another win in the scorebook for Tufts.
In the second game of the day, the two teams remained scoreless through the first four innings. Tufts was able to break the pitcher’s duel first in the fifth inning with an RBI single by Jimenez, knocking in the first run of the game. Once the first run was scored, however, the Ephs were unleashed, going on to score three runs in the fifth.
The Jumbos weren’t able to answer the Ephs until the seventh inning, when the bats started working and an RBI single by Oliva knocked in another two runs for Tufts, tying up the game.
The Jumbos looked to force the game into extra innings, but Williams was able to perform under the pressure and knocked in one final run, securing the win for the Ephs.
After splitting both double-headers, the Jumbos came out of the weekend with a 12–12 overall record, maintaining their .500 win percentage, and an 8–2 conference record.
“Every pitcher we face is different and in order to win games it’s about which team adjusts quicker,” Oliva wrote.
With eight more NESCAC conference games left in the season, Tufts looks to continue improving their record with games against NESCAC competitors Trinity College and Colby College this weekend.
