The Tufts softball team took on Bowdoin and Amherst over the weekend in their first games of NESCAC play. Prior to the games, the Jumbos held a season record of 4–10, but the team wasn’t going to let that affect them.
“We also are playing as if our record is 0-0 every-time. No matter how many wins or [losses] we have, everyone wants to beat us due to our program. We must walk around with pride and be grateful to play for such an Amazing program,” sophomore infielder Heaven Oliva wrote in an email to the Daily.
On Friday, Bowdoin women’s softball travelled to Medford for a doubleheader on Spicer Field. The Jumbos were ready to leave their record behind and start anew.
“Our team wanted to come out strong and set the tone. We wanted to play how we know how to play and prove that [our] record before conference doesn’t determine the way the season will go,” Oliva wrote.
The Jumbos started the first game strong when, in the second inning, first-year infielder Cat Kawabe knocked in two runs with an RBI single. Their lead didn’t last for long, however, as Bowdoin quickly tied up the game in the third inning. The Jumbos didn’t let that deter them and kept their offense up. In the bottom of the third inning, Tufts responded with two more runs of their own.
The offensively heavy game continued as Tufts went on to score four more runs, with three RBIs by junior utility player Lauryn Horita. The Polar Bears were only able to put one more run on the board, and the game ended with a score of 8–3 in the Jumbos’ favor. Graduate student pitcher Sophia DiCocco got the pitching win for Tufts.
The Jumbos were feeling positive after their performance in the first game. “We came together and played as one unit well. We came out with intensity and performed like we know how to perform,” Oliva wrote.
Later that same day, the Polar Bears and Jumbos went head-to-head again in their second game of the doubleheader. Once again, Tufts started the scoring early with an RBI single by Oliva in the first inning. By the end of the second inning, the Jumbos were up 4–0.
Bowdoin added a touch of excitement to the game after scoring one run in the third inning and one run in the fourth, cutting Tufts’ lead in half, but Tufts soon pulled away with the game, and Bowdoin was unable to add another run.
The game ended with the Jumbos winning 10–2. Oliva ended the game with three RBIs, including a home run in the fourth inning. Junior utility player Kaitlyn Perucci also had a strong game with three hits in three at-bats, two runs scored and one RBI.
The Jumbos then had a day off before facing the Mammoths on Sunday. After a successful Friday, the energy was high. “Our team was feeling more at [ease] after having two conference wins under our belt, but we were not satisfied,” Oliva wrote.
As was the pattern of the weekend, the Jumbos took off running with an RBI double by Oliva in the first inning, scoring their first run of the day. Despite their early lead, the Jumbos planned to play as if it never happened.
“The mentality of the team right now is to win every inning,” Oliva wrote. “Our goal is for someone to look at the game and not be able to tell if we are losing or winning. We want to keep a consistent energy level and support each other as best as we can.”
The Jumbos’ mentality appeared to work as they went on to score two more runs and allow none from the Mammoths before the game was done. DiCocco once again got the win, pitching a complete game and only allowing three hits. With another 3–0 win in the books, Tufts was ready for their final game of the weekend.
Once again, Tufts took the early lead with two runs scored in the second inning off a Kawabe RBI single. They put two more runs on the board in the third with an RBI single by Oliva and an RBI triple by junior infielder Haley Leimbach.
Unlike the last game, however, the Jumbos were unable to keep the Mammoths scoreless. Amherst took a 5–4 lead after a big fourth inning, adding on another run in the fifth inning to make it 6–4. Still, the Jumbos weren’t ready to give up their win streak. They brought the score back in their favor in the bottom of the fifth with three runs scored off two RBI doubles.
The game ended 7–6 in Tufts’ favor, maintaining their four-game win streak, bringing their overall record up to 8–10 and bringing their conference record up to 4–0.
Tufts will face off against two more NESCAC teams, Trinity College and Wesleyan University, this weekend.
“We hope to continue to play as a unit and doing the little things right. We want to continue to bring energy on and off the field and play with intensity,” Oliva wrote.
