The Williams Ephs will come to town today in a matchup of last season's regular season NESCAC leaders. The Jumbos owned the NESCAC East with a 10-2 record, while the Ephs won the West at 9-3. Both teams are off to strong starts this season: Williams is sitting at 8-4, while Tufts is the winner of seven of its last 11 games.
The squads are plenty familiar with each other, as it was Williams that knocked Tufts out of the NESCAC championships last year with an 8-4 victory, denying the Jumbos a spot in the finals for the first time since 2004. But Tufts has no intentions of looking to the past, instead focusing on how to add a second NESCAC head to their mantle after a come-from-behind victory over Middlebury this past week. The Daily looks at the keys to the Jumbos doing just that:
1. Hitting the ball from top to bottom
There is no doubt that the Jumbos once again have some potent offensive weapons. Junior co-captain first baseman Lena Cantone is sitting at a .526 batting average, while junior shortstop Mira Lieman-Sifry, freshman catcher Jo Clair, and junior centerfielder Lizzy Iuppa are all batting above .300. The four have also accounted for 52 of the team's 86 runs scored.
But this group struggled last year against Williams' sophomore pitcher Megan Casey in the team's playoff loss and combined for just 1-for-10. The Jumbos will need to jump on every opportunity that they get today, which will require strong performances from every member of their lineup. It's the perfect time for a breakout game from first-year players such as junior Katherine Darveau and freshmen Sara Hedtler and Lauren Giglio, who are beginning to get comfortable at the college level.
2. Stopping the bleeding
Tufts has one of the deepest and strongest pitching staffs in the NESCAC. Sophomore Aly Moskowitz and senior Izzie Santone have sub 3.00 ERAs while sophomore Rebecca DiBiase is not far off that mark. While the Jumbos have already given up four runs or more in a single inning five times this season, almost all of these big innings have come in the middle of otherwise strong performances.
The Ephs are familiar with Tufts' penchant for allowing runs in bunches, having scored eight runs in the sixth inning last May after trailing the entire game. The onus will not only fall on the pitching staff to avoid a repeat, but also on the defense to come up with a big play and coach Cheryl Milligan to make pitching switches at the right time.
3. Small ball
The Jumbos finished the 2010 season with three players with at least four home runs and six players with at least one. So far in 2011, only Clair has had success with the long ball, crushing five.
To compensate, Tufts will likely need to create runs with small ball rather than powering them in. The squad has already had success on the basepaths, stealing 25 bases in only 15 games while only being caught six times. Iuppa is a perfect 9-for-9, while Cantone is 5-for-5.
"I think small ball hasn't always been a big part of our game," Cantone said. "Last year it wasn't, but this year it's definitely going to be bigger and definitely be more important."
While the speed is there, the Jumbos have struggled at times to move the runner over. Twice this season the team has failed to execute a bunt in extra innings with a runner in scoring position, and both games ended in losses. If the Jumbos can convert their scoring chances at a high rate today, it should enough to take down the Ephs.
