The softball team split Tuesdays non-conference doubleheader at Babson College in dramatic fashion. After blowing Babson out of the water in the first game of the day, the Jumbos coughed up a three-run lead in game two and ended their rollercoaster day with a crushing 4-3 defeat that snapped their 16-game winning streak.
Tufts came out and pounded the Beavers in the opener, 15-5.
Every Jumbo starter recorded at least one hit en route to 17 total, and every starter either scored or drove in a run. Tufts dynamite offense scored early and often, building up a 7-0 lead by the end of the third inning to force Babsons starting pitcher, Kathleen Conway, from the game.
The Beavers strung together a rally with four runs in the bottom of the fourth, trimming Tufts lead to three but the Jumbos returned fire by exploding for eight runs in the top of the fifth. Christina Raso punctuated the prolific inning with a grand slam, the exclamation mark on her 4-for-4 day with four runs scored and five RBI.
The freshman had plenty of help from her teammates, including catcher Jo Clair, who went three-for-four with four runs batted in, and first baseman Kayla Holland who went three-for-three with two runs scored. Head coach Cheryl Milligan believes her team is capable of such performances every time they take the field.
Many of the players have stepped up their game at the plate, she said of her lineup. The freshmen are doing great. We are a strong hitting team that gives our great pitching staff a lot of run support.
With their bats still smoldering from that afternoons slugfest, the Jumbos burst out of the gates in the second game as well. Tufts struck for three quick runs in the top of the first and seemed poised to run away with the nightcap.
But it was not to be. Babson starter Tess Rubega settled down, keeping Tufts at bay and allowing the Beavers to battle back. Babson answered with a run in the bottom of the first by working four walks off Aly Moskowitz, who struggled with her command and issued six free passes in all. Aided by a Tufts fielding error, Babson evened the score at three-all in the bottom of the fifth.
Moskowitz completed the inning before giving way to Allyson Fournier, brought in to finish out the game. Fournier was able to strand the potential winning run in the bottom of the sixth but had no such luck the following inning, when Babson belted back-to-back doubles to complete their comeback and walk-off with the win.
Fournier, who had allowed just two earned runs in her previous 42 innings, suffered her first loss of the season. She expects the seventh-ranked Jumbos to bounce back and start a new winning streak at Bowdoin on Friday.
The NESCAC teams we face always put up a fight, so we will have to come out ready to play, she said.
