Following mother nature's lead, the women's softball team (17-7-1) has caught fire just as the New England weather begins to warm up. The squad is currently in the midst of a streak in which it has won eight of nine, including three victories in the past two days - two wins against Trinity on Monday and a 3-1 win over the Springfield Pride in the opener of yesterday's doubleheader.
Tufts managed to split the doubleheader with Springfield, which entered the contest sporting a startling 25-6 record. Junior Jodie Moreau pitched her tenth complete game of the season, holding the Pride's high-octane offense to a single run and upping her record to 8-3.
The Jumbos were down 1-0 with one out in the bottom of the sixth when senior co-captain Randee McArdle singled, sophomore Jenica Spogen walked, and junior Jen Mackey singled to load the bases. After Springfield pitcher Nan Duga got the second out of the inning, all three Tufts runners scored when sophomore Nikki Blotner lashed a single and Springfield committed two errors on the play.
In the second game, the Jumbos struggled both defensively and offensively. After pitching so well in Monday's 12-0 win over Trinity, senior Rachel Brecher had difficulty handling Springfield's potent offense.
"They were a much better hitting team," coach Kris Talon said. "Rachel [Brecher] can win these games. Her game is hitting her spots and keeping the ball down. She pitched well, but there was a bit of a mental breakdown for the team in the end of the second game. It was our sixth game in four days. We aren't going to score ten runs every night."
The wins over the Trinity Bantams on Monday were especially significant because they improved the Jumbos' mark to 4-0 in the NESCAC.
"Trinity is in the NESCAC East, so those were very big games," Talon said. "They have a poor record, but some very good players."
Pitching was the theme of the day in the twinbill, as Moreau and Brecher combined to twirl twelve innings and surrender only two runs.
After tossing eight shutout innings against Amherst over the weekend, Moreau continued her dominance against Trinity, throwing a complete game while giving up only two runs and striking out eight. It appeared she would throw yet another shutout until Trinity put together a rally in the bottom of the seventh after a leadoff double from Liz Bontempo and three consecutive Bantam singles. Moreau managed to regain her composure to end the threat and close out the game.
In the night-cap, which was shortened to five innings due to time constraints, Brecher fired a one-hit, no-run complete game. Interestingly, Brecher did not record a strikeout during the outing and, prior to yesterday's contest, had only fanned 19 in 45.2 innings of work. The pitcher also helped her own cause on Monday, knocking in two runs with a double in the third inning.
Tufts' offense exploded in the matchup with Trinity, as the Jumbos outscored the Bantams by a 17-2 margin. "Since their pitching is just average, we knew we had to go out there and rock them," Talon said. "We wanted to set the tone early."
After playing six games in four days, Tufts will get a much-needed break until Saturday, when the squad plays a tripleheader - two against Colby and one versus Emerson - on the opening day of the Tufts Invitational. The Jumbos conclude their NESCAC season with a doubleheader against Bowdoin on April 28.
"We are definitely at our peak right now," McArdle said. "We have four important games coming up against Colby and Bowdoin that are all must-win."
