Going into the long weekend, the softball team needed to win allfour of its games to guarantee that they would be playing in theNESCAC playoffs.
Not only did Tufts accomplish that task, but junior CarolineGreico added icing to the cake by tossing a no-hitter on Saturdayat Colby.
The Jumbos started the weekend off with a 4-2 victory overColby, followed by a 1-0 win later in the day thanks to Grieco'sno-no.
On Sunday, Tufts capped off the successful weekend withnail-biting 6-5 and 2-1 wins over Trinity.
Greico's no-hitter was a thing of beauty, as she failed to evenwalk a batter in her complete game shutout of the White Mules.
"She pitched a really great game," senior tri-captain DeanaDavidian said. "We just had to make the routine plays and she didthe rest."
The only blemishes on the near-perfect game were one Jumbo errorand one hit batter.
Junior shortstop Courtney Bongiolatti helped with some offensivesupport for Greico with two hits, including a double. Freshmanthird baseman Sarah Taylor drove Bongiolatti home in the seventhinning to provide the Jumbos' only run.
Junior first baseman Katie Smith and senior tri-captain MaggieMcClory had the only other Jumbo hits.
Greico's no-hitter overshadowed a very solid pitchingperformance by sophomore Julia Brenta in game one. Brenta pitchedeight innings and gave up two runs, but neither run was earned.Davidian carried the Jumbo offense by swatting four hits anddriving in two for Tufts.
The two games Tufts played on Sunday were just as close. In theseventh inning of the second game, sophomore Laura Spring gotthings started with a pinch-hit double. After she was sacrificed tothird, McClory laid down a suicide squeeze bunt to knock in thewinning run.
"We spend a lot of time as a team on our bunting," McClory said."It's very important because we've started to rely on small ballwhen our power isn't really coming through."
Sophomore Sarah Conroy started the game for Tufts and went fiveinnings while giving up just one run. Greico came on in relief andpicked up her second victory of the weekend by pitching twoscoreless innings.
In the first game on Sunday, the Jumbos came back from an early4-1 deficit. They were aided by a Trinity error in the bottom ofthe third that helped them score four runs in the inning and take a5-4 lead. Davidian added two more hits as well as two RBIs and arun scored to the Jumbo effort. Smith had a strong day at the plateas well, going 4-4 with a RBI and a run scored.
Senior pitcher Pam Swidler went all seven innings for Tufts. Shegave up five runs -- four earned -- while striking out four andwalking one.
The four victories over the weekend helped solidify the Jumbos'place in the NESCAC playoffs.
"We're very excited," Davidian said. "We had to win all fourgames to secure a top spot in the playoffs so we're definitelyhappy about that."
The seedings have not yet been determined, but with their fourvictories this past weekend, the Jumbos have a very realistic shotat the No. 1 seed.
"The No. 1 seed would be nice because it might give us moreconfidence and more of an edge, but it's not that important,"McClory said. "We were the No. 2 seed last year and we won it so wedon't focus too much on seeding."
The only team who could take over the No. 1 seed from Tufts isBowdoin, who has two games left each against Bates and Trinity. IfBowdoin sweeps all four games, they are the No. 1 seed and Tufts isNo. 2.
If Bowdoin goes 3-1, it is likely Tufts will be the No. 1 seedbased on tiebreaking methods, and if Bowdoin loses more than onegame, Tufts automatically earns the No. 1 seed.
The Jumbos still have three games against Brandeis, EasternConnecticut, and Wesleyan before the start of the NESCAC playoffson April 30.
"We need to focus on this week's games and look to continue ourwinning streak first before we start looking ahead to NESCACs,"McClory said.
