On the heels of last Tuesday's doubleheader losses to No. 10 Babson, the Tufts softball team seems to have gotten back on track. And this might be the track that leads right to a national championship bid.
The Jumbos bounced back, defeating Springfield and Bowdoin in two sets of doubleheaders this weekend. With the victories, the team upped its record to 4-0 in the conference and 19-5 overall and moved the Jumbos up to No. 24 in the national rankings.
Using solid pitching, hitting and defense, the Jumbos dropped Springfield 4-1 and 3-1 on Thursday before destroying Bowdoin two days later in games that were ended by the mercy rule, 12-3 and 11-2.
"We definitely didn't dwell on the [Babson] losses," freshman second baseman Danielle Lopez said. "We focused on our next games. We knew we had to get back to hitting to win the tough couple of games we had coming up."
After hitting four home runs in as many games, senior shortstop Courtney Bongiolatti has turned an excellent season into a record-breaking one as she tied the Tufts single-season record for home runs with nine. Bongiolatti went three for six with two home runs and five RBIs as Tufts swept Springfield at home on Thursday and added another two home runs against Bowdoin on Saturday.
"The record is a little thing compared to the fact that we won two big conference games," Bongiolatti said. "We went out and absolutely dominated the teams we faced."
On Saturday, Tufts overwhelmed Bowdoin in a doubleheader sweep. In the first game, the Jumbos faced the challenge of two-time NESCAC player of the week, Bowdoin pitcher Emily Nelson.
"Emily Nelson is one of the best pitchers in the league and we have shown that our offense is one of the best in the league." Lopez said.
The Jumbos offense won the showdown, lighting up Nelson for 10 hits and 11 earned runs in three innings. Freshman pitcher Erica Bailey led the Jumbos to an early lead with a two-run homer in the first inning. The Jumbo offense collected twelve hits total in a 12-3 victory that ended by mercy rule after five innings. Bailey also picked up the win, pitching five innings and allowing six hits and three earned runs. Lopez excelled in game one, going two for four with four RBIs and a three-run home run in the third inning.
In game two Bongiolatti truly came alive at the plate, bringing Tufts back from a two-run deficit early in the game by smashing her first of two three-run homers. A five-run fourth inning gave Tufts the lead, and the Jumbos put the game away in the sixth with a two-run double from freshman Megan Cusick and Bongiolatti's second three-run homer.
The weekend's wins propelled the Jumbos to an undefeated first place in NESCAC at 4-0.
"Bowdoin was supposed to be really tough and we dominated them so we're confident," Bongiolatti said. "We're still cautious because teams like Colby and Trinity are very good."
The sweep of Bowdoin followed two wins in a home doubleheader against Springfield on Thursday.
While Saturday's games were offense-powered, the match-ups against Springfield proved to be a defensive battle. Bongiolatti hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first staking the Jumbos to a 3-0 lead. From there, Tufts pitcher junior Julia Brenta and Springfield senior Brittany Dielemans dueled it out. Dielemans held the Jumbos scoreless for the rest of the game and Brenta shut out Springfield until the seventh inning in which the Pride rallied when junior Keir Stanford came home on a Johansson single to make it a two-run game.
The Jumbos appeared to be in trouble as the Pride got the tying run on second base. Brenta held off the rally, however, forcing a ground-ball double play at home and first to ensure the win.
In the first half of the doubleheader, Bongiolatti and Lopez put Tufts on the board after a scoreless three innings, each blasting home runs in the bottom of the third. Lopez hit a two-run shot to center field and Bongiolatti added a solo shot to left field to give Tufts a 3-0 lead in the third inning. Sophomore left fielder Alaina Thiel hit a run-scoring double in the fourth inning to push the lead over the Pride to 4-0.
Freshman pitcher Heather Kleinberger held the Springfield Pride to only one run on four hits in seven innings.
Lopez is confident about where the Jumbos stand in the conference.
"I feel that beating Bowdoin was big for us but we still have some important games coming up, especially Williams." Lopez said. "The conference seat seems tight this year with teams splitting a lot so every game is going to be tough."
The NESCAC home game against Wesleyan set for Sunday was postponed and rescheduled for Friday. The Jumbos next contest is against Brandeis at home at 4:00 p.m.
