Bates may not have been the softball team's toughest opponent this season, but with solid hitting, lights-out pitching and improved defense, the Jumbos refused to play down to the level of the 6-6 Bobcats and came away from Lewiston with two key NESCAC East wins on Saturday.
Tufts defended its new top-25 ranking, sweeping the doubleheader in short 9-1 and 11-1 games with seniors Julia Brenta and Sarah Conroy picking up the wins. The Jumbos improved to 18-10 overall and have a considerable lead in the NESCAC East with a 4-0 league record.
Sophomore Danielle Lopez led the team offensively once again. The second baseman went 5-for-8 on the day with three RBI and three runs scored, capped off by a two-run homer that sparked a six-run inning in the opener that sent the Bobcats home early.
The shot was her 10th of the season, a number that would have set a new Tufts record a year ago. But 14 dingers from departed senior Courtney Bongiolatti last season set a new school mark, one which Lopez is now closing in on with eight regular-season games remaining.
The Jumbos ripped 28 hits off the Bobcat pitchers, and their offensive barrage ended a four-game stretch in which they had not scored more than four runs in a single game.
"Our hitting was very good," coach Cheryl Milligan said. "[Bates] didn't have pitchers we've seen, but we hit the ball hard. I think our hitting has gotten better consistently over the course of the year. Technique-wise and fundamental-wise, we've gotten better every game, so it's not surprising that our hitting is coming back around."
The Jumbos' offense was in full-swing in the second round of the doubleheader. In a five-inning game ended early by the mercy-run rule, Tufts scored at least two runs in every inning after the first.
Freshman shortstop Meghan Foley was the surprising ringleader of the surge. Foley has had some trouble at the plate in her rookie season, hitting just .111 heading into the weekend, but her 3-for-3 performance on Saturday included a solo home run and two RBI, both firsts of the season.
After a scoreless first in which both sides went three up-three down, Tufts opened a lead with some timely hitting and two walks off of Bates sophomore Kate Brown. With runners on first and second, a two-out double by freshman Maya Ripecky and a single by Foley drove in two runs before a bases-loaded fly out by junior Annie Ross ended the inning.
After a two-run third inning, highlighted by a two-RBI double by sophomore Mara Dodson, the Tufts offense had given Conroy all the help she needed. The senior was solid on the mound, giving up only two hits, one run and a walk over four innings to earn her sixth win of the season. Junior Lauren Ebstein was perfect in the final inning to seal the win.
A large component of the Jumbos' pitching success can be attributed to their significantly improved defense. The young and largely inexperienced team struggled defensively early in the season but is now errorless in the past three games.
"I'm especially happy with the way the defense has been around me," Conroy said. "All the pitchers get a lot of ground balls and the defense allows us to [pitch that way]. The defense has been a lot sharper. We've worked on taking away the bunt and we're coming into our own."
The improved defense and solid pitching, backed up by stronger bats, was on display in the first game of the doubleheader. Brenta went all six innings and surrendered only one run to move to 5-2 on the season. The senior protected a 1-0 Tufts lead until the top of the fifth, when Jumbo bats broke the game open en route to an 11-1 victory.
The Jumbos put together a four-run burst in top of the fifth, ruining what had been a strong outing for Bates' junior starter Kristen Massino. The rally began with consecutive singles by Ross and Lopez. After a fielder's choice got Ross at third, sophomore Erica Bailey knocked a Massino pitch out of the park for a three-run home run, her second of the year. Sophomore Megan Cusick scored the inning's final run when senior co-captain Jess Barrett hit into a fielder's choice.
The Jumbos served the knockout blow in the top of the sixth, putting together six runs sparked by Lopez's two-run homer. Cusick, sophomore Heather Kleinberger, Barrett, and freshmen Samantha Kuhles and Laura Chapman reached base consecutively with either hits or walks, forcing a pitching change as freshman Christina Knobel came in to replace Massino.
Along with Lopez's routinely excellent performance, Bailey recovered from some slow mid-season hitting for a great day, going 2-for-4 with two runs and four RBI, including the three-run bomb.
"My hitting has probably been the most frustrating part of the season for me because I know I can do a lot more at the plate than what I've been doing," Bailey said. "I've been working on it with Coach and I am hoping it will pay off when the playoffs arrive. But I just need to keep getting in that box and taking my swings."
Although Bates is the bottom-dweller of the NESCAC East, the sweep gives the Jumbos an unrivaled 4-0 divisional mark and some confidence and momentum going into its four games this week, two against non-conference MIT and Brandeis leading up to this weekend's NESCAC East doubleheader against Trinity.
"Trinity is one of the most important games of the regular season," Milligan said. "We have to go in there with all our arms firing. Right now, what this team needs to do is get back on a roll where we feel pretty confident and play good defense."
