When the softball team starts putting their best hitting together with their best fielding, the Jumbos might truly be a sight to see.
As it is, the team split a home doubleheader with non-conference Babson yesterday, losing the first leg 4-2 and winning the second 2-1.
In Saturday's doubleheader against Bowdoin, the Jumbos ripped 25 hits but coughed up five errors and several uncounted defensive miscues. While this performance was good enough to get the Jumbos by the anemic Polar Bears, the games failed to showcase the kind of softball of which this team is capable.
Yesterday, the team faced Babson at home and swapped solid defense for active bats. Playing their cleanest game of the season, the Jumbos recorded just one error in two games but were inconsistent at the plate.
"We're trying to get everybody swinging a good bat by the playoffs - that's our goal," coach Cheryl Milligan said. "Defensively, we looked a lot better today. I didn't think they put too much pressure on us, in terms of putting runners all over the place in the first game, until that last inning."
Once again plagued by an under-producing middle lineup, the Jumbos' 14 hits yielded just three runs as they split the doubleheader, coughing up a one-run lead in the final inning to fall 4-2 in the opener before rebounding with a 2-1 win in the second game.
Sophomore Danielle Lopez - defending NESCAC Player of the Week, league leader in home runs (nine) and the Jumbos' go-to batter this season - was uncharacteristically quiet at the third spot, hitting just one-for-five on the day with two strikeouts and a walk.
"I don't think she liked either of their pitchers today," Milligan said. "Traditionally, she hasn't done that well against Babson, but we're certainly not going to take DLo out of the three-spot just because she has a bad game. We're the kind of team that should be able to rely on our three-four-five-six-seven, and that's been our problem this year - we haven't been able to do that consistently."
Sophomore Megan Cusick picked up for Lopez, going three-for-six on the day with a walk. Her biggest hit, a one-out rip to short in the bottom of the second game's seventh inning, scored that game's winning run.
Batting seventh during the Jumbos' two weekend doubleheaders, Cusick turned in several big hits that led nowhere, as they followed a slow four-five-six. Yesterday, Cusick moved up to sixth in the opener and then to the cleanup spot in the second game. She was rewarded for her solid swings with three RBI.
"It felt good to hit people in, but I didn't let batting cleanup put any added pressure on me," Cusick said. "I just tried to keep it low-pressure. I played a lot more relaxed today than I have in the past, and I think that had a lot to do with my producing hits."
Cusick's final RBI of the day was set up by a walk, a single from freshman Samantha Kuhles and a perfectly laid bunt from junior Annie Ross. Working the count to 2-1, Cusick hammered one that the shortstop barely got a glove on, bringing in the winning run and giving Tufts the game.
Five of Cusick's six at-bats came with two outs, and two of her hits came with two strikes against her.
"I like having the pressure because it's less thinking and more just doing," Cusick said. "When I'm ahead in the count, I swing at bad pitches and don't do what I want to do. When I have the pressure on with two strikes, I feel like I hit a little more aggressively."
Cusick's performance eased the Jumbos' hitting woes and brought her current hitting streak to six games.
"[Megan] almost always makes good contact, and I have a ton of faith in her," Milligan said. "With a lineup like this, it should be someone different everyday. We shouldn't have to wait for DLo to hit one out of the park."
The Jumbos played their neatest game of the season in the opener, recording no errors and showing strong and accurate arms from an infield that has struggled with basic throwing and catching errors this season.
The lone error came on a misfire by Kuhles in the fifth, but three quick outs prevented any damage. Kuhles was otherwise perfect on the day for a team-high eight assists and two putouts, playing her first full game of the season at the corner.
"I think Sam did a fantastic job," Milligan said. "We put her there because we know she's good against the bunt. She's more comfortable standing a step closer, but she's also so quick."
But the Jumbos' solid defense in the game could do nothing against a Babson team that was finally rewarded in the top of the seventh for a game full of solid contacts that got them nowhere. A two-out single from Cusick in the bottom of the sixth put the Jumbos up and looking to protect a 2-1 lead.
But Babson had other ideas. After Kuhles got the first out of the inning with a throw-out to first, a walk and back-to-back singles loaded the bases for junior Alex Lazar, who singled to left to score two and advance the runners. A bunt scored a third before Kuhles tagged a runner heading home and Conroy struck out the final out.
The damage had been done, and a three-up, three-down side from the Jumbos' 9-1-2 hitters gave the Beavers the 4-2 win.
"Anytime you walk a leadoff batter, they're going to score," Milligan said. "It's the softball gods. A couple of base hits, and that's it. We're lucky they didn't score more - they were making good contact."
After a first-half schedule spent largely at Spicer Field, the Jumbos will hit the road for a three-game stint that includes a doubleheader at Bates on Tuesday.
"I'm looking forward to getting on the road and playing some conference games," Milligan said. "I think we have a lot to prove."
