With the lockdown pitching, flawless defense and timely hitting it displayed yesterday, the softball team appears to be in midseason form.
The Jumbos swept a doubleheader from non-conference foe Babson yesterday afternoon at Spicer Field, bringing their season-high winning streak up to eight games. Tufts took the first contest 6-0 before edging the Beavers 2-1 in game two.
The pitching trio of junior Lauren Gelmetti, freshman Kim Miner and sophomore Stefanie Tong limited Babson to seven total hits over the two games. Offensively, the team's bats awoke when needed most, collecting six two-out runs in the two games combined. Averaging two errors per game heading into the contest, the Jumbos also clamped down on defense, putting together two mistake-free games.
"We know we're a good team, and it just feels good to be able to show it," senior Heather Kleinberger said. "It's nice to back up our pitching with great defense and to have the bats when we need them. That's the key. We could definitely be more successful, but so far we've done what we've needed to."
Two days after winning a thrilling pitchers' duel against Wellesley, Gelmetti again delivered a dominating performance in game one, setting down the first 12 batters she faced. The Westfield, N.J. native went the first six frames, facing just one batter above the minimum and fanning five. Having yielded just one earned run in her last four outings, Gelmetti has quickly established herself as the veteran ace of an otherwise young staff.
"Not to say that our other pitchers haven't either, but Lauren has just been stepping up repeatedly and has been performing extremely well," senior co-captain Danielle Lopez said. "It's exciting to see her as a junior stepping up and really leading the pitching staff as far as coming up with some big wins for us."
With Gelmetti holding the Beavers at bay, the Tufts offense took care of the rest, using a key Babson error to string together a four-run fourth inning and blow the game open. The meat of the Jumbo lineup - consisting of sophomore shortstop Casey Sullivan, Lopez and sophomore first baseman Christy Tinker - did the bulk of the damage, each collecting RBI base hits in the inning.
In the second game, Tong picked up right where Gelmetti left off, locking into a pitchers' duel with a pair of hard-throwing Beavers, sophomore Danielle Liska and senior Jess Byrn. The game went into the home half of the sixth in a scoreless tie, with only a combined six hits on the board for both sides.
But that's when Tufts finally solved Byrn. With two outs and nobody on, the Jumbos strung together three straight hits, capped by Kleinberger's go-ahead two-run single, to take a 2-0 lead. Kleinberger has made the most of her opportunities off the bench this season, posting a .320 average and seven RBI in 25 plate appearances.
"I was just happy to be up there in that situation," Kleinberger said. "It was all thanks to D-Lo and [junior Cara Hovhanessian] getting on base because otherwise, there's no chance for me anyway. But being a DH or being a sub, you have to be ready to go at any second. It's tough to stay mentally prepared."
"Heather came up huge today," Lopez added. "She's done it a lot in the past. Everybody on the bench has been in that position where they've had to come through for the team, and they all repeatedly do it. It's great to know that we have that kind of arsenal."
The Beavers didn't go quietly, plating a run off of Tong in the seventh, and putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with two outs. But the reigning NESCAC Pitcher of the Week induced a soft grounder to close out a complete-game five-hitter and improve to 5-0 on the season.
With a stretch of six games in four days now complete, the Jumbos will get a much-needed two-day respite before encountering another jam-packed portion of their schedule. Five games are on the docket for this weekend, including a crucial three-game series at NESCAC East rival Colby. The anticipation of poor weather in Waterville, Maine could move the games to Spicer Field, however. The Jumbos have lost just one regular season game to the Mules in the past five years, but the team still refuses to take its divisional rival lightly.
"We'll go into this weekend thinking we're playing the biggest games of our season," Lopez said. "Any NESCAC East game is important ... Colby won't be a walk in the park, and they'll definitely be three important wins to get."
