Baseball
Most students spend spring break finding rest and relaxation while basking in the comfort of warm sun rays. And while the baseball team spent plenty of time in the sun, playing 11 games in 10 days, it's safe to say the Jumbos had far from a relaxing break. Tufts went 2-9 over its road trip through Virginia and North Carolina, the Jumbos' worst Southern tour since they went 2-5-1 in 2001.
The team managed a 10-5 win at Averett and took the second half of a doubleheader at North Carolina Wesleyan by a narrow score of 2-1 but dropped the rest of its contests. The Jumbos' team ERA over the trip was an execrable 7.61, compared to their opponents' mark of 3.10.
Still, Tufts has plenty of reason to have hope for the rest of the year. The road trip always represents the beginning of the competition for the Jumbos, but the opponents they face are already in midseason. Plus, every game Tufts played was out of conference, meaning it has no bearing on its NESCAC standing.
And how did that 2001 team that went 2-5-1 on the road trip end up? That squad finished the year at 21-13-1, including 10-2 in the conference, and made it all the way to the NESCAC championship game.
— by David Heck
Women's Lacrosse
Before suffering its first loss of the year, 15-13, to the Williams Ephs on Bello Field Saturday, the women's lacrosse team, ranked seventh in the nation, surged to a 4-0 start on the season, including a pair of wins during spring break over Babson and Colby, setting the team's best early-season mark since 2006.
Tuesday's contest against Babson was played in West Palm Beach, Fla., where the teams had traveled for some warm-weather play. The Jumbos jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before the No. 8 Beavers knotted the score at 3-3 and again at 4-4. But after breaking the 4-4 tie, Tufts would never relinquish its lead again, ending the half with an 8-6 advantage and adding 11 more goals in the second to take a 19-11 decision. At the helm of Tufts' offense was junior Jenna Abelli, who notched a career-high five goals.
In their first contest of the break on March 14, the Jumbos exacted revenge over defending NESCAC champion Colby — who knocked them out in the first round of the postseason tournament last year — with a 13-9 upset road win over the then-No. 8 Mules. Led by junior Emily Johnson, who turned out a five-goal performance, the then-No. 13 Jumbos were never behind in the victory, handing Colby its first loss of the season.
The wins affirmed the Jumbos' place among the top teams in the nation, as both Babson and Colby remain in the top 15 in the national poll.
— by Evan Cooper
Men's Lacrosse
The men's lacrosse team remained unbeaten over vacation, winning three games, including two over conference opponents. Tufts defeated Williams 13-9 on the road Saturday after having beaten Haverford, the No. 11 team in the nation, 13-10 on Tuesday and Colby 14-9 the previous weekend. Tufts, now ranked No. 16, is tied with Bowdoin at 3-0 atop the conference standings.
Tufts traveled to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to face Haverford in a non-conference game. The Jumbos came out firing, getting off 15 shots in the first quarter, five of which found netting, compared to just four goals by their opponents. The first-quarter lead proved to be insurmountable. Sophomore attackmen D.J. Hessler and Ryan Molloy each had five points in the contest.
The previous Saturday, the Jumbos hosted conference rival Colby. While Tufts led 4-0 early, the lead narrowed to 9-7 at the end of the third quarter. But the Jumbos put the game away with a string of five straight goals to start the final stanza. The Jumbos were led by senior tri-captain Clem McNally, who tied his career high with seven goals. McNally's performance matched Tufts' third-best single-game total and also garnered him the distinction of NESCAC Player of the Week over break. Over the course of the week, the Jumbo squad outscored opponents 40-28.
— by Noah Schumer
Softball
Although the softball team's record was perfect in California, it encountered some hurdles along the way, the first of which occured in the second game of a doubleheader against California Lutheran on March 15. Leading 6-2 going into the final inning, the Jumbos settled for a one-run win after Cal Lutheran's bats heated up in the final stretch. Sophomore pitcher Izzie Santone held off the Regals' charge after taking over in a two-on, no-out situation.
Tufts also had to sweat out a pair of extra-inning wins early in the week. The first came in the opener of the Sun West Tournament against Rio Grande. Trailing 5-2 after three innings, the Jumbos scored two runs in the fourth and then tied it up in the seventh on an RBI double from junior first baseman Christy Tinker to force extra innings. That set up senior quad-captain and left fielder Roni Herbst for some late-game heroics, as she notched an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth.
Tuesday against Greenville, senior right fielder Maya Ripecky tied the game in the sixth with a two-run blast, and Tufts scored three times in the eighth for the win.
The Jumbos outscored their opponents 89-36 during the 12-game stretch.
— by Ethan Landy
