The softball team opened its 2011 campaign on its annual spring break trip, this year traveling to Clermont, Fla., for a nine−day, 14−game marathon against opposition from as far as Minnesota and as close as Plymouth, Mass.
The squad initially looked rusty, dropping its first four games in the first action outdoors all season. But the Jumbos rallied to close out the week by winning seven of their last 10 games, avoiding their first sub .500 spring break trip since 2006 and setting themselves up for their home opener tomorrow.
The Jumbos have not had many opportunities to get outside this spring due to the harsh New England winter, and the cobwebs were evident on the first day of play, especially on offense. The team dropped its opener 6−2 to Plymouth State while putting together only five hits, three of which came off the bat of junior first baseman Lena Cantone.
The team fell again, later in the day, this time to a St. Thomas (Minn.) side that was already nearly two weeks into its season. The Tommies put three runs on the board early, but sophomore pitcher Rebecca DiBiase kept them quiet while a two−run single from junior shortstop Mira Lieman−Sifry brought the lead back down to one.
Unfortunately for Tufts, St. Thomas finally got to DiBiase and freshman hurler Lauren Giglio in the sixth, exploding for seven runs and ending the game by mercy rule.
"A lot of softball teams were from somewhere where they weren't indoors all the time, and being from the East Coast where you are indoors and you aren't able to get outside right away is hard," freshman catcher Jo Clair said. "The ground is completely different, the ball takes different hops and it's a very different game. Getting adjusted definitely takes a couple games."
The next day may have been even more frustrating for Tufts, as the team hung tough against both New Paltz State and No. 13 Wisconsin−Whitewater, sending both games to extra innings on the back of strong pitching performances by sophomore Aly Moskowitz and DiBiase.
Yet in the extra frames, Tufts struggled to advance the courtesy runner placed on second base, popping up sacrifice bunts to the catcher in both games. Their opponents took advantage and escaped with a pair of narrow one−run victories, leaving Tufts at a disappointing 0−4.
"I would say that hanging with [Wisconsin−Whitewater] was a definite confidence booster, but I still think going into extra innings and losing shows that we still have work to do," Cantone said. "But obviously hanging with a top−25 team, especially after we had lost a couple games, shows how well we can play and what we are capable of."
After scoring just nine runs in its first four games, Tufts finally exploded for 17 runs the following day, defeating Fontbonne University 10−7 and Wisconsin−Stevens Point 7−6. Cantone was at the heart of the offensive renaissance, tallying five hits and seven RBIs in the two games. The matchup with Fontbonne was also the breakout game for Clair, who had a pair of home runs, including a key response after the team had lost the lead in the fifth inning.
"Every time I go up to bat, I'm not looking to hit a home run by any means," Clair said. "I'm just looking to make contact with the ball and get on base. College is a whole new ball game, a lot of the pitchers are a lot better, so it's a good feeling to be able to hit two home runs in one game."
The Jumbos dropped a pair of games the following day before taking a much needed two−day break from the field. Not only did the break give the squad some much−needed rest, but it also gave them a chance to grow even closer as a team.
"It helped because it was away from the softball field so we didn't have to think about the game and we could just be together and get along and talk," Clair said.
Tufts looked like a new squad following the break. They had back−to−back five−inning mercy rules on their first day back in action, defeating Allegheny and Grinnell on March 25 by a combined 25−3. Sophomore second baseman Emily Beinecke, making just her second and third starts of the season after battling a bad hamstring and a case of mononucleosis, went 5−for−6 over the two games, while Lieman−Sifry was 5−for−7 and scored five runs.
The Tufts squad got its first chance to test itself against NESCAC opposition the next day, taking on the Middlebury team that finished third in the NESCAC West last season. The Panthers jumped out to a 4−1 lead, but the Jumbos soon began to claw their way back. Senior pitcher Izzie Santone shut the door on Middlebury in the late innings while adding a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 4−2 going into the bottom of the seventh.
In the final frame, Tufts put two runners on base, thanks to a pair of singles from Giglio and junior third baseman Katherine Darveau. Cantone tied the game with an RBI single, and the Jumbos loaded the bases before Santone sent the team home with a walk−off base hit, earning herself a win in the process.
"I think that out of all the games we played that was probably the most important win for us, but I think it was also a huge confidence booster because we came from behind and just kept fighting until the last inning," Cantone said. "That entire week, I didn't see anyone as tired as they were at the end of that game."
With the trip coming to a close, the Jumbos rode the momentum of the Middlebury win to a pair of easy wins, taking down McHenry County and Buffalo State 8−2 and 9−1, respectively.
Though the bats took a while to warm up under the Florida sun, the team still ended the week with some impressive offensive performances. Cantone hit .528 for the week while amassing 17 RBIs and only striking out once. Lieman−Sifry finished the week batting .390, more than one hundred points higher than what she finished with last season. Meanwhile, Clair pounded out all five of the team's home runs and led the team with a slugging percentage of .833.
On the mound, Moskowitz led the team with a 2.23 ERA, but also walked 14 batters in 22 innings. DiBiase got the lion's share of the work over the week and finished with a 3.62 ERA, while Santone drew many of the toughest assignments but looked impressive with a 8.00 strikeout−to−walk ratio.
After a week completely focused on softball, the team returned to campus, where they will deal with much cooler temperatures and a busy schedule. Tufts hosts Springfield College for a doubleheader tomorrow and then takes on Williams the following day, looking for revenge against an Ephs team that knocked the Jumbos out of the NESCAC Championship last season. Tufts will then close the week with a three−game series against Bates this weekend as the squad officially opens its conference slate.
"I feel the confidence is definitely there, especially with how we ended our week in Florida," Cantone said. "But also last week prepared us for how exhausted you can possibly get after playing so many games, so I don't think we'll have any problems with the amount of games we have upcoming."
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Correction: This article has been changed from its original version, which incorrectly identified junior Lena Cantone as a third baseman. In fact, she is a first baseman for the team.
