After opening the 2011 season on its annual spring break trip in Clermont, Fla., last week, the softball team returned to Medford for its home-opener against Springfield College yesterday. In a back-and-forth affair that featured multiple comebacks, the Jumbos eventually lost to the Pride 5-4 in a game that took nine innings to finish.
Both squads entered yesterday's matchup on winning streaks. The Jumbos had won five of their previous six spring games while the Pride had come out victorious in nine of their previous 12 contests. It was evident throughout the game that neither team would give up its streak lightly.
"We really didn't want to let this one slip away because we knew we could beat this team," senior co-captain pitcher Izzie Santone said. "We definitely feel like we gave it our all, but the result is disappointing."
Through the first seven innings, the game resembled a classic pitcher's duel. Santone cruised through Springfield's lineup, allowing just one run on six hits in her first seven innings of work. Likewise, Springfield pitchers freshmen Jennifer Joseph and Ashley Marino provided a potent one-two punch that had Tufts hitters heading back to the dugout in dismay all afternoon.
Joseph pitched four scoreless innings, surrendering only three hits and mowing through the Jumbos' lineup with ease. Joseph was pulled by Springfield coach Julie Perrelli after four frames, however, and her replacement, Marino, fared almost as well, allowing just one run on three hits over her three innings of work.
After seven innings, the two teams were tied 1-1, and extra innings were needed to determine a victor. Tufts coach Cheryl Milligan chose to keep Santone in the game to start the eighth inning, yet after the senior struck out Springfield junior third baseman Tess Gagliano to record the first out of the extra frame, the inning went downhill.
Springfield sophomore shortstop Kelly Blake ripped the first pitch she saw from Santone for a double, driving in second baseman Kasey Kelly for the go-ahead run. Shortstop Amanda Novak followed with an infield single, moving Blake to third. With that, Santone's afternoon was done and Milligan gave the ball to sophomore Rebecca DiBiase. DiBiase surrendered one more run on a single by Springfield sophomore right fielder Chelsea Bender before recording the third and final out of the frame.
Down 3-1 with Springfield sophomore closer Stef Grande entering the game to pitch the last half of the eighth inning, the Jumbos could have called it quits and chalked this game up as a tough loss. Yet they did just the opposite. After being shut down for seven innings, Tufts' bats finally came to life.
Freshman left fielder Sara Hedtler led the inning off with a single that scored junior shortstop Mira Lieman-Sifry from second base. Yet after two consecutive outs, and with Grande ahead on junior first baseman Lena Cantone 0-2, the Jumbos were suddenly one strike away from losing. Cantone, who has batted to a .526 average through the first 14 games of the season, refused to go down without a fight.
Cantone battled back to force the count to 3-2 before ripping a double in the left-center gap to score junior centerfielder Lizzy Iuppa from first. Just like that, the game was tied once again and now the Jumbos were in the driver's seat with the winning run on second base. But, sophomore second baseman Emily Beinecke grounded out, sending the game into yet another extra frame.
DiBiase began the ninth inning the same way she began the eighth, allowing a lead-off single which moved Springfield junior Kelly Dunn, who was placed on second base to begin the inning, to third. After a bunt single loaded the bases with no outs, the Pride scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch that skidded to the backstop past the Jumbos' freshman catcher Jo Clair. DiBiase escaped the inning allowing just one more run on a single by Blake, but the damage was done, as Springfield carried a comfortable 5-3 lead into the bottom half of the ninth.
The Jumbos tacked on one run in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single by DiBiase but failed to score the tying run. With two outs and the tying run just 120 feet away, Hedtler grounded out on a slowly hit ball to the shortstop for the last out of the game. Joseph, who re-entered the game at the beginning of the ninth, recorded her second save of the year.
With the loss, the Jumbos drop to 7-8 on the season. As tough as the loss was, Milligan was quick to point out the positive aspects of the team's performance.
"We never quit. We always had an answer for [Springfield]," Milligan said. "It sucks to lose our first home game, but if we continue to play with this type of intensity and passion going forward, we will be successful. I am proud of our team's effort today."
