In the first inning of the softball team's doubleheader against non-conference Babson yesterday, Allyson Fournier struck out the side - standard procedure for a pitcher who's fanned 88 batters in 51.2 innings this season. Then, in the second inning, she struck out the side once more. After that, she did it again. And again.
Twelve outs, 12 K's. Through four innings, those were the numbers for Fournier. And she's only a freshman.
Fournier ultimately struck out 17 and walked four while tossing a two-hit, complete-game shutout that resulted in a 2-0 Tufts victory. Coming off a weekend sweep against NESCAC rival Bowdoin, the Jumbos went on to sweep the twin bill after an 11-5 triumph in game two, improving to 16-3 on the season with wins in five straight games and seven of their last eight.
Fournier, who has a conference-leading 0.68 earned run average, kept her opponents off balance in game one with an overpowering fastball and devastating off-speed stuff. The recent NESCAC Pitcher of the Week improved to 8-0 on the season and has already completed five complete games and three shutouts.
After the freshman's brilliant performance, both she and her coach downplayed its magnitude.
"I was just trying to make sure my ball was spinning and hit my spots," Fournier said. "I think hitting spots is the key to getting better for me, so I've been focusing on that."
"Allyson obviously is very talented and throws the ball very well," coach Cheryl Milligan added. "We still have a lot of things we want to work on with her, and I think she's certainly primed to be one of the top pitchers around. I think she would be the first one to tell you though that we are still working on a lot of things to make her postseason-ready. Obviously, she's off to a great start."
Despite Fournier's excellence, the first game was far from a blowout. Babson starter Megan Brain did her part to keep her team in the game, allowing no extra base hits and just two walks in seven innings. While the Jumbos did manage nine hits off the junior hurler, they struggled to come up with clutch hits with runners in scoring position.
The initial damage came off the bat of sophomore catcher Jo Clair in the third inning, when she belted a single off the left field wall to score sophomore outfielder Sara Hedtler from second base. Clair, who began the doubleheader fifth in the NESCAC in batting average and first in doubles, finished the game 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. Sophomore ChrissieMassrey provided an insurance run for the Jumbos with a pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the sixth.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Babson rattled Tufts sophomore starter Rebecca DiBiase right away, erupting for three early runs on a home run off the bat of junior shortstop Catie Funk. DiBiase struggled with her command all game, and the Beavers hitters stayed patient.
But the Jumbos came storming back in the bottom of the third, scoring seven runs in the frame. They sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning, in which several Jumbo hitters reached based safely multiple times.
In the top of the fourth, the Beavers threatened again, scoring two runs before sophomore Lauren Giglio replaced DiBiase on the mound with one out. After overpowering the next two batters to get out of the inning, Giglio silenced the Beaver bats for the remainder of the game, retiring nine of the next 13 batters she faced.
The Jumbos extended their lead in the bottom of the inning with home runs from freshman right fielder Michelle Cooprider and classmate third baseman Kris Parr. Cooprider finished the game 2-for-3 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Hedtler also put together an impressive performance, going a perfect 4-for-4 with an RBI.
"That's kind of how this team is," Milligan said of her squad's offensive eruption in the second game. "Oftentimes on weekdays, we tend to take a little bit too long to get warmed up, and so if we are going to be a postseason team, we are going to have to be one of those teams that understands that we can't take a couple innings off. So that's sort of what we are battling right now, but obviously we have a lot of talent."
The Jumbos have today off before hosting a three-game set this weekend against the Bantams, which currently stands one spot behind Tufts in the NESCAC East division with a 2-1 conference record.
