After Allyson Fournier struck out 17 batters in a complete-game, two-hit shutout against Babson last week, sophomore catcher Jo Clair was asked if she thought the freshman sensation could throw a no-hitter at some point in her Tufts career.
"She definitely has the potential to do it," Clair said with a laugh.
On Friday, in Fournier's very next start, she tossed a perfect game. Fournier set aside all 18 batters she faced and fanned nine, raising her strikeout total to a conference-leading 97 in 11 appearances. But there were few easy outs for Fournier.
"They weren't striking out as much as [other teams have been]," she said. "They were definitely posing a challenge."
For the rest of the Jumbos, the performance came as no surprise.
"She's been pitching really well all season," senior first baseman Lena Cantone said. "It was only a matter of time before she had a game like that."
"Ever since the first game, there's not a whole lot that will really shock us," junior second baseman Emily Beinecke added. "She's the type of player that doesn't really get down on herself, and she's a great competitor."
As Fournier worked her way through the game, she tried not to focus on the bigger picture.
"You have to just go one batter at a time and focus on that pitch," Fournier said. "You can't really think about it overall. In the last inning I knew that I had a perfect game, but I was trying to keep my mind off of it and focus on each batter."
With the victory, Fournier improved to 9-0 on the year and shrank her ERA to a minuscule 0.61. She has now thrown complete games in six of her seven starts, logging a team-high 57 2/3 innings. She also has no intention of slowing her growth as a first-year college pitcher.
"I'm still working on a lot of my pitches ... I'm working on a drop ball which I haven't been throwing in games yet. But I've been working on it in practice, and I want to start using it in the games," Fournier said.
While Friday's game was, for the most part, the Fournier show, the offense helped the Jumbos cruise to an 8-0 win, plating a run in all but one inning. Clair got the team going in the first with a two-run single and then belted the Jumbos' lone home run of the afternoon in the third, a solo shot that marked her fourth long ball of the year.
Sophomore left fielder Sara Hedtler also contributed, driving in a run in both the second and fourth innings. Clair and Hedtler have been on a tear and are leading the team in batting average at .500 and .444, respectively.
The game ended in the sixth inning on the eight-run rule when senior third baseman Katherine Darveau was hit by a pitch to plate the Jumbos' eighth run of the day. With the 8-0 victory, Tufts maintained its perfect mark in NESCAC East play, a record that would be threatened in doubleheader action the following day.
After falling victim to Fournier's dominance Friday, Trinity scratched out a run in the first inning of game one on Saturday against junior Rebecca DiBiase. After reaching first base on an error to lead off the game, sophomore center fielder Christina Galese was eventually brought home on an RBI single by sophomore catcher Abigail Ostrom.
But it did not take long for the Jumbos to respond. After the first two batters walked to open the bottom of the first, Clair launched her fifth homer of the year, a three-run, opposite field shot that gave the Jumbos a 3-1 advantage.
"This whole year, our mantra has been to try to win the inning," Beinecke said. "We take it one inning at a time, and if the other team scores a run we need to come back with two or three of our own to top it off."
While the Jumbos looked to have the game back under control, DiBiase was not in top form early, and the Bantams managed to plate two more runs in the top of the second to knot the score at 3-3.
But the Jumbos' bats took over from there. In the third inning, Tufts broke the tie with three runs on three hits, highlighted by a bases-loaded, two-run single from Beinecke.
With a 6-3 cushion, DiBiase settled down and managed to work five innings without further damage en route to her seventh victory of the year. The offense continued to pile it on, eventually walking off with an 11-3 victory in the fifth inning. Five Jumbos came to the plate in the frame, and none were retired. Sophomore Chrissie Massrey ended the game with an RBI double.
The series' third and final game had a similar storyline to the first two: An effective pitching effort coupled with a dominant offensive performance resulted in a blowout victory for the Jumbos.
Sophomore Lauren Giglio starred in the series finale, allowing just an unearned run in six innings of three-hit ball to improve to 3-0 on the year. Junior Aly Moskowitz relieved Giglio to close out the game in the seventh.
The Jumbos did their biggest damage in the home half of the third, when they put up four runs. Sophomore right fielder Kayla Holland led off with her first homer of the season. She finished the game a perfect 3-for-3 and gave the Jumbos their eighth and final run in the fifth inning on an RBI double.
"Our offense has been doing exceptionally well all season," Cantone said. "I don't think I could have expected anything better, and I've been delighted with our depth and the contributions from the freshmen."
Tufts put up 27 runs and allowed just four in the three games. With the series sweep, the Jumbos remain atop the NESCAC East standings at a perfect 6-0 and improve their overall record to 19-3.
The Jumbos will return to action on Friday when they travel to Waterville, Maine, for a three-game conference series with the Colby Mules.
