Box Score MEDFORD - Sophomore 1B Cassie Ruscz hit two home runs and senior pitcher Allyson Fournier fired a one-hitter as the Tufts Softball team opened a three-game NESCAC East Division series against Colby College with a 9-0 victory Friday at Spicer Field.
With the win, the Jumbos set a new program winning streak record with 36 in a row. That eclipses the mark of 35 straight by the 2009 team. Tufts, which has now won 47 straight NESCAC East Divison games, improved to 34-0 overall and 10-0 in the division this spring. They entered the season after winning the last two games of 2014.
Fournier lost a no-hitter in the final inning for the third time in four days. Colby sophomore 3B Katie McLaughlin beat out an infield single with one down in the fifth inning. Otherwise, Fournier was dominating striking out 13 of the 16 Mules batters she faced. She is now 20-0 this spring.
Ruscz hit a three-run bomb to center giving Tufts a 4-0 in the first. That had been preceded by a lead-off double from sophomore LF Carrie Copacino, a walk by senior SS Bri Keenan and an rbi single from senior CF Michelle Cooprider.
A walk by Ruscz led off Tufts' four-run third inning. Back-to-back doubles by senior RF Gracie Marshall and first-year 3B Raina Galbiati brought in the first two runs. A single to right by senior DP Stephanie Tercero and a sac fly by junior 2B Christina Raso made it 8-0 Tufts after three.
Ruscz's solo home run leading off the fourth, her eighth of the season, gave Tufts a 9-0 lead.
Fournier had struck out 11 of the 12 Colby batters she faced entering the fifth. With one out, Keenan fielded a medium speed grounder perfectly and threw to first but the speedy McLaughlin beat it out.
On Thursday, Rhode Island College's Mary Sweeney broke up Fournier's no-hit bid with a solid single to left with two outs in the fifth. On Tuesday at MIT, Engineer Ellie Fodor singled to right-center with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to break up Fournier's no-hit bid. In between those games, Fournier threw the 15th no-hitter of her career against Endicott on Wednesday.
Ruscz finished 2 for 2 with four rbis and three runs scored for Tufts. Copacino stayed red-hot at the top of the Jumbo order going 3 for 3 with a run. The Jumbos finished with 11 hits.
Colby dropped to 10-16 overall and 3-6 in the division. Senior pitcher Megan Michie took the loss allowing 11 hits and nine runs (eight earned) with four walks and two K's in four innings.
The teams play a double-header tomorrow at noon.
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