Box Score CLERMONT, Fla. – Sophomore starter Kristina Haghdan went the distance and eight of the nine Tufts starters had hits as the Jumbo softball team improved to 13-0 with an 8-3 win over 21st-ranked Wisconsin Eau-Claire Saturday in Florida.
Tufts trailed 1-0 early, but then scored three runs each in the second and third innings to open up a lead they would not relinquish. Haghdan improved to 5-0 allowing nine hits and three runs in seven innings.
The Blugolds rallied for a run after two were out in the bottom of the first. Sophomore DH Abbey Place singled to right, junior catcher Gretchen Arneson followed with a base hit, and then freshman 1B Meghan Witt scored Place with a third straight single.
Jumbo sophomore catcher Sofia Molina opened the second inning with a double. A single by junior 3B Jamie Stevens followed, and junior LF Emily Serata scored the run with another single. Sophomore 2B Emma Della Volpe then hit a two-out double scoring two to make it 3-1 Jumbos.
After a 1-2-3 second by Haghdan, Tufts added three more in the third. All three runs were unearned as two scored on an outfield error by Eau Claire and the other came home on a double by Serata giving the Jumbos a 6-1 margin.
Senior RF Brook Varian jump-started a run-scoring third for UWEC with a walk. She went to third on another hit by Place and scored on Witt's base hit. Tufts then made it three innings in row scoring with one in the fourth. Senior DH Christian Cain hit a one-out double and scored on a single by Molina making it a 7-2 Tufts lead.
Arneson singled and pinch-runner Mackenzie Sutton scored on a base hit by junior Cheyenne Johnson in the Blugolds' fifth, and sophomore SS Mia Steinberg singled and scored on a double by junior 1B Casey Maggiore in the Jumbo sixth to close the scoring.
Tufts had 15 hits led by three from Molina and Serata, and two each from Steinberg, Cain and Maggiore. Stevens scored twice.
Wisconsin-Eau Claire used three pitchers with starter Stephanie Wilczynski (3 IP, 7 H, 3 ER) taking the loss. Witt was 4 for 4 while Place and Arneson both had two hits.
The Jumbos will face #3 in the nation St. Thomas (Minn.) later on Saturday. The Blugolds (4-2) are done for the day and play Sunday against MIT and Franklin.
