Box Score MEDFORD – Sophomore Kristi Van Meter pitched a one-hit shutout and junior 1B Casey Maggiore finished with four runs batted in as the 23rd-ranked Tufts University softball team defeated Bates College 8-0 in six innings on Friday afternoon.
The game was the home and NESCAC East Division opener for the Jumbos, who improved to 14-2 overall. Bates dropped to 4-11.
Bobcat sophomore DP Mary Collette had the visitors' only hit with a double to left-center with two outs in the second inning. Otherwise, Van Meter struck out six and walked two while improving to 6-1 in the circle. Collette was the only Bates runner to touch second base. It's the fourth shutout in six starts for Van Meter this season.
Tufts scored in the first off Bates junior starter Kirsten Pelletier. Sophomore 2B Emma Della Volpe led off with an infield single and would score on Maggiore's double down the right-field line.
Four runs scored on one play for Tufts in the third. With the bases loaded, Maggiore singled to center field scoring Della Volpe and sophomore SS Mia Steinberg. When the throw in from the outfield dribbled away from the cut-off man, Jumbo sophomore catcher Sofia Molina took off for third. The Bates throw sailed into the outfield and both Molina and Maggiore scored making it 5-0.
The Jumbos then ended the game with three more unearned in the sixth, aided by two Bates errors. Molina had an rbi single, Maggiore recorded her fourth rbi on a bases-loaded walk and the eighth run scored on a wild pitch by Bates freshman reliever Danielle Polirer.
Della Volpe finished 2 for 3 with three runs for the Jumbos, while Maggiore had a 2 for 3 game. Steinberg scored twice.
The teams play a double header at Spicer Field tomorrow starting at noon.
