WINTER HAVEN, FL (March 20, 2023) - Junior pitcher
Sophia DiCocco fired a two-hit shutout against Wisconsin-Stevens Point, then first-year
Claire Guitmann earned a win in her collegiate debut against The College of Wooster as the #15 Jumbo softball team remained undefeated (6-0) in their season-opening trip to Florida. The scores were 7-0 and 11-2 (5 innings), respectively.
DiCocco was very close to being perfect in the first game. The only two hits she let up were of the infield variety, one that took a high bounce to third and a sharp grounder to short. She struck out two and did not walk a batter.
The Jumbo bats charged out of the gates again with three hits and a walk in their first at-bat, leading to four runs.
Josie Steinberg and
Lucy Brucker had rbi singles sandwiching a two-run error by the Pointers. Brucker would finish the game with two hits and three rbis.
Tufts extended its lead to 6-0 in the third, with singles by Steinberg and
Rachel Moore setting the table. Brucker again with a base hit and
Emma Jacobson with a sac fly drove in the runs. The Jumbos added one in the fifth as Steinberg reached second on an outfield error, went to third on a single by
Bela Jimenez and scored on a sac fly from Brucker.
Tufts had 10 hits with
Haley Leimbach,
Michelle Adelman and Steinberg joining Brucker with two each. Steinberg scored twice. The Jumbos gave Pointers pitcher Ashley Zygowski her first loss of the young season (3 IP, 8 H, 4 y ER) after four victories. UWSP dropped to 6-3 overall.
Against Wooster (9-5), Tufts scored four times in the third and six more in the fourth to open up an 11-0 lead. Guitmann pitched scoreless ball for the first four innings before the Fighting Scots got two in the fifth.
Tufts played great defense in the game. Steinberg ended the Wooster first with a diving catch of a soft line drive in the left-side hole. In the bottom of the second Lynnsey Delio led off for the Fighting Scots with a single. However, Jumbo catcher
Keriann Slayton made a quick reaction on a fouled bunt for an out and then Steinberg, Moore and Leimback turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. In the third
Kaitlyn Perucci made a nice running catch of a foul ball in left field.
The Jumbos had got on the board when Moore led off the second with a single and eventually scored on a sac fly by Slayton. Tufts took a 5-0 lead in the third with Adelman singling and scoring, Moore walking and scoring,
Lindsay Neumann hitting an rbi single and later scoring and
Meggie Murphy driving home two with a base hit.
The first five batters in the Tufts fourth all reached base and scored, including Perucci, Steinberg and pinch-hitter Lacey Chilek who had rbis as well. Pinch hitter
Nicole Russo capped the six-run inning by driving the first pitch she saw for a double into the left-center gap scoring another run for an 11-0 margin.
The Fighting Scots broke up the shutout in the fifth with an infield hit by Cassie Frangella and a bunt single by Emma Hetkey getting it started. The first run scored on a Jumbo outfield error and the second came across on a single by Julia Jennings. With two runners still on, Guitmann got a ground ball out to finish off her first collegiate victory.
Murphy finished the game with three rbis, while Moore scored three times. Adelman (2 for 3, 2 runs) and Steinberg (2 for 3, run, rbi) were other offensive leaders.
Julia Jennings had two hits for Wooster, while Addie Tagg was the losing pitcher after allowing six hits and five runs (four earned) in three innings.
--JUMBOS--
