MEDFORD, MA (April 17, 2024) – Junior
Keriann Slayton hit two home runs and had five rbis in game two as the Tufts University softball team swept a double-header from local rival MIT on Wednesday at Spicer Field.
Slayton was 3 for 3 overall with three runs scored in the second game won by Tufts 7-2. Junior
Sky Johnson improved to 10-1 in the pitcher's circle with a four-hit shutout in game one when Tufts took a 4-0 final.
The Jumbos are now 24-5 overall, while MIT drops to 13-9. Today was the last home date of the regular-season for the Jumbos.
Game 1 – Tufts 4, MIT 0
Johnson stranded the bases loaded in the first inning as MIT reached by an error, a double by Mackenzie Blivin and a walk. The Engineers had runners on second third with one out, but could not score.
Tufts also loaded the bases with the aid of an MIT error in the bottom of the first.
Rachel Moore, who had led off with a single, scored on a base hit by
Michelle Adelman making it 1-0 Jumbos.
The Tufts offense added three more in the second off MIT starter Caroline Langmeyer.
Heaven Oliva led off with a single, then Bela Jimenz walked. After a bunt by
Haley Leimbach advanced the runners, Moore singled home a run and then Steinberg doubled home two more and it was 4-0 Jumbos.
Johnson retired 11 in a row for Tufts into the top of the fifth, when MIT again loaded the bases on an error and singles by Kara Hines and Mikayla Cable. Moore at third base got a force out at home for the second out, then Johnson struck out the next hitter for the third out as she kept MIT off the scoreboard.
Johnson allowed four hits and no runs with seven strikeouts and a walk for her victory. Moore went 2 for 2 with two runs and the rbi at the top of the Tufts order.
Langmeyer also settled in for the Engineers, not allowing a hit from the third inning on. She finished her six innings giving up five hits and the four runs with three walks and two K's.
Game 2 – Tufts 7, MIT 2
Slayton smashed a three-run home run in the third inning giving Tufts a 5-0 lead, and then hit a two-run shot in the fifth for a 7-0 advantage.
That helped senior starter
Sophia DiCocco, who didn't need much while going seven innings for her ninth win allowing five hits and two runs.
Tufts had taken a 2-0 lead on MIT starter Becca O'Connor in the second frame. They loaded the bases on singles by
Kaitlyn Perucci and Slayton, and a walk to Jimenez. Perucci and Slayton both scored unearned on an error and a single by Moore, respectively.
Slayton's bombs took care of the rest for Tufts. A
Lauryn Horita single and a double from Perucci set the table for her three-run shot in the second. Adelman singled and scored on Slayton's second homer (third of the season) in the fifth.
DiCocco retired 11 of the first 12 batters she faced. In the fourth MIT had two on base including a single by Hines, but DiCocco got a pop-up for the third out. Hines would hit a two-run single in the top of the sixth to give MIT its only two runs of the day.
Perucci was 2 or 3 with two runs to help Slayton in the line-up. Hines had two hits for MIT. O'Connor (3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER) took the loss.
Next
The Jumbos return to conference action with a double-header at Wesleyan University on Saturday starting at 1 PM.
--JUMBOS--
