MEDFORD, MA (March 30, 2025) –
Sophia DiCocco pitched a three-hit shutout in Game 1, and
Lindsay Neumann had a clutch two-run double in the second game as the Tufts University softball team swept Amherst College in a NESCAC double-header on Sunday at Spicer Field.
The Jumbos improve to 4-0 in NESCAC and 8-10 overall with the pair of victories. Amherst falls to 9-7 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
Game 1 – Tufts 3, Amherst 0
DiCocco pitched her second shutout of the season and 23rd of her career. She had to bear down in the fifth when Amherst had runners on second and third with no outs. She threw three straight groundball outs to keep the Mammoths off the scoreboard.
Tufts led 2-0 at that point. They scored their first time up aided by Amherst errors on the first two batters.
Heaven Oliva then doubled home a run for a 1-0 Jumbo lead.
Amherst starter Dani Torres Werra kept it a 1-0 game until the fourth. Then
Keriann Slayton was hit by a pitch, while Oliva and
Haley Leimbach singled.
Cat Kawabe brought in the run on a fielder's choice. Tufts left the bases loaded, but led 2-0.
The Mammoths' threat against DiCocco in the fifth came when Emma Nordstrom walked and Torres Werra doubled. Protecting the 2-0 lead, DiCocco got the three groundball outs to end the inning.
Tufts added its third run in the fifth after two were out.
Kaitlyn Perucci walked, Slayton singled and
Lauryn Horita was hit by a pitch to load the bases, then Leimbach walked to score the run. Tufts left the bases loaded again.
DiCocco retired nine of the last 10 hitters she faced to close out the victory. The Jumbos finished with just five hits of their own against Torres Werra and reliever Dylan Briggs. Oliva had two, while Perucci scored twice.
Nordstrom finished with a double and a walk for Amherst
Game 2 – Tufts 7, Amherst 6
The Jumbos led 4-0 before Amherst scored five times in the fourth inning and again in the fifth for a 6-4 advantage. However, after Oliva doubled to make it 6-5, Neumann delivered a two-out, two-run double to right field giving Tufts a 7-6 lead and the eventual victory.
Tufts had scored twice in the second and twice in the third to take the 4-0 margin. Kawabe singled down the left-field line scoring Horita (double) and Leimbach (walk) in the second. Then in the third, Oliva's rbi single and a run-scoring triple to right-center by Leimbach built the lead to four.
Tufts starter
Fallon O'Connor had allowed two hits and no runs through three innings, but Amherst would rally in the fifth. Consecutive base hits by Abby Rebhan, Nordstrom, Briggs, Laura Daniels and Abby Moravek made it 4-3. Then Jenna Holmes hit a two-run double to right field giving the Mammoths their first lead of the day (5-4).
Lacy Chilek came on for Tufts and got the final two outs of the inning with two runners on base.
Amherst added a run in the fifth. Torres Werra doubled with one out and eventually scored on a wild pitch for a 6-4 visitors' lead.
The Jumbos answered decisively in their fifth. Slayton and Oliva opened with doubles scoring a run. With one out, Leimbach reached by error, and then after a second out was made, Neumann came through with the two-run two-bagger vaulting Tufts ahead 7-6.
The Jumbos went to DiCocco in the sixth and she recorded the final six outs for a save and the Jumbo sweep.
Oliva finished 2 for 4 with two rbis and a run to lead the Jumbos offensively in game two. Perucci also had two hits and scored a run. Chilek (1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R) was positioned to earn the win in the circle.
Torres Werra finished 2 for 3 with a walk and two runs for Amherst. Briggs had an rbi hit, walked and scored a run. The Mammoths used three pitchers, with Rebhan (2.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) talking the loss.
Next
The Jumbos will travel to Trinity College for a NESCAC double-header next Saturday.
--JUMBOS--
