MIDDLEBURY, VT - Tufts University and Middlebury College split a pair of 3-1 games in NESCAC softball play on Friday in Vermont with the Jumbos taking Game 1 and the Panthers winning the nightcap.
The Game 2 loss was the first in conference play for Tufts, who is now 7-1 in NESCAC and 11-11 overall. Middlebury moved to 18-8 overall and 5-3 in the league.
Game 1 - Tufts 3, Middlebury 1
Bela Jimenez led off the game with a home run, her first since 2022, to get the Jumbos off to a good start.
Middlebury tied the game 1-1 in the third inning with a two-out rally. Cate Viola started it with a double and Olivia Scholes followed with an infield single. A third straight hit - an rbi single from Jennifer Westphal - brought in the run.
It remained tied into the fifth as Tufts'
Sophia DiCocco and Middlebury's Abigail Jankowski dueled. However, in the top of the fifth consecutive singles by Jimenez and
Kaitlyn Perucci set up a two-out rbi single from
Heaven Oliva giving the Jumbos a 2-1 advantage. The Jumbos would get the final out of the Middlebury fifth when a throw back to DiCocco after a strikeout was mishandled, but she was able to nab the runner trying to advance at second.
Tufts then added a run in the top of the sixth as another base-running play did not go Middlebury's way.
Haley Leimbach walked and was bunted to second by
Cat Kawabe. After another base hit by
Lindsay Neumann, Leimbach scored on
Sarah Cullen's ground ball when Middlebury couldn't make the play during a rundown between third and home.
Base hits by Scholes and Westphal and a sacrifice put the potential tying runs on second and third in the Middlebury sixth inning. DiCocco got a ground ball which held the runner at third and a strikeout to end the threat though.
DiCocco earned her sixth win allowing seven hits and the one run in seven innings. Jimenez led Tufts offensively at 2 for 4 with two runs and an rbi. Perucci also had two hits.
Westphal went 3 for 3 with an rbi for Middlebury, while Viola added two hits and a run. Jankowski was the losing pitcher, allowing eight hits and three runs in 5.1 innings.
Game 2 - Middlebury 3, Tufts 1
Jimenez again helped Tufts take a 1-0 lead as she led off the third inning with an infield single and scored on a two-out single to left field by
Lauryn Horita.
Tufts starter
Fallon O'Connor had left a runner on third base in the first inning, then got out of a bases-loaded with no outs jam in the second. Leimbach snared a line drive at shortstop and caught the runner off third for a double-play to end the inning.
The Panthers loaded the bases again in the third inning and scored to tie it 1-1. Two-out singles by Scholes, Westphal and McKenna Lont loaded the bases and then Nina Schroeder popped one between the pitching circle and second base that the Jumbos could not get. Scholes scored, but the Jumbos were able to get Westphal at the plate limiting the damage.
Lont had started for Middlebury, but was relieved by Samantha Hausman in the third. Hausman was hit by a rope back up the middle by Tufts'
Cat Kawabe, but stayed in the game and would pitch excellently.
In the bottom of the fourth, Middlebury took its first lead of the day. Singles by Caitlin Stanley and Olivia Fleming preceded a two-run double by Kristyn Carroll that put Middlebury up 3-1.
The Panthers turned a double play after
Keriann Slayton had hit a one-out single for Tufts in the fifth, and Hausman pitched 1-2-3 innings in the sixth and seventh to give the hosts the victory.
Jimenez had two more hits in Game 2 and finished the day 4 for 8 (.500) with three runs overall. Oliva also had two hits in the second game. O'Connor took the pitching loss (3.1 IP, 8 H, 2 ER), and
Lacy Chilek was solid in relief (2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R). Leimbach was sharp at shortstop all day with four putouts and eights assists in the two games.
Middlebury's Carroll finished 2 for 4 with the two rbis in game two. Lont had two hits as well. Hausman gave up five hits and one run for the victory in relief.
Next
The Jumbos are at 19th-ranked Williams College (14-6, 3-1 NESCAC) on Sunday for a double-header beginning at noon.
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