MEDFORD, MA (March 29, 2026) – The Tufts University softball team opened its home season at Spicer Field on Sunday with a doubleheader sweep of Bates College in NESCAC action. Winners of five in a row and nine of their last 10, the 11th-ranked Jumbos improved to 15-3 overall and 4-0 in the conference.
In game one, first-year shortstop
Paige Murphy had three hits and four runs batted in as Tufts topped Bates 6-1. In game two, first-year pitcher
Sarah Brody threw a five-inning one-hit shutout as the Jumbos defeated the Bobcats by the run-rule 8-0. Jumbo pitching allowed just five hits in the 12 total innings.
Bates fell to 8-7 overall and 1-3 in NESCAC.
Game 1 – Tufts 6, Bates 1
Murphy hit a two-run single in the bottom of the second inning to get the Jumbos out to a 2-0 advantage. It was the only Tufts hit of the inning, as a pair of Bobcat errors aided the Jumbo cause.
Bates closed the margin to 2-1 with a home run to left field by Maddy Miller in the top of the third.
Tufts scored three times to build the lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth. After a leadoff single by first-year
Ella Malin and a Bates error on a Jumbo bunt, Murphy singled up the middle scoring Malin. The other two runs scored on fielder's choices by seniors
Kaitlyn Perucci and
Lauryn Horita, as the Jumbos again scored despite limited hits in the inning (two).
The Bobcats loaded the bases with one out against Tufts first-year starter
Avery Kanouse in the top of the fifth on singles by Paige Schedler and Miller and a walk to Emma Yen. First-year
Francesca Colangelo came on to pitch for the Jumbos and stranded the runners with a pair of ground-ball outs, including Tufts'
Haley Leimbach at first base throwing home while on the ground to get a force at the plate.
Murphy delivered again in the bottom of the sixth, singling home a run to score first-year pinch runner
Ella McHugh who had entered after junior
Heaven Oliva's double.
Colangelo earned a save in her third straight game, getting the final eight outs without allowing a hit. Kanouse improved to 6-1 with the victory (4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R). Along with Murphy, Perucci had a multi-hit game for Tufts at 2 for 4.
Miller had two of Bates' four hits in the game. Sophomore Brigid Gaffny took a tough-luck loss in the circle, as none of the five runs she allowed were earned.
Game 2 – Tufts 8, Bates 0 (5 inn.)
After a 1-2-3 inning with a pair of strikeouts by Brody in the top of the first, the Tufts bats scored twice after two were out in the bottom of the frame. Murphy doubled to get it started, Perucci reached on another Bates error and Horita hit a two-run double to right-center.
Tufts added to its margin with three in the second inning. With first-years
Erin Hersh and
Ella McHugh on second and third after hitting one-out singles, classmate
Ella Malin's ground ball to second scored Hersh. After Leimbach was hit by a pitch and stole second, Oliva smashed a two-run double to center field and the Jumbos led 5-0.
Meanwhile, Brody would allow only an infield single to Bates senior Sophie Garber in the top of the second. The Bobcats did load the bases on her after two were out in the top of the third on a pair of Jumbo errors and a walk. Kawabe got the final out by getting down to get a ground ball and reaching to the bag for the force.
The Jumbos then scored three times in the bottom of the third. Kawabe hit her third home run of the season scoring Horita, who had singled. Base hits again by Hersh and McHugh led to another ground-ball rbi for Malin and Tufts led 8-0.
Brody would throw 1-2-3 innings in the fourth and fifth to earn the run-rule victory for the Jumbos. She improved to 6-1 in the circle. Horita finished 2 for 3 with a run and two rbis, while Hersh was 2 for 2 with two runs scored and McHugh was also 2 for 2.
Sophomore Haley Alden started and lasted two innings giving up five hits and five runs (three earned) to take the loss for Bates.
Next
The Jumbos will continue their NESCAC season next Saturday at Colby College with a doubleheader starting at noon.
--JUMBOS--
