RALEIGH, NC (March 6, 2026) – The Tufts University softball team opened its 2026 season on Friday at the Triangle Collegiate Softball Classic, earning a pair of wins against The College of New Jersey (9-3) and Mary Baldwin University (11-2).
A three-run double by junior
Heaven Oliva in the first game, and a grand slam from senior
Lauryn Horita in the second game were big blasts for the Jumbos. Senior infielder
Haley Leimbach led off in both games and was 7 for 9 (.778) with six runs scored in the twinbill. Horita and Oliva combined for 11 runs batted in during the day.
Tufts also received solid pitching from three first-years making their collegiate debuts as
Avery Kanouse, Francesca Colanagelo and
Sarah Brody covered all 14 innings for the Jumbos allowing 11 hits and five runs.
Tufts 9, TCNJ 3
After falling behind 1-0 early, the Jumbos scored five times in the bottom of third inning and never looked back en route to the 9-3 win over the Lions.
First-year
Ella Malin singled to center in her first collegiate at bat to get the Jumbos going in the decisive third. Leimbach doubled Malin to third, then Horita singled up the middle to score the first Tufts run of the season. The other runs in the inning came home on a fielder's choice by Oliva, bases loaded walks from senior
Madi Sewell and sophomore
Cat Kawabe and an infield single by Malin.
TCNJ had got on the scoreboard right away with one in the first off Kanouse. The Lions' Grace Brouillard doubled to put runners on second and third, and then a sacrifice bunt by Morgan Leonhauser scored the run.
Kanouse stranded a pair of runners on base in the top of the second and went on to pitch four solid innings to earn the victory. She allowed four hits and two runs in four innings, which included a sacrifice fly by TCNJ's Gianna Vazquez in the fourth which had made the score 5-2.
The Jumbos would extend their margin to 9-2 in the bottom of the fifth, led by the three-run double from Oliva. She then scored on an infield single by first-year shortstop
Paige Murphy and an error on the play.
Colangelo entered to pitch for Tufts in the fifth. She would go three innings to earn a save in her collegiate debut, allowing one hit and one run though walking six.
Leimbach went 3 for 4 with two runs at the top of the order for Tufts, while Horita finished the game 3 for 3 with a run and an rbi. Oliva had four rbis while going 1 for 4 with a run. Both Murphy and Malin had two hits and a run. Tufts had 11 hits overall.
Tufts pitching allowed just five hits. Brouillard led TCNJ with two of them. Elizabeth Gosse took the pitching loss (2.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R).
Tufts 11, Mary Baldwin 2
The Jumbos would break the game open eventually, but along with Horita's grand slam they received a pair of defensive gems that helped them maintain an early lead.
Tufts had taken a 1-0 advantage in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly by Oliva, her sixth rbi of the day. In the bottom of the first, Kawabe made a diving catch in the hole at second base to strand the bases loaded.
Horita's grand slam, a laser to center field, came in the third inning after Kawabe and Leimbach singled and senior
Kaitlyn Perucci walked. That put Tufts up 5-0.
The Fighting Squirrels would score their only two runs in the bottom of the third. Lizzy Laurelli singled and Emma Morris walked before Cassidy Branch delivered an rbi base hit to left field. Dana Micone singled to center field for another run, and the score was 5-2. MBU still had runners on first and third with just one out when Murphy ranged left and turned a 6-3 double play to end the inning.
Leimbach's solo shot in the fourth, and then an rbi double from Horita and a run-scoring single from Murphy in the sixth made it an 8-2 Jumbo lead. Tufts added three more in the seventh, highlighted by sophomore
Amelia Perri's pinch-hit, two-run double.
Brody would go the distance in the circle, allowing six hits and two runs in seven innings for the victory.
Leimbach was 4 for 5 with four runs, Horita finished 2 for 4 with five rbis and two runs and Murphy had three hits to lead the Jumbo bats.
Jenna Shull took the pitching loss for Mary Baldwin, allowing five hits and five runs in two innings. Branch, Micone and Lizzy Laurelli had two hits each for the Flying Squirrels.
Next
Tufts will play a pair of games against national top 10 teams on Saturday, facing #9 Christopher Newport University and #2 Virginia Wesleyan University at 1:30 PM and 4:00 PM, respectively.
--JUMBOS--
