MEDFORD, MA (April 18, 2026) – The 12th-ranked Tufts University softball team swept #25 Middlebury College in an important NESCAC doubleheader on Senior Day at Spicer Field Saturday. The Jumbos won 5-1 and 16-1 in five innings, sweeping games between two squads who are at the top of the conference standings in mid-April.
Tufts first-year pitchers
Avery Kanouse and
Sarah Brody both pitched complete games and combined to allow just seven hits.
The 15-run victory in game two is the largest by a Tufts team since a 15-0 win against Pine Manor on April 20, 2018.
The Jumbos improved to 23-7 overall and 11-3 in NESCAC with today's sweep. Middlebury fell to 24-6 overall and 8-4 in the conference.
Game 1 – Tufts 5, Middlebury 1
The visiting Panthers scored in the top of the first as Olivia Fleming hit a one-out double and came around on a base hit to right-center by Livy Schultz. However, Kanouse would only give up one more hit over the remaining six innings. It came with two outs in the second inning, and then she retired the next 16 hitters in a row to finish the game.
Middlebury starting pitcher Mia Gilham struggled with her control and walked Jumbos
Haley Leimbach and
Cat Kawabe to start the bottom of the second. Gilham was pulled for Emily Dowd, but Tufts would score three times on a two-run single by
Ella Malin and an rbi double from
Lauryn Horita.
The Jumbos added two more runs in third after two were out.
Paige Murphy walked and
Kaitlyn Perucci singled up the middle before two outs were made. First-year
Mack Seibel then delivered an opposite-field double scoring both to make it 5-1 Jumbos.
Kanouse's final pitching line featured seven innings allowing three hits and one run as she improved to 9-2 this season. McHugh was the lone Jumbo to finish with multiple hits, as she went 2 for 3.
Gilham took the pitching loss for Middlebury, dropping to 5-1.
Game 2 – Tufts 16, Middlebury 1 (5 inn.)
After two scoreless innings, the Jumbos exploded for eight runs in both the third and fourth innings. The 16-1 final would represent Tufts' biggest win against a NESCAC opponent since a 19-1 game against Colby on April 8, 2017.
The Jumbos finished with 15 hits, including six in the third inning. The barrage in the third featured an rbi single from Murphy, a run-scoring walk by Perucci, a two-run single by Leimbach, an rbi single from Kawabe, an rbi fielder's choice from McHugh and a two-run single by Malin, all before the second out was made.
Tufts then topped their third-inning hits total with eight in the fourth. A grand slam by
Heaven Oliva – her ninth home run of the season – was the big blow. Kawabe, Seibel, Malin and Horita also had rbi singles.
Meanwhile, Brody threw three scoreless innings before Middlebury scored its lone run in the fourth. Fleming and Schultz singled and then McKenna Lont produced the run with an rbi single scoring Fleming.
Brordy retired Middlebury 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth to end the game. She improved her record to 8-3 (5 IP, 4 H, 1R).
Malin was 3 for 3 with two runs and three runs batted in to lead Tufts in game two. Oliva (2 for 4, 2 runs, 4 rbis), Murphy (2 for 3, run, rbi), Leimbach (2 for 3, run, 2 rbis) and Kawabe (2 for 3, 2 runs, 2 rbis) all had multiple hits as well. Horita, Perucci and McHugh also scored twice.
Lont ws the losing pitcher for Middlebury (2 IP, 5 H, 6 R).
Tufts saluted Horita, Leimbach, Perucci and
Madi Sewell with Senior Day festivities at Spicer Field.
Next
The Tufts-Williams NESCAC doubleheader originally scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed due to rain in the forecast. The Jumbos will host MIT in a non-league doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 3 PM.
--JUMBOS--
