BRUNSWICK, ME (April 3, 2026) – Tufts University and Bowdoin College split a pair of eight-run rule games today in NESCAC softball action at Pickard Softball Diamond.
In the first game,
Lauryn Horita hit an early grand slam,
Heaven Oliva had a pair of run-scoring base hits and
Avery Kanouse allowed five hits and one earned run as the Jumbos pulled away for a 10-2 victory in six innings. The host Polar Bears then took advantage of eight walks by Tufts pitching in game two and had a strong top-of-the-order performance for a 9-1 win in five innings.
Tufts saw a six-game winning streak end with the game two loss and is now 16-4 overall and 5-1 in NESCAC. Bowdoin is now 17-4 overall and 3-3 in the conference.
Game 1 – Tufts 10, Bowdoin 2 (6 inn.)
Bowdoin scored in its half of the first inning as speedster Anika Ewert reached on an infield hit, stole second and scored on a Jumbo error. Tufts would put runners to second and third in the top of the second on a walk to Horita and a Bowdoin error, but Polar Bear starter Maddie Current got a strikeout to end the inning.
The Jumbos would take the lead on Horita's grand slam to right field in the top of the third. The blast, Horita's second of the season, had been preceded by one-out singles from Oliva and
Kaitlyn Perucci sandwiched around a walk to
Paige Murphy that had loaded the bases.
Tufts would score multiple times in each of the third through sixth innings. They added two runs in the top of the fourth. With one out,
Ella Malin singled and
Haley Leimbach doubled over the right fielder's head before Oliva's single scored Malin. Pinch runner
Emma Wingate then got into a rundown while attempting a steal of second, with Bowdoin getting the out though allowing Leimbach to score making it 6-1.
Margaret Flannery-Goodman led off the Bowdon fourth with a double to deep center. She went to third and scored when Tufts'
Cat Kawabe made a nice play on Elise Siciliano's pop-up in foul territory behind the first base bag. Sammie Wright then hit a two-out double, but Kanouse got a ground ball to end the inning.
The Jumbos loaded the bases again in the fifth and plated two more runs for an 8-2 lead. Horita was hit by a pitch, Kawabe walked and
Mack Seibel singled with no outs. The runs came home on a single up the middle by Malin and another rbi base hit through the left side by Oliva.
Tufts then got to an eight-run margin with two more in the top of the sixth. After a walk by Perucci and a double by Horita, Seibel singled through the left side scoring Perucci. Bowdoin then tried to catch pinch runner
Taylor Hurst stealing second, and an error on the play allowed Horita to score Tufts' 10th run.
Kanouse finished off the Polar Bears in the bottom of the sixth, earning her seventh victory of the season. She allowed five hits and one earned run in her outing.
Oliva was 3 for 3 with two rbis and a run, while Horita went 2 for 2 with the four rbis and two runs as Tufts finished with 11 hits. Seibel and Malin both had two hits and an rbi for the Jumbos.
Current took the loss for Bowdoin (3.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R). Ewert, the NCAA Division III batting leader, was 1 for 1 with two walks and a run. She stole two bases, but Oliva threw her out attempting to steal in the fifth.
Game 2 – Bowdoin 9, Tufts 1 (5 inn.)
Ewert (1 for 1, 4 runs), Penelope Fong-Picariello (2 for 3, run, 2 rbis), Flannery-Goodman (1 for 3, 3 rbis) and Maddie Paschke (2 for 3, 3 rbis) – the top four in the Bowdoin battingorder – lifted the Polar Bears to their own eight-run win in game two.
Bowdoin loaded the bases in each of the first three innings and got out to a 7-1 lead.
Tufts had the bases loaded with two outs in their first at-bat of game two, but Bowdoin starter Sophia Hahn kept the Jumbos off the scoreboard by getting a foul fly ball out.
Bowdoin's Ewert then led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and moved to third on a pair of ground outs. She scored on a base hit through the right side by Paschke. The Polar Bears had the bases loaded with two outs, but Jumbo starter
Sarah Brody got a ground ball to leave it at a 1-0 game.
However, Bowdoin was able to expand their early lead in the top of the second. A Tufts error and infield singles by Ewert and Fong-Picariello led to a two-run single from Flannery-Goodman. The Jumbos went to
Francesca Colangelo in the circle, and after a walk she stranded the bases loaded with a back-to-back outs.
Leimbach and Oliva singled to open the Tufts third, then after two outs were made Perucci drove in Tufts' lone run with a hard base hit off the shortstop.
The Polar Bears continued with a big four-run inning in the bottom of the third. A hit-by-pitch and two walks loaded the bases, then Fong-Picariello delivered a two-run single up the middle. After Bowdoin executed a double steal with Ewert scoring, Paschke's rbi single made it 7-1 Polar Bears.
In the fourth and fifth combined, the Jumbos would strand five runners on base. They got their first two hitters on in the fourth with a single by Kawabe and a walk to Hurst, but Hahn worked out of the jam with three straight ground ball outs. After singles by Oliva, Murphy and Perucci loaded the bases in the fifth, Bowdoin brought Kathleen Hester in and she left them loaded keeping the score at 7-1.
The Polar Bears ended the game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Kaitlyn Fado bunted for a single to lead off, then Ewert and Fong-Picariello walked to load the bases. Consecutive fielder's choices by Flannery-Goodman and Paschke brought home the two runs to win it for Bowdoin.
The Jumbos out-hit Bowdoin 10-9 as Perucci finished 3 for 3 and Leimbach, Oliva and Murphy each had two hits. Brody took the pitching loss (1.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R).
Bowdoin's Hahn went four innings for the win, giving up 10 hits and a run. Fado scored three times for the Polar Bears.
--JUMBOS--
