WATERVILLE, ME (April 4, 2026) –
Heaven Oliva's two-run bomb helped Tufts score four times in the top of the 10th inning to win 8-4 in Game 1, but the Jumbos were limited to one run and five hits by Colby College pitcher Sharlotte Stazinski in Game 2 (4-1 loss) as the teams split a NESCAC softball doubleheader on Saturday.
The Jumbos finish their conference weekend in Maine with a 17-5 mark overall and are now 6-2 in NESCAC. Colby, which was playing its first two conference games today, now has records of 14-3 overall and 1-1 NESCAC.
Game 1 – Tufts 8, Colby 4 (10 inn.)
The first game went to the 10th inning tied at 4-4. With
Haley Leimbach as the runner placed on second to start the 10th, Oliva smashed a two-run home run to give the Jumbos a 6-4 lead. Tufts continued in the inning with back-to-back doubles by
Paige Murphy and
Kaitlyn Perucci bringing in another run, and then a sacrifice fly by
Cat Kawabe increasing Tufts' lead to 8-4.
Francesca Colangelo finished out an excellent relief appearance by getting Colby 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th for the win.
Tufts had started off by scoring in the top of the first without a hit. Oliva walked, took second on a wild pitch and scored when a wind-blown infield pop-up was dropped.
The Jumbos took a 2-0 lead in the third when the right-handed hitting Leimbach poked one out of the ballpark to right-center, her second of the year.
Tufts starter
Avery Kanouse retired the first nine batters she faced. However, Colby would load the bases in the bottom of the fourth. Emma Burnham had the Mules' first hit when she dropped a single into center field, then Juliana Kiley and Caroline DeSimone added base hits. Kawabe snagged a line drive at second base to keep the Mules from scoring in the inning.
Colby would break though and surge to a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth. A triple by Victoria Ramirez got it started, and she scored on a single from Julia Berry. After another single by Carissa Cassidy, Ella Wilcox launched a three-run home run to center field.
Tufts came right back and tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the sixth. A lead-off single by Murphy and a one-out base hit from
Lauryn Horita led to back-to-back, two-out, run-scoring hits by first-years
Mack Seibel and
Ella McHugh.
Cassidy led off the bottom of the seventh for the Mules with a single up the middle. However, Colangelo retired the next two hitters and Oliva threw Cassidy out trying to steal second to send the game to extra innings.
After Tufts went in order in the top of the eighth, DeSimone singled and stole second with one out for Colby. However, Leimbach caught Avery Lyman's line drive at first and doubled off DeSimone to send it to the ninth.
In Tufts' ninth, it appeared as though a double by Oliva had given the Jumbos a lead. However, the play was nullified by a runner-left-early call and the inning was over. Tufts was assessed three runner left early outs in the game.
However, Oliva would come to the plate to start the 10th and mashed the two-run home run to get the team going towards the victory. She finished Game 1 at 2 for 4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, while Murphy had two hits and scored twice. Colangelo allowed two hits and no runs in five strong relief innings to improve to 5-1 on the year.
Sophia Meade took the pitching loss (5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER), while Cassidy, Kiley and DeSimone all had two hits for Colby.
Game 2 – Colby 4, Tufts 1
Stazinski was excellent for the Mules, giving up five hits and one run in a complete-game victory.
Tufts had scored in the top of the first as Leimbach led off with a single and Oliva doubled her to third. The run scored on a fielder's choice to second by Murphy when Colby tried to get Leimbach at the plate. However, Tufts' inning would be cut short. With runners on first and third and one out, the Jumbos tried to execute a double steal and ended up running into two outs on the play.
Colby then hit Tufts starter
Sarah Brody hard in the bottom of the first to take a 3-1 lead. Cassidy led off with a single and scored on a two-out double by Kiley. DeSimone then hit a two-run home run to right-center. Avery Lyman's double was the third extra base hit in a row for the Mules, but the Jumbos got the final out to leave it at 3-1.
Brody would settle down and keep it a two-run game through the fifth. In the Mules' third with runners on first and third and one out, Murphy at shortstop turned a 6-3 double play to stymie the threat.
Meanwhile, the Jumbos could not get much going against Stazinski. She retired 12 of the last 13 batters she faced.
Colby added a run in the bottom of the sixth when Kiley led off with a double and pinch-runner Josephine Kim scored on another double by Lyman.
Leimbach had two of Tufts' five hits at the top of the order. Brody absorbed the loss in the circle (5 IP, 8 H, 4 R).
DeSimone was 2 for 3 with two rbis and a run to lead the Colby offense, while Cassidy, Kiley and Lyman also had two hits.
Next
Tufts continues NESCAC play next Saturday, traveling to Amherst College for a doubleheader.
--JUMBOS--
