Babson Offense Powers Softball To Split With Tufts

Recap, photo courtesy of Babson College

MEDFORD, Mass.—Visiting Babson College sent 11 batters to the plate and exploded for seven runs in the top of the sixth inning to rally for a 9-6 victory over Tufts University in the opening game of a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon. The Jumbos rebounded to take game two with an 11-2, five-inning win.

Babson, which has split back-to-back doubleheaders against two of the region's top teams, is now 26-13 overall. Tufts, the three-time defending NCAA Division III national champions, are now 23-8 on the year.

First-year Josephine Mares (Houston, Texas) went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs
scored, while senior Maya Lacy (East Mill Creek, Utah) and sophomore Samantha Smith (Hillsborough, N.J.) both had two hits apiece to go along with an RBI and a run scored for the Beavers. Junior Leslie Moore (Atkinson, N.H.) added two hits and drove in a pair of runs in the win.
The Green and White took a 1-0 lead in the first when Mares doubled and later scored on a two-out single by Moore. Tufts pulled even in the bottom of the third, but the Beavers took advantage of a pair of errors to go back in front in the top of the fourth. The Jumbos answered with a four-run fifth though, as sophomore Raina Galbiati (Boulder, Colo.) came through with a two-out, two-run double, and junior Cassie Ruscz (Wolcott, Conn.) followed with a two-run homer to make it 5-2.

The Beavers came right back in the sixth as their first four batters reached base, cutting the deficit to 5-4 on an RBI double by junior Meaghan Merullo (Winchester, Mass.) and a run-scoring single by Lacy. Following  strikeout, Smith, Mares, first-year Annie Quine (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Moore produced four consecutive RBI singles to build an 8-5 lead. First-year Ashley Tango (Reading, Mass.) then plated Quine with an RBI ground out to make it a four-run game.

Sophomore Ali Reilly (New Canaan, Conn.) worked around a two-out single in the sixth and then worked out of a jam in the seventh with back-to-back fly outs to preserve the win. She allowed six runs on 12 hits to move to 16-8 on the year.

Babson was limited to just two hits in game two and was unable to keep pace as Tufts took control of the game with seven runs over the first two innings. Ruscz smacked a three-run homer in the bottom of the first and junior Summer Horowitz (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) capped a four-run second with a three-run blast of her own. Classmate Maggie Hoffman (Avon, Mass.) sparked a four-run fourth inning with a two-run double in support of senior Erica Country (Arlington, Mass.), who moved to 16-3 on the season after giving up two runs on two hits and four walks over five innings.

Junior Catherine Pitts (Winchester, Mass.) and sophomore Nicole Civello (Huntington Station, N.Y.) both walked to lead off the second inning and moved into scoring position with a double steal before both coming in to score for the Beavers. Senior Madison Dinaso (Ardsley, N.Y.), who suffered the loss in the circle to drop to 6-3 on the year, had an RBI single in the loss.

Babson returns to action on Friday when it opens NEWMAC Tournament play against Wellesley at 3:30 p.m. at WPI.

GAME NOTES
• Wednesday's game-one win was the first for the Beavers over Tufts since 2013.
• Babson is now 17-0 this season when scoring six runs or more.
• Quine has hit safely in eight straight games, while Tango has reached base in seven consecutive contests.
• Lacy is now tied for eighth on the program's career list with 98 runs scored.