Box Score
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Jo Clair opened Spicer Field for 2012 with a pair of home runs
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MEDFORD - Sophomore catcher Jo Clair (Glastonbury, CT) launched a pair of two-run home runs, and first-year Allyson Fournier (South Windsor, CT) pitched five innings allowing one hit and no runs as the 23rd ranked Tufts softball team defeated Bowdoin, 8-0, in its home and NESCAC East opener at Spicer Field on Friday.
Clair, who led NESCAC with 16 home runs last season, hit her first two of the spring on Friday. Her two-run blast in the first put the Jumbos up 2-0. After senior All-American Lena Cantone (Southington, CT) singled and scored in the third to give Tufts a 4-0 advantage, Clair clouted another two-run bomb in the fourth to make it 6-0 Jumbos.
Meanwhile, Fournier was perfect through three innings. She walked Bowdoin's Hillary Smith (Hollis, NH) in the fourth and Polar Bear senior Caroline Dewar (Katonah, NY) followed with the visitors' lone hit, a bunt single in between the mound and the plate. However, Fournier struck out the next three Bowdoin hitters to get out of the inning.
Tufts (12-3, 1-0 NESCAC East) ended the game early with two more runs in the fifth, as they scored in every inning. Sophomore DH Kayla Holland (Attleboro, MA) walked and scored on a pinch-hit single by first-year Gracie Marshall (Palo Alto, CA). Junior 2B Emily Beinecke (Concord, MA) singled and eventually scored on a walk by Cantone to end the game.
Fournier improved to 7-0, striking out 11 in her five innings. Clair was 2 for 2 with two runs and four rbi, while sophomore LF Sara Hedtler (Wrentham, MA) finished 3 for 4 with a run and an rbi. Tufts had 12 hits overall, including two each by Cantone (two runs scored) and Beinecke.
Bowdoin sophomore pitcher Melissa DellaTorre (Scarborough, ME) took the loss, giving up nine hits and six runs (five earned) with three K's and two walks in four innings. The Bears dropped to 12-5 overall and 0-1 in the division.
The teams play a double-header at Spicer tomorrow starting at noon.
Game boxscore
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