Box Score
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First-year Abby Curran was one of six different Jumbos to homer on Saturday
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MEDFORD – The seventh-ranked Tufts Jumbos were an offensive juggernaut on a crisp Saturday afternoon at Spicer Field, pelting the bleachers with six home runs while pounding out 17 runs on 20 hits to win both games of a softball double-header, 8-4 and 9-0, against NESCAC East Division rival Bates College.
The pair of wins completed a three-game sweep over the Bobcats, moving Tufts to 3-0 in conference play and 16-1 on the season. Bates dropped to 4-7 overall and 0-3 in the division.
Five different players went yard for Tufts in the 8-4 opener and sophomore All-American Allyson Fournier (South Windsor, CT) slammed the door shut with a no-hit shutout in the Jumbos' 9-0 win to close out the day.
Fournier struck out 11 batters over five innings without issuing a free pass and was an error away from a perfect game.
Sophomore Michelle Cooprider (Hopkinton, MA) blasted a three-run home run in the opener and junior Kayla Holland (Attleborough, MA) added a three-run bomb in the second game to power the Jumbo offense.
Junior Sara Hedtler (Wrentham, MA) went 5 for 7 on the day, while junior catcher Jo Clair (Glastonbury, CT) belted her team-leading fifth home run to go along with a double, driving in a pair of runs while scoring three. First-year Abby Curran (Hamilton, MA) launched the first home run of her career and senior Emily Beinecke (Concord, MA) and sophomore Kris Parr (Austin, TX) each added solo home runs.
In game one, senior Aly Moskowitz (Westfield, NJ) pitched six strong innings to get the win and first-year Erica County (Arlington, MA) with a perfect seventh closed out the opener.
The Jumbos' long ball outweighed the Bobcats' small ball, as Tufts clubbed five home runs en route to an 8-4 game-one win. Moskowitz allowed four runs on six hits over six innings, striking out two, for the win.
Clair got the Jumbos on the board in the first inning, getting on base after taking a fastball to the elbow and scoring on an error.
Tufts broke the game open in the second, starting with Curran who went opposite field for her first career round-tripper. Christina Raso (Burlington, MA) and Hedtler followed with back-to-back singles before Cooprider delivered a towering three-run home run to put the Jumbos up 4-0.
Bates scored a run on singles by senior Mary Lewis (Gardiner, ME) and Caroline Gatusso (North Reading, MA) in the third. An inning later though, Clair and Beinecke blasted back-to-back home runs to extend the lead to 7-1.
The Bobcats rallied in the sixth, scoring three runs to close the game to 7-4. Alex Eliopoulos (Akron, OH) and Karen Lockhart (East Greenwich, RI) both had rbi singles. Parr responded in the bottom half of the inning with the Jumbos' fifth home run of the game, a laser-beam to left field to push the lead back to four.
County, who played her high school ball one town over at Arlington HS, continued her excellent first season, slamming the door shut with a perfect seventh inning of relief. County entered the game with a 2-0 record and 2.63 ERA and struck out the first batter she faced before inducing back-to-back ground-outs to end the game.
Raso shined defensively, throwing the leather around at the hot-corner. She made several stellar plays, including a nifty back-hand on a short hop and strong throw in the second inning and a beautiful 5-3 double play, snaring a line-drive smash to end the fourth inning.
Sophomore Steph Tercero (Pasadena, CA) added her first hit of the season, smashing a line-drive to left field after pinch hitting in the fourth inning.
Kelsey Freedman (Falmouth, ME) took the loss for Bates, allowing 10 hits and eight runs (seven earned) with four strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
The story of the night-cap was Fournier, who began the day with 65 strikeouts in just 35.2 innings pitched and added 11 more before it was over.
The Bobcats led off the second game by reaching on an infield error. It would be their last base runner of the day as Fournier struck out the next three batters and didn't look back.
Hedtler led off the Tufts first with a double and Cooprider followed with an infield single. The Bobcats cut down the lead runner at third base on back-to-back fielder's choices, and appeared close to getting out of a jam with two outs and a 1 and 2 count on Holland. But the junior blasted the next pitch she saw deep over the centerfield wall, putting the Jumbos up 3-0.
Tufts added three more runs in the second, with Clair delivering an RBI double and three more in the third as Fournier continued to mow down the Bobcats. Fournier struck out the side in both the third and fourth inning, before sandwiching a pair of 4-3 groundouts around another K to close out the game in the fifth.
Fournier improves to 6-0 on the season with 76 strikeouts and just eight walks in 40.2 innings pitched and now boasts a sub 0.50 ERA. The no-hitter was the fourth of her young career.
The Jumbos will play a pair at Babson on Tuesday starting at 3 pm. Bates plays next at Colby on Friday at 4 pm.
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
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