MEDFORD, MA (April 13, 2024) – Tufts University junior
Sky Johnson and Trinity College sophomore Kaysen Shikar traded strong pitching performances as the Jumbos and Bantams split a NESCAC softball double-header on Saturday at Spicer Field.
Johnson threw a one-hit shutout as Tufts took game one 8-0 in six innings. Shikar responded with a three-hit shutout as the Bantams won 3-0 in the nightcap.
Jumbo junior
Kaitlyn Perucci had three hits and three rbis in the first game to lead Tufts offensively. Junior Taylor Mikolajczak finished with three hits, a run and an rbi for the Bantams in game two.
Game 1 – Tufts 8, Trinity 0 (6 inn.)
Johnson was outstanding again, giving up just the one hit with a walk and six strikeouts in her six innings. In her last 20 innings, she has allowed just seven hits and one unearned run.
Trinity did not get their first hit against Johnson until the top of the fifth when junior Erin Steed singled to right field with two outs. Mikolajczak had walked to start the game, but Jumbo catcher Kerianna Slayton threw her out stealing. It was the first time she got caught this season after 16 straight steals.
The Jumbos scored in the first inning after two were out when
Josie Steinberg doubled and scored on a follow-up double by Perucci. Tufts then pushed the lead to 3-0 with two in the second when a single by
Heaven Oliva and a Trinity error and passed ball set the table.
Haley Leimbach had an rbi ground out and
Michelle Adelman also singled home a run.
Perucci had great diving catch coming in on the ball in the top of the third for the Jumbos, when Johnson had yet to allow a hit.
In the Tufts fourth, a double by Slayton followed by a
Bela Jimenez rbi single made it 4-0 Jumbos. Adelman then got on by fielder's choice, stole second and scored on a
Rachel Moore base hit to make it 5-0 Tufts.
The Jumbos won it with three in the bottom of the sixth after two were out. Adelman singled and took second on an error during the play. She scored on Moore's single, Steinberg walked, and then Perucci hit a two-run single as Tufts reached the eight-run rule.
Adelman at 2 for 4 with two runs and an rbi and Moore (2 for 4, two rbis, run) helped lead Tufts. Steinberg and Slayton both scored twice.
The pitching loss for Trinity's Tiffany Stowers was her first of the season (9-1). She allowed eight hits and five runs (three unearned) in four innings.
Game 2 – Trinity 3, Tufts 0
Shikar, who entered the game with a 3.34 earned run average, shut down the Jumbos. She allowed just a walk to Steinberg in the first, a single by Steinberg with one out in the fourth for Tufts' first hit and a one-out single to Perucci in the seventh.
Trinity chipped away against Tufts starter
Sophia DiCocco, getting started with an unearned run in the third. Mikolajczak nubbed one out in front of the plate and would end up at third with a base hit and Jumbo error. She scored on an rbi single from Kennedy Rogers.
DiCocco (6.2 IP, 9 H, 2 ER) had stranded runners on third in the second and fourth innings and kept it a 1-0 game into the seventh. However, the Bantams scored two big insurance runs that frame. Annika Haley hit a wind-aided triple and scored on single from Makenna O'Brien. Mikolajczak then doubled home O'Brien and it was 3-0.
After Perucci's one-out single in the Tufts seventh, Shikar finished off her shutout with a strikeout and a pop-up. She struck out four in the game.
Trinity's Haley had two hits in the game and made a few outstanding plays in right field. With a runner on base in the fourth, she went back to grab a ball hit by Perucci to the fence for the second out.
Next
Tufts is back on Spicer Field tomorrow against Middlebury College for a pair of NESCAC games. The Jumbos will celebrate Seniors Day, with Adelman, Moore, Steinberg, Jimenez, DiCocco and
Keila McCabe recognized during a pre-game ceremony.
--JUMBOS--
