LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates softball team took on Tufts Sunday in a doubleheader, dropping game one 8-2 and staging an exciting rally before falling 16-9 in game two to the Jumbos.
Bates (1-7, 1-3 NESCAC) is back in action this Saturday at 1pm for a doubleheader at Bowdoin.
Game One: Tufts 8, Bates 2
Kristina Haghdan tossed a complete game one-hitter to lead the Jumbos past the Bobcats in game one of Sunday's twin bill by a count of 8-2.
Haghdan (4-1) had a perfect game going before she hit sophomore
Kama Boswell (Bellevue, Wash.) with a pitch with one out in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore
Cassidy Musco (Walpole, Mass.) broke up the no-hitter with a single to center. Then back-to-back Tufts errors allowed Boswell and Musco to score, cutting the Jumbo advantage to 6-2 at the time.
Tufts added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh on a Kat Yuzefpolsky two-RBI double.
Junior
Danielle Polirer (Bellmore, N.Y.) started game one in the circle for Bates, going six innings and allowing six runs (five earned) on 12 hits. She walked four batters in the contest. Haghdan allowed just the one hit in the circle for Tufts and struck out 11 Bobcats while walking two.
The Jumbos got a run in the first and a run in the second to take a 2-0 lead. Mia Steinberg drove in Michelle Adelman with a sacrifice fly and Nicole Russo added a solo home run. Adelman singled home Rachel Moore to put Tufts up 3-0 in the top of the fourth.
Tufts broke the game open a bit with three runs in the sixth inning. Emma Della Volpe got the offense going with a single to left. Adelman doubled her to third and a wild pitch allowed Della Volpe to score. Yuzefpolsky drove in Adelman with a sacrifice fly for the second run of the inning and a Bates error allowed a third run to score later in the frame.
Adelman paced the Jumbos on offense, going 3-5 with two runs scored, a double, an RBI and two stolen bases. Josie Steinberg, Russo, Reegan Coleman, and Moore added two hits apiece for Tufts.
Gallery: (4-25-2021) Softball vs. Tufts (Theophil Syslo)
Game Two: Tufts 16, Bates 9
Game two of Sunday's doubleheader saw Tufts score 10 runs in the second inning and Bates answer with nine runs in the fifth inning before the Jumbos eventually prevailed 16-9.
Tufts (12-2, 7-1 NESCAC) recorded 20 hits in the contest. Bates surrendered two runs in the first but it could have been more if not for a spectacular sliding catch by senior
Caroline Bass (Newton, Mass.) in deep left-center to end the frame.
The big second inning for Tufts put Bates in a 12-0 hole. The Jumbos hit three home runs in the contest, including a grand slam off the bat of Della Volpe in the second.
But the Bobcats refused to back down. Senior
Jevan Sandhu (Plymouth, N.H.) shut down the Jumbos in the third through fifth innings and Bates rallied in the bottom of the fifth.
For the second straight game, Musco recorded the first hit of the contest for the Bobcats, a single through the left side to start the fifth. She advanced to second on a wild pitch and junior
Janell Sato (Honolulu, Hawaii) followed with a walk. First-year
Rachel Liazos (Westborough, Mass.) also drew a walk, loading the bases with nobody out.
Senior
Mary Collette (Watertown, Conn.) singled home Musco for the first run of the game for Bates. Then sophomore
Amanda Taylor (Fair Lawn, N.J.) and senior
Abra Kaplan (Oak Park, Ill.) drew back-to-back walks, driving in two more runs and making the score 12-3.
Russo re-entered the game to pitch at that point after having previously tossed two shutout innings out of the bullpen. The Bobcats had more success this time around, with Sandhu placing a ball between two Tufts infielders on the right side, driving in Collette and Taylor.
Boswell drew a walk to load the bases and Bass walked as well, driving in Kaplan. One out later, Sato singled through the left side to plate Sandhu. A wild pitch scored Boswell and Liazos singled in Bass.
When the dust cleared, the Bobcats trailed 12-9.
Tufts answered with four runs in the top of sixth, highlighted by a Lexi Grein two-run home run.
Jumbo ace Sophia DiCocco (7-1) entered the game in the bottom of the sixth, looking to prevent another Bates rally. She retired the side in order in the sixth and worked around an error and a Liazos single in the seventh. A Collette line out to first ended the game.
Bass added another slick sliding catch in center field in the top of the seventh, a scoreless frame for the Jumbos.
Sandhu (0-2) threw a complete game in the loss. The Jumbos used four pitchers, with Kristi Van Meter tossing two shutout innings to start the game. Russo followed with two shutout innings of her own, re-entering in the fifth after Cassie Cancemi failed to get an out. Six runs were eventually charged to Cancemi. Russo eventually got out of the inning but not before the Bobcats got to her for three runs.
The Tufts offense was explosive yet again in game two. Adelman went 3-3 with three runs scored, an RBI, a walk and two stolen bases. Russo hit another home run and finished 3-4 with two runs scored and four RBIs. Emma Jacobson went 3-4 with three runs scored and a walk. In addition to her grand slam, Della Volpe scored three runs to go along with her three hits.
Every Bobcat starter reached base at least once. Liazos paced the Bates offense with a 2-3 performance at the plate. She scored a run, drove in a run and drew two walks. Sandhu went 1-3 with two RBIs and a walk. Bass drew three walks and drove in a run at the top of the lineup.
