Softball Swept by Top-Ranked Tufts

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Senior right-hander Allyson Fournier (South Windsor, Conn.) tossed the fifth perfect game and 13th no-hitter of her career to lead the top-ranked Tufts University softball team to a sweep of Bridgewater State University in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Park.

Tufts, the two-time defending National Champions, won the first game, 9-0, and completed the sweep with a 12-0 victory in the nightcap. Both games went five innings due to the eight-run mercy rule. The visiting Jumbos improve to 22-0 on the season with the pair of wins, while the host Bears slip to 15-9.

In the opener, Fournier fanned 12 of the 15 batters she faced to improve to 12-0 on the season.

The Jumbos pushed across a pair of unearned runs in the top of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Sophomore Cassie Rusz (Wolcott, Conn.) plated the first run of the frame with an RBI single while the second run scored on a passed ball.

Tufts tacked on a run in the third on an RBI double by freshman Raven Fournier (Springfield, Mass.

The Jumbos then put the game out of reach with a six-run fourth inning. Senior Gracie Marshall (Palo Alto, Calif.) singled home junior Christina Raso (Burlington, Mass.) with the first run of the frame and senior Michelle Cooprider (Hopkinton, Mass.) walked with the bases loaded to force in the second. A two-run single by Raven Fournier and a two-run double off the bat of sophomore Shelby Lipson (East Brunswick, N.J.) rounded out the scoring in the inning.

Rusz went 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI to highlight the Jumbos' ten-hit attack in game one, while Fournier finished 2-for-3 with a run and three RBI.

Sophomore Iliana Rivera (Naugatuck, Conn.) pitched all five innings in the loss for the Bears.

In game two, junior right-hander Erica County (Arlington, Mass.) tossed four scoreless innings allowing just two hits as the Jumbos breezed to the 12-0 win and a sweep of the twinbill. County fanned two and did not walk anyone as she improved to 10-0 on the season. Freshman Raina Galbiati (Boulder, Colo.) worked a scoreless fifth inning working around a hit and a walk to secure the shutout.

Tufts sent 12 batters to the plate during an eight-run second inning. A two-run single by Cooprider and a two-run double by Fournier were the big hits in the inning. Five of the eight runs in the frame were unearned due to a key BSU fielding error.

Senior Bri Keenan (Portsmouth, N.H.) walked, stole second and score on Marshall's RBI double in the fourth to extend lead to 9-0. In the fifth, Raso's sacrifice fly and back-to-back RBI doubles by freshman Michelle Chisdak (Vestal, N.Y.) and Keenan capped off the scoring.

Keenan went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI to pace the Jumbos in game two. Cooprider added two hits in three at bats with two runs and two RBI, while freshman Samantha Siciliano (Chatsworth, Calif.) also went 2-for-3 and scored two runs.

Junior Karissa Pagan (Brockton, Mass.) and sophomores Courtney Leddy (Saugus, Mass.) and Jackie Welch (Hubbardston, Mass.) each went 1-for-2 at the plate to lead Bridgewater State in game two.

Sophomore Kathleen Bailey (Bayport, N.Y.) worked all five innings in the circle in the setback for the Bears. Bailey (3-3) gave up ten hits, walked two and struck out five. Only four of the 12 runs were earned.

The Bears host a MASCAC twinbill with Fitchburg State University on Saturday at noon, while the Jumbos travel to Trinity College on Friday afternoon for a four o'clock NESCAC tilt with the Bantams.