JUMBOS DERAILED BY BABSON IN DOUBLE-HEADER SWEEP
COLLEGE SOFTBALL FINAL SCORES
Babson 4 Tufts 1
Babson 8 Tufts 0 (5 inn.)
At Babson Park, MA
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
BABSON PARK -- Freshman Alisha Blischok (Paradise Valley, AZ) and junior Meg Gaskell (Uxbridge, MA) tossed back-to-back three-hitters to lead Babson College to a doubleheader sweep of visiting Tufts University in a match-up of regionally-ranked softball teams on Tuesday afternoon. Babson, which entered the week ranked third in New England by the NCAA, won game one, 4-1, and game two, 8-0, to improve to 22-3 overall, while the Jumbos, ranked second in New England, fell to 15-5 with the losses.
Blischok (4-0) was outstanding in game one, allowing no earned runs on three hits while striking out four in seven innings of work. The only run she surrendered came in the top of the first, as sophomore Annie Ross (Newton, MA) hit a one-out single and later scored on a single to right by senior co-captain Katie Smith (Convent Station, NJ) and a two-base error by Gaskell. Blischok would allow only one more hit the rest of the way — a two-out single by Ross in the third, as she recorded her second complete game of the season.
Offensively, Babson provided its rookie pitcher all the run support she would need in the bottom of the third inning, as Gaskell drew a bases-loaded walk and sophomore Alex Lazar (Milton, MA) followed with an RBI single to give the Beavers a 2-1 lead. Lazar later drove in Babson's third run when she singled in freshman Jess Cohen (Pittsford, NY) in the fifth, and Cohen made it 4-1 with an RBI single in the sixth.
Game two was all Babson, as the offense provided Gaskell with eight runs on 11 hits in five innings. Nine different players recorded hits for the Beavers, including two apiece by freshman Jess Byrn (Safety Harbor, FL) and senior co-captain Kara Courtney (Northampton, MA), while junior Erica Barry (Malden, MA) and senior co-captain Jamie Bowman (West Bridgewater, MA) each drove in a pair of runs. Gaskell also provided some offense with her second home run of the season — a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth — as Babson ran away with the 8-0 victory.
The reigning NEWMAC and New England Pitcher of the Week, Gaskell improved to a perfect 8-0 with another magnificent performance on the mound. She gave up just three hits and one walk while striking out four in five innings, as she tossed her team-leading third shutout of the season. Tufts had just one runner reach second bases when freshman 2B Danielle Lopez (Danvers, MA) singled and moved up on a Babson error. Ross had another hit in the second game for three hits on the afternoon.
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