Ephs hit way past St. Mary's, Tufts
ORANGE, CA. -- The Williams College softball team scored 23 runs over two games Tuesday to post its first two victories of the 2008 season.
The Ephs topped St. Mary's (Mn.), 16-9, in the opener, then edged conference rival Tufts, 7-6, in the nightcap, evening their record at 2-2 in the process.
Williams is back in action Thursday with games against Pugent Sound (10:45 a.m. PST) annd St. Thomas (1 p.m.)
Against Tufts, the Ephs snapped a scoreless tie with two runs in the top of the fourth when Libby Copeland-Halperin and Mary Gelber produced RBI-singles. Eph first-year Mary Beth Daub blanked a very strong hitting Jumbo team through four innings, but Tufts scored once in the fifth and then three times in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-2 lead. Williams junior shortstop Joey Lye made a great play to end the sixth, making a diving stop of a grounder and jumping up to tag a Jumbo runner.
The Ephs rallied in their half of the seventh inning. Morgan Simpson led off with a pinch-hit single and Katie Blankshain followed with a single. After an out, Becky Sansone hit an RBI-single to make it 4-3. The Jumbos made a pitching change, but Eph senior Katie Powers foiled that strategy by launching a three-run home run that put Williams up, 6-4. Not content, the Ephs added another run on an Emily Fowler-Cornfeld RBI-double.
Tufts rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but with two on and two out, first-year Caitlyn Cain came on and induced a flyout to end the contest and earn her first save.
"A very exciting game," said Ephs head coach Kris Herman. "We knew how good Tufts was. They are a very, very good hitting team and we knew they would keep coming at us. We could have given up when they took the lead, but we had some great at-bats. Morgan's single was huge, and Powers' had a fantastic at-bat, fouling off several pitches before hitting her home run. Mary Beth Daub did a great job from the circle, she really kept them off balance. It was fun."
In the opener, the Ephs put up seven runs in the first inning and again in the bottom of the fifth to pull out a 16-9 win over St. Mary's. Williams had 11 hits in the victory.
Lye had two hits in the seven-run first inning, and Copeland-Halperin roped an RBI-double. After St. Mary's scored three times in the top of the fourth to cut the Eph lead to 7-4, Powers smacked a two-run homer in the Williams half.
St. Mary's rallied again, scoring five times in the fifth to tie the game at nine, but the Ephs' second seven-run inning put them away for good. Copeland-Halperin had the big hit of the fifth, crushing a three-run home run. She finished 2 for 4 with four RBI in the win. Lye was 2 for 3 with two stolen bases and three runs scored.
Cain started for the Ephs and went the first 4 1/3. Fowler-Cornfeld relieved and went 2 2/3. She earned the victory in both games Tuesday.
