San Antonio, TX - The University of St. Thomas' softball team battled through a pair of hard-fought contests against Tufts University, but came up short in 10–3 and 5–3 series. The Celts kept pace through the middle innings in both games and showed resilience by responding to multiple deficits, but late surges by the Jumbos ultimately proved to be the difference. Their overall record on the season is now 15-5 and 13-2 in conference.
Game 1: Tufts 10, UST 3
Tufts opened the scoring in the first inning with a two-run triple to take an early 2–0 lead. St. Thomas answered in the third inning when Samantha Crumrin doubled to right-center field, driving in Savana Henken and Chloe Bennett to tie the score at 2–2.
The Jumbos regained the lead later in the third inning with an RBI groundout to make it 3–2, but the Celts responded again in the fifth. Viviana Vargas singled down the right field line to score Henken and tie the game at 3–3.
Tufts broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth inning, stringing together multiple extra-base hits and timely at-bats to score six runs and take a commanding 9–3 lead. The Jumbos added one more run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly to extend the advantage to 10–3.
St. Thomas was unable to recover from the fifth-inning surge, as Tufts held on to secure the victory.
Game 2: Tufts 5, UST 3
Tufts struck first in the second inning with an RBI double to take a 1–0 lead. St. Thomas answered in the bottom half of the inning when Rebecca Archibald singled through the left side to score Viviana Vargas and tie the game at 1–1.
The Jumbos regained the lead in the fifth inning, using an RBI triple and a run scored during a rundown play to move ahead 3–1. The Celts responded once again in the bottom of the inning as Ciaira Gonzalez grounded out to bring home Savana Henken, cutting the deficit to 3–2.
St. Thomas evened the score in the sixth inning when Archibald reached on a fielding error, allowing Ana Zozaya to score an unearned run and tie the game at 3–3.
The game remained tied until the eighth inning when Tufts capitalized on defensive miscues to score two unearned runs and take a 5–3 lead.
The Celts were unable to respond in the bottom half, as Tufts held on to secure the extra-inning victory.
Up Next
The University of St. Thomas' softball team seeks to find momentum for their upcoming series at Schriner University. The first pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 12PM on Saturday, March 21, in Kerrville, TX.
