It was a matter of which pitcher was going to blink first.
Bowdoin College hurler Melissa DellaTorre and Tufts All-American Allyson Fournier were locked up in a classic pitcher’s duel, both tossing five innings of scoreless softball and neither appearing ready to allow much.
Fournier was dominant, striking out 17 Polar Bears, including the final out with the tying run at the plate in the seventh inning. Fournier did not allow a hit and walked three.
“She is an All-American for a reason and is very good,” said Bowdoin coach Ryan Sullivan. “When you look at it, Melissa allowed a bunt single, a hard-hit single and got behind against Holland, battled back, and made one bad pitch. They took advantage of it, something a good team like Tufts does.”
“She is an elite pitcher and is able to read batters,” said Polar Bears center fielder Gen Barlow of Fournier. “Her go-to pitch is the riseball, and we swung at it a lot, more than we wanted to. She has a good screw, curve and works a change in there when she has to. Her velocity was definitely a changer, something we hadn’t seen this year.”
For the second consecutive week, DellaTorre was the hard-luck loser. Against Trinity on March 29, the Bowdoin junior allowed just one hit in a 1-0 loss, and Friday she permitted just four base-knocks and three walks, with six strikeouts.
“She always wants the ball, and doesn’t care that she is going against an All-American,” said Sullivan of Della- Torre. “You can look at stats and infer a conclusion, but her won-loss record does not infer how good she is. She pitches against the other team’s best pitcher. She is a competitor.”
“Melissa is an awesome pitcher, and we have to do our part behind her with the bats,” added Barlow. “We know we have the best chance to win when she is on the mound.”
Scoreless start
After allowing a firstinning walk to Tufts slugger Jo Clair, DellaTorre retired eight consecutive Jumbo hitters before permitting a second walk to Clair with one out in the fourth. She set down the next two Tufts hitters for four scoreless frames.
Fournier had all her pitches working. She walked Barlow in the first, but set down the next 16 Bowdoin hitters, including seven consecutive strikeouts at one point.
Christina Raso delivered the first hit of the game with a single to lead-off the fifth for Tufts, and a one-out walk to Abby Curran put two runners on. But, DellaTorre struck out Bri Keenan and retired Sara Hedtler on a popup to keep the game scoreless.
DellaTorre wasn’t as fortunate in the sixth. Michelle Cooprider dropped down a bunt and beat the throw to first, and Clair (1-for-1, reached base three times) singled sharply to left field to put the first two runners on. With one out, Holland turned on a DellaTorre 3-2 pitch. Mitman slammed into the left-field fence, but the ball dropped inches beyond her glove for a 3-0 Jumbos’ lead.
In the Bowdoin seventh, Toni DaCampo and Katie Gately walked with one out. Shortstop Keenan made a diving catch of a Victoria Rusch flyball along the third-base line for the second out, and Fournier’s 17th strikeout ended the first game of the three-game weekend series.
Saturday doubleheader
Tufts swept Bowdoin in their weekend series with 5-2 and 7-1 victories.
The Polar Bears dropped to 13-9 (2-4 NESCAC) as the sixth-ranked Jumbos improved to 20-2 (6-0 NESCAC).
Bowdoin scored a pair of runs in the opening inning of the first game. Hannah Wurgaft singled to left field and advanced to second off a single from DaCampo. Barlow advanced both runners with a sacrifice down the third base line. Gately and Adriane Krul each followed with consecutive RBI hits to put Bowdoin on top 2-0.
The Polar Bears carried their lead into the sixth inning before the Jumbos answered. Clair opened the inning with a double to center, before moving to third off a single by Emily Beinecke. Kayla Holland knocked in the RBI single to close the gap. Tufts continued to fill the bases and move runners, until Curran chopped a grounder to second base, allowing Holland to come in and tie the game. The 2-2 game extended into extra innings, where Cooprider had a three-run RBI double in the eighth inning to put the Jumbos on top, 5-2. Bowdoin was unable to answer in the bottom of the inning as Fournier shut down the Polar Bears in relief, taking the win with 3.0 perfect innings in the circle.
Julia Geaumont tossed six strong innings in the start for Bowdoin, allowing five hits and two earned runs before giving way to DellaTorre, who took the loss with two innings of relief.
Tufts jumped out to an early lead in the second game.
Cooprider singled to left and Beinecke later drover her in to give the Jumbos a 1-0 lead. Fournier continued her dominant pitching performance and retired the Bowdoin lineup, three up, three down, through the opening five innings. Tufts continued to put runs on the board, including a two-run, stand-up triple from Raso in the third, and capitalizing on mistakes in the fifth to increase their lead to 7-0. Geaumont scored the Polar Bears’ lone run with a solo shot to lead off the sixth.
The Polar Bears will face Southern Maine for a weekday double-header on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
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