BRUNSWICK

The Bowdoin College softball team seniors finally got their first career win against Tufts on Saturday, but not without a little controversy.

All square at 3-3 with a runner on second with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Bowdoin’s Marissa O’Toole looped a ball into shallow center field. As Emily Griffin took off from second, Tufts second baseman Samantha Siciliano tracked back toward the ball and ran into the umpire. It dropped and Griffin scored with ease to make the score 4-3.

After the play, all three umpires on the field tried to form a ruling and the Tufts coaching staff checked the rule book to see if the play was contestable. Ultimately, the two parties were unable determine whether it was or not and the run stood.

The Polar Bears then went on to close out the seventh inning and secure the 4-3 New England Small College Athletic Conference win.

“I was watching the runner on second and I wasn’t really sure where she was at the point of contact,” Bowdoin coach Ryan Sullivan said of the play. “Yeah, it was kind of a strange play, but you can’t script those kind of plays. Things happen in the game.”

By the time the seventh rolled around, Griffin was locked in on the mound. Facing the 2-3-4 hitters, she forced two ground balls and fanned the final batter of the game to seal the win.

It was a slow start for the senior, though, as she threw a four-pitch walk and gave up a single to start the game. A two-RBI base-knock from Cassie Ruscz gave Tufts a 2-0 lead and sparked a trip to the mound from Bowdoin assistant coach Jen Burton.

“The key to settling in, I think, was Jen coming out and saying ‘You’re doing yourself a disservice by being nervous,’” Griffin said. “I’m one of those pitchers where when I’m relaxed and having fun, I’m at my best. Honestly, I kind of thought to myself ‘Well, if I throw hard, I have nothing to lose. If they’re gonna hit me, they’re gonna hit me and I’m just going to do what I can.’”

Griffin got out of the inning with a grounder and her first strikeout of the game, then escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second before finding her groove. One more Tufts run came across in the fourth on backto back doubles, but Griffin had the Jumbos’ numbers down the stretch. She finished with seven strikeouts and three walks over seven full innings of work.

“She definitely had a shaky first, but I’m very proud of her effort today and I think the team knows she’s going to give a great effort when she’s out there,” Sullivan said. “She’s fully capable of the other six innings that she pitched. It’s great to get that kind of performance throughout the game.”

Patience at the plate

Tufts starter Raina Galbiati breezed through the Bowdoin lineup the first time through, but the top of the order got things cooking in the third. It started with a single from Ali Miller, who was then moved over on an infield grounder from Griffin. Griffin beat out the throw but was thrown out at second after another grounder from O’Toole. Allison Rutz drew a four-pitch walk in the ensuing at-bat and made way for Caroline Rice, who ripped a two-RBI single into left field.

In the fourth inning, it was the bottom of the order doing the work, as No. 8 hitter Samantha Valdivia led off with a single and scored on an RBI double from Jordan Gowdy in the No. 9 spot.

Patience was prevalent for the Polar Bears, who forced Galbiati out of the game in the fourth inning and had 20 at-bats of at least four pitches.

“That’s something we’ve worked on all year is to kind of be disciplined at the plate,” Sullivan said. “Make sure we swing at the pitches we want to swing at. Especially at this point in the year, 30th game of the year, we’ve had enough practice working on those techniques and the kids did a really nice job today.”

Griffin, on the fifth pitch of her at-bat in the sixth, laced a double into the gap to set up O’Toole in the three spot.

“I think we’ve really turned our mindset to hitting the pitches that we want to hit, being aggressive, rather than defensive hitting,”

Griffin said. “You see that, even though we do get in really deep counts with two strikes, there’s not as many strikeouts as there were last year. I think that’s definitely something we’ve shifted in our mindset.”

Tufts relief pitcher Gillian O’Connor got a ground ball to end the inning, but Griffin’s spot-on final frame ended the afternoon. The win was Bowdoin’s 13th in a row and was extra special for Griffin.

“It feels amazing,” Griffin said. “This is my senior year and I’ve wanted this every year. To finally have it is something else.”

The Polar Bears have won 20 of their last 21 games and haven’t lost since April 2 at Trinity.

“It’s just been a really great group,” Sullivan said. “I think the important thing is they’ve been really close-knit and really hung together at challenging, strategic times. That’s been really rewarding for the players is they’ve had each other’s backs the entire time.”

Sunday double

Tufts bounced back on Sunday, sweeping a doubleheader against Bowdoin to take the series.

Bowdoin dropped to 24-8 overall, 6-3 in the NESCAC, while Tufts improved to 18-12, 6-4 in conference.

In the opener, Tufts rolled to an 8-1 win behind O’Connor’s four-hitter. She struck out three.

Miller was 2-for-3 at the plate for Bowdoin.

Tufts completed the sweep with a 6-3 victory in the nightcap. O’Connor again pitched for the Jumbos, going six innings on eight hits.

Gowdy was 2-for-3 for Bowdoin, which host the University of New England on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. for doubleheader.

Bowdoin 4, Tufts 3

Tufts — 200 100 0 — 3-7-1
Bowdoin — 002 101 X — 4-9-1
Raina Galbiati, Gillian O’Connor (4)
and Raven Fournier; Emily Griffin and
Claire McCarthy.
Repeat Hitters — (T) Summer
Horowitz; (B) Emily Griffin, Marissa
O’Toole.
Doubles — (T) Summer Horowitz,
Emily Serata; (B) Emily Griffin, Jordan Gowdy.
Records — Bowdoin 24-8, Tufts 18-
12.
Up next for the Polar Bears — Doubleheader at home against the University of New England on Tuesday, 4
p.m.