MEDFORD, Mass. -- First year pitcher Meghan Dunn (Colchester, CT) allowed just one run on five hits, and junior 1B Penny King (Hanover, MA) stroked a two-run double as the Bridgewater State College softball team won 3-1 at Tufts University on Tuesday afternoon.
The game was a make-up of the second game of a doubleheader from last Thursday that was postponed due to darkness. The victory ends a 10-game losing streak by the Bears against the Jumbos dating back to 2005. Bridgewater State improved to 10-13, while Tufts dropped to 14-8.
The Jumbos scored their lone run off Dunn in the first. First year 2B Emily Beinecke (Concord, MA) earned a one-out walk, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a single through the left side by senior RF Stefanie Tong (Burlingame, CA). Beinecke would be on base three times in the game.
Tufts senior starter Erin Gallagher (Brooklyn, NY) threw three scoreless innings before Bridgewater's Heather McPherson (Mansfield, MA) and Tracey Sanko (Windsor, CT) hit back-to-back singles to open the fourth. With the runners on second and third, Gallagher retired the next two hitters before walking first year catcher Brianna Strecker (Waterford, CT) to load the bases. King followed with a blast to the fence in left for a two-run double, though Strecker was out at the plate trying to score on an excellent relay by the Jumbos.
Down 2-1, Tufts also had a runner thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs and pinch runner Bri Cilley (Wells, ME) on second, Beinecke lined a single to right and a perfect throw home by BSC's Sanko cut down Cilley at the plate.
The Bears added an unearned insurance run in the sixth, courtesy of Strecker's single. Tufts loaded the bases with two outs against Dunn in the bottom of the sixth, but the Bears' pitcher got a strikeout to end the threat. She then retired the Jumbos 1-2-3 in the seventh to earn her sixth victory of the spring.
Sanko had two of the Bears' six hits. Tong finished with two of Tufts' five hits. Gallagher was a tough-luck loser, pitching six innings allowing six hits and two earned runs.
Tufts hosts a NESCAC East Division series against Trinity at Spicer Field this weekend (Apr. 16-17). Bridgewater plays two at Wellesley College tomorrow.