The softball team swept a three-game series against Bates last weekend to clinch a NESCAC playoff spot. As the second seed from the NESCAC East Division, Bowdoin earned a spot among the four teams moving on to the NESCAC Championships. The team pushed its consecutive win record to 12 with the sweep against Bates, and beat Husson on Sunday in the first game of its doubleheader. The Polar Bears lost the second game, ending their undefeated stretch at 13 games.
“Our goal was to make the tournament; to do that, you have to be either first or second, and we were able to achieve that,” said Head Coach Ryan Sullivan. “Other teams will be wrapping up with NESCAC play this weekend, so it’s great to be able to go and play that extra weekend.”
On Sunday, although the women were able to take Husson 12-5 in the opener, they were unable to keep up their momentum, losing 5-0 in the second game.
“Husson’s a very good team, and we played well throughout the first game, but in the second game we were a little off-balance,” said Sullivan. “They had a very good pitcher, and the conditions were windy. We weren’t able to get much in terms of offense, and that let them pull ahead in the end.”
Captain Gen Barlow ’13 remarked on her satisfaction with the weekend’s endeavors.
“I thought this weekend went really well,” said Barlow. “We broke the record for the most wins in a row, which was nice, and it was great being able to sweep Bates and clinch that playoff berth.”
Yesterday, Bowdoin split its doubleheader against the University of New England (UNE). In the first game, both teams scored in the first inning, and UNE took a one-run advantage off a sacrafice bunt in the fourth inning. Bowdoin rebounded to even the score up in the fifth inning, but a big seventh inning from UNE gave them a four-run lead. Bowdoin came close to tying the game, but fell two runs short by the final out to lose, 6-4.
The team rebounded quickly in the second match, as Melissa DellaTorre ’14 and Tricia Thibodeau ’13 pitched a shutout game that ended 5-0. Barlow went 3-3, hitting a single, double and home run.