Colby softball had a week packed with double-header games against Husson University, the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) and Tufts University. The Mules came out of the six-game stretch with three wins and three losses.

In the first game against Husson, Colby had three hits and two runs, resulting in a 2-1 victory. Husson snagged the first run of the game in the fourth inning after three errors by the Mules. Katie Graichen ’12 took advantage of a Husson error to get on base. After a sacrifice bunt from Lindsay Peterson ’13, an RBI single from Barbara Santos ’11 and a double from Brianne Wheeler ’14, Colby snagged the 2-1 lead and never relinquished it. Pitcher Aimee Polimeno ’14 allowed only three Husson hits, striking out two, helping to maintain the lead and bring home the first Colby victory of the week.

The second game against Husson went into extra innings after seven scoreless innings. Lauren Becker ’13 allowed no hits through seven. At the start of each extra inning, a runner was placed on second base. In the top of the eighth, Husson finally broke the scoreless streak by bringing home a run. In retaliation, Graichen hit an RBI single for the Mules in the bottom of the eighth that scored Kelsey Yardumian ’14. The ninth inning saw no runs scored, but in the tenth Husson’s Amanda Gifford slammed a triple to give them the lead. Refusing to give up, the Mules put runners on first and third, but were unable to bring home a run, losing 2-1.

A few days later the Mules faced UMF at Colby. Early in the fifth inning, UMF made two errors; the first allowed Santos to reach second base, and the second brought Alyssa Lepore ’11 to second and Santos home. This was the only run of the game, and the Mules got their second win of the week with Polimeno pitching to her third victory.

The Beavers were blown out of the park in the second game by a 10-2 Colby win. Santos, Lepore, Peterson and Wheeler all had two hits apiece. Santos and Lepore both had doubles; Santos scored three runs and Peterson two. Becker scored a run while also pitching five innings with seven strikeouts, allowing only one hit.

The doubleheader at Tufts saw a 6-0 loss and a 4-0 loss for the Mules. Colby had just three hits in the first game—singles from Lepore, Peterson and Santos—and was unable to bring a runner home. In the second game, Colby loaded the bases on singles by Lepore, Wheeler and Becker, but a strikeout by Tufts pitcher Izzie Santone and a double play from Katherine Darveau brought the end of the inning before Colby could score. The loss dropped Colby into 7-16 overall, and 0-8 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).

Santos was optimistic about the Mules’ chance for redemption in next weekend’s games. “We are looking to end the season on a positive note with a couple wins over Bates,” she said. “Our games with Bates are always very close and highly competitive, so it should be a fun weekend to close out the season.  Everybody loves to beat Bates.”

The softball team will travel to Bates for a 4:00 p.m. game on Friday. The two teams will face each other again at Colby on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.