Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 CLERMONT, Fla. – Rowan Turner (Prairie Village, Kan./Shawnee Mission East) opened the scoring in the sixth inning with a bases-loaded single to left and Natalie Burchat (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) scattered nine hits for a shutdown performance in the circle as the Smith College softball team (4-4, 1-1 NEWMAC) earned a split with Babson College (4-4, 1-1 NEWMAC) in the Conference opener for both teams.

Turner's liner plated the first of three Smith runs in the sixth, propelling the Pioneers to a 3-1 victory over the Beavers in Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader.  Babson came away with an 8-2 victory in Game 1.

Game 1:
Babson opened the day's scoring in their first at-bat of Game 1 as Josephine Mares roped a well-placed ball just inside the right-field chalk for a triple and came around to score on a sacrifice fly one batter later. 

But the lead was short-lived as in the top of the second, Smith answered back as they have for the entire week.  Lydia DeAngelo (Portsmouth, R.I./Moses Brown School) singled through the left side and stole second with two outs and Brittney Blokker (Seattle, Wash./Ballard) at the dish.  The senior, tied for the team lead with a .500 batting average, delivered with a shot into right to level the score 1-1 with her 2^nd RBI of the season.

In the third, Babson plated four runs on four base hits to take a lead they would never relinquish, with the big blow a two-out and two-RBI single through the left side off the bat of Leslie Moore.  The Beavers added two more runs in the fourth and one in the fifth before leaving the bases loaded with the score 8-1. 

The Pioneers capped the scoring in Game 1 in the top of the sixth as first-year Emma Kraus (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield), also batting .500 on the season, singled through the circle and stole second for her team-leading seventh steal of the season.  With one out, Tori Brown (New Market, Md./Linganore) laced an Ali Reilly offering up the alley in right-center for the final score line.

Kraus and Blokker each had a pair of hits to lead the Pioneer offense in Game 1.

Game 2:
Madison Dinaso and Burchat matched each other pitch for pitch in Game 2 as the two starting pitchers posted matching zeros through the first five innings.  Neither team moved a runner 60 feet from home until the bottom of the 3^rd inning, when Rachel Bullard advanced to third with two outs.  Annie Quine put a charge into a ball out to center in a bid to open the scoring, but it was tracked down by Blokker to end the threat, one of several stellar catches made by the senior into both alleys.  Blokker's excellence was matched by Ally Snyder in right and Tyler Feeney (Merrimac, Mass./Pentucket Regional) in left as Burchat induced 10 flyouts in the game.

Smith lit the scoreboard first in the top of the sixth inning as five consecutive Pioneers reached base with one out.  DeAngelo started the rally with a ringing single to right and moved to second on a fielder's choice, beating the throw to second. 

With Reilly re-entering the circle for the Beavers and inheriting the two-on-one-out jam, Blokker continued her big day with a single into the shortstop hole to load the bases for Turner, who found grass between third and short to give Smith a 1-0 advantage and bring Snyder, the team's leader in extra-base hits to the plate.  After working the count to 3-2, Snyder would not chase a high delivery, walking to send home a second run.  Burchat helped her cause with a sacrifice fly to center, and Smith led 3-0.

Babson refused to go quietly, leading off the sixth with a double and single to put runners on the corners with no outs.  Meaghan Merullo's sacrifice fly to straightaway center put the Beavers on the scoreboard, but they would get no closer as Blokker tracked down a drive off the bat of Ashley Tango on the warning track in left-center and Kraus calmly threw out Maya Lacy on a grounder to third.

Babson again put two runners on in the seventh, but the Pioneers earned the split with a pair of strong defensive plays on the infield to end the game.  Turner ranged far to her right to snare a chopper deep behind the second-base bag, flipping to shortstop Caroline Kushner (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) to catch the middle runner for the second out of the inning, and Kushner picked up the final putout several steps to her right, making a strong throw across the diamond to send Smith into the win column.

The Pioneers conclude play at the National Training Center on Thursday with a pair of non-conference games against Calvin and RPI.  First pitch against Calvin is scheduled for 9:00 AM and first pitch against RPI is scheduled for 1:00 PM.