NORTHAMPTON, Mass.—The Babson College softball team opened New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play by splitting a doubleheader with Smith College at the Smith Softball Field on Sunday afternoon. 

The Beavers built an early lead in the opener on the way to defeating the Bears, 6-4, but dropped game two 3-2. Babson (7-9) and Smith (7-6) are both 1-1 in league play. 

Game 1: Babson 6, Smith 4
First-year Anna Ziccardi (Metuchen, N.J.) went 1-for-2 with a double and two RBI at the plate and won her second consecutive start in the circle after giving up three earned runs over 4.2 innings to improve to 3-1 on the year for the Beavers. Junior Lexi Sealey (Pleasant Hill, Calif.), tossed 2.1 shutout innings of relief, and sophomore Maddy DeLong (Cranford, N.J.) both added RBI doubles as six different players recorded a hit in the win. 

Junior Taz Tamai (Cincinnati, Ohio) went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in, while first-year Violet Peverly (Granby, Conn.) and classmate Gabbie Chinnins (Charleston, S.C.) both singled twice and knocked in a run for the Bears, who recorded 12 hits in the loss. Junior Ally Knutson (Green Bay, Wis.) doubled twice and classmate Bailey Gray (Missouri City, Texas) suffered her first loss of the year in the circle after giving up five earned runs over 1.2 innings. 

The Green and White did all of its damage in the second inning, sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring all six runs with two outs. Ziccardi doubled to center to bring home junior Devin McCall (Virginia Beach, Va.) and senior Sophia Pak (New Rochelle, N.Y.) to grab a 2-0 lead. Ziccardi later scored from third on a stolen base by junior Emily Walsh (Flemington, N.J.) and DeLong and Sealy followed with back-to-back RBI doubles to make it 5-0. 

Babson, which left the bases loaded in the frame, took advantage of two errors by Smith to push across its sixth run. 

Down 6-1 going to the bottom of the fifth, Knutson scored on Peverly's single up the middle and Tamai drove in two more with a two-out knock to right as the Bears cut their deficit to 6-4. Sealey was able to strikeout sophomore Lily Hackett (Concord, N.H.) with the bases loaded to end the inning and then retired six of the seven she faced over the final two innings to record her second save. 

Game 2: Smith 3, Babson 2
Walsh and DeLong both had two hits, sophomore Belle DiCampello (Pottstown, Pa.) knocked in a pair of runs and junior Charlotte Raymond (Wrentham, Mass.) doubled to lead the Babson offense. Fellow junior Katie Vlacich (Concord, N.H.) struck out three and allowed just two earned runs over 6.1 innings but fell to 0-4 on the year with the loss. 

Knutson was 2-for-4 at the dish with a run scored and Peverly knocked in a pair of runs in addition to earning the win in the circle to improve to 4-3 this spring for the Bears. She struck out eight and gave up two runs while scattering seven hits in a complete-game effort. 

The Beavers, who fell behind 1-0 on a first-year Sophie Hasegawa (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.) RBI single with two outs in the third, stranded five runners over the first four innings before sophomore Kay LaLiberty (Lowell, Mass.) worked a leadoff walk and later scored on a sacrifice fly by DiCampello to tie things up in the fifth. Smith went back in front in the bottom of the inning though, as Knutson reached with a one-out base hit and moved to second on a ground out and third on a passed ball before scoring on Peverly's two-out knock. 

The Green and White pulled even again in the top of the seventh as Walsh and DeLong recorded back-to-back base hits and DiCampello followed with an RBI single to center two batters later to make it 2-2. The defense let the Beavers down in the bottom half of the frame though, as junior Lucy Allen (West Boylston, Mass.) reached on a dropped pop-up and moved to second on another error before racing home with the game-winning run on the third error of the inning. 

Both teams return to doubleheader action at 3 p.m. on Tuesday as Babson hosts Framingham State,  while Smith takes on Westfield State. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 40-34 all-time against Smith and had won six consecutive games over the Bears before dropping game two of Sunday's doubleheader. 
•    Babson is now 6-0 this season when leading after five innings and 6-1 on the year when scoring at least three runs.
•    Walsh extended her hitting streak to six games after recording a base hit in each contest. 
•    The Beavers are now 2-1 in games decided by two runs and 1-2 in one-run games.