#8 Wesleyan Bounced from NESCAC Tournament in Quarterfinal Loss to #1 Tufts

BRUNSWICK, Me. – The eight-seed Wesleyan softball team suffered a 12-1 defeat to the top-seed Tufts on Friday afternoon in the Quarterfinal round of the NESCAC Tournament hosted by Bowdoin. Wesleyan closes out the 2026 season with a 18-18 record.

Wesleyan strung some hits together early in the contest as

Rebecca Cassel-Siskind '26 tripled in the second at-bat of the game. Then in the 2

nd,

Nicole Celi '27 came through with a two-out RBI double out to center to plate

Whitney Gigante '28 from second, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

Tufts tied the score in the bottom of the 2

nd on a Mack Seibel RBI single to left then Lauryn Horita sent a two-out, two-run shot over the fence out in center field to make it 3-1 Tufts at the end of two innings of play.

The Jumbos then broke the game open in the 3

rd, plating six runs on five hits, sending 11 batters to the plate in the inning. Paige Murphy led off with a solo shot out to left then Seibel plated two more on a single to center with the bases loaded. Murphy later singled to right for two more runs in the frame.

Tufts made it 12-1 with three more runs in the 4

th, all of which coming around to score with two outs in the inning, then Avery Kanouse threw a shutout inning in the 5

th to finish off the 12-1 win.

Wesleyan's 18-win 2026 season is the second-highest single-season win total since 2017. The Cardinals see a talented group of five players graduate in a few weeks as Cassel-Siskind,

Molly Lennon '26,

Cat Palmer '26,

Alexis Amante '26, and

Kelly Baker '26 all played their final game in the red and black this afternoon.