The softball team traveled north to face Massachusetts in a doubleheader on Wednesday, looking to stop a 10-game skid.

The Bulldogs (3–19, 0–4 Ivy), in their first ever meeting against the Minutewomen (5–14, 0–2 Atlantic 10), were unable to come away with a win, falling 3–1 in game one and 6–1 in the rematch. Yale, however, did score in the first inning of play, preventing the Elis from being shutout for a fourth straight game.

“I think we played well overall today and started to hit the ball hard more towards the end of game two,” catcher Sarah Onorato ’15 wrote in an email to the News. “Unfortunately, we haven’t really been able to put runs on the board lately, which makes it tough on our pitchers.”

UMass entered the game on a four-game losing streak and had not played since March 22 against Saint Louis due to unplayable field conditions. The Minutewomen did not look rusty in their first game in 11 days with pitcher Caroline Raymond limiting the Bulldogs to four hits and one run in a complete-game effort.

Yale scored its first run in 19 innings off a solo shot by shortstop Brittany Labbadia ’16, her first career home run. Labbadia has been on a recent tear, recording a hit in the three games leading up to today’s contests. UMass would respond in the home half of the first inning, scoring an unearned run when first baseman Taylor Carbone, who reached on an error, scored off a triple from designated hitter Lindsey Webster.

Both teams then went hitless until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Minutewomen produced two singles. UMass pushed another run across the plate in the fifth inning, with Webster recording her second RBI on the day. The Minutewomen then added to their lead with another run in the sixth. Designated hitter Lauren Delgadillo ’16 led off the seventh inning with a single, but Yale was unable to capitalize, falling 3–1.

The Elis received another very strong outing from pitcher Lindsay Efflandt ’17 in the first game of the afternoon. She scattered 10 hits over six innings of work, allowing only two earned runs. This brings her season earned run average down to 2.38.

“I think we played well against a top-tier team today and competed throughout both games,” third baseman Hannah Brennan ’15 wrote in an email to the News.

With a new lineup in hand, the Bulldogs looked to turn their day around with a win in the second game of the doubleheader. But they were again limited to four hits, this time by Minutewomen pitchers Tara Klee and Dakota Smith-Porter.

Yale went quietly in the first inning, going three up and three down. UMass put pressure on the Bulldogs early with Carbone bringing in a run on a single in the bottom of the first inning. The Minutewomen would load the bases with two outs, but pitcher Chelsey Dunham ’14 limited the damage by forcing third baseman Anna Kelley to foul out.

In the bottom of the third inning, pitcher Kristen Leung ’14 relieved Dunham. An error in the bottom of the third inning led to three unearned runs for UMass, and Dunham replaced Leung in the circle. The Minutewomen added one run to their lead in the fourth inning. The Bulldogs would finally string together a series of hits in the top of the fifth, scoring one run. UMass picked up one more run in their last at-bat, pushing the final score to 6–1.

“The score of the games do not reflect how well we hit today,” Dunham said in an email. “Lots of the girls hit the ball very hard, but unfortunately it was right at people. If the girls keep swinging like they are, the hits will eventually find the gaps.”

The Bulldogs will look to get back on track this weekend. Yale will face Cornell in its home opener on Friday afternoon before challenging Princeton on Saturday. The Elis have yet to play on home turf this season due to unfavorable weather conditions and cancelled games.