Third baseman Danielle Lavallee '11 came through at the plate during the softball team's second game of a doubleheader against Wellesley College Thursday, a 3-3 decision that was called for darkness.While hitless in the first game, Lavallee capitalized with two runners in scoring position and two outs in the fifth inning of game two. After shortstop Chelsea Korp '10 picked up an RBI double earlier in the inning, Lavallee hit a double that brought home two more runs and gave the Judges a 3-2 advantage, their first lead of the game.

"Offensively, during the first game, I didn't really do as well as I would have wanted at the plate, so during the second game, I got another opportunity with runners on base and in scoring position to get a big hit when it counted," Lavallee said.

Lavallee's performance was indicative of her ability to get timely hits, something she's been doing since the beginning of the season. The rookie third baseman batted .360, fourth-highest on the team, during University Athletic Association play earlier this season, despite it being her first week playing collegiate softball.

"I think I've developed my skills more as a hitter, [so] I'm more and more confident at the plate [at the college level]," Lavallee said.

Lavallee said her experience playing travel softball for the Central Mass Rapids Gold helped her adjust to college play.

Her experience as a starting pitcher for three years on her high school's Varsity team (where she also played third base for four years) also helped her.

"I think being a pitcher helped me as a batter because I can guess what pitchers are going to throw in a certain situation and with a certain count," Lavallee said. "I [can] guess what I would throw in that situation and then hope that they would throw that too.