In softball, the art of slap hitting involves getting a running start and, in the words of 19th-century baseball star “Wee Willie” Keeler, “hitting ’em where they ain’t.”

Very few do it better than Caroline Bass ’21 of Newton, Mass., and Andrea Russo ’19 of Cheshire, Conn.

Russo has 120 career hits entering Friday afternoon’s NESCAC tournament game against Amherst — just seven shy of the Bates career hits record.

Meanwhile, this year Bass broke the program records for hits and runs scored in a single season.

Their prowess at the top of the order has propelled Bates to a program-record 20 wins this season.