Wednesday, May 7, 2003

GRIECO WINS SOFTBALL'S FOURTH NESCAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

MEDFORD – Sophomore pitcher Caroline Grieco (Manasquan, NJ/Wall) of the Tufts University Softball team is the fourth player on the team to earn the New England Small College Athletic Conference's (NESCAC) Player of the Week this season. Grieco was honored on Monday (May 5) after pitching the team to two victories at the NESCAC Championships hosted by Colby College, which Tufts won for the third straight year.

NESCAC Player of the Week honors in Softball were awarded six times this season. Of the eight players recognized (two weeks featured co-recipients), half have been Jumbos. Freshman pitcher Julie Brenta (San Anselmo, CA/Redwood), senior C Lis Drake (Chelmsford, MA/Chelmsford) and junior 3B Julie Fox (Willow Springs, IL/Lyons Township) earned the honor prior to Grieco.

Grieco pitched Tufts to wins in the two most important games of the NESCAC Tournament: the first and the last. She shut out Williams, 4-0, in the opener on Friday (May 2), allowing six hits and no walks in seven innings. In the championship final on Sunday (May 4), she again stymied the Ephs giving up one run on four hits and one walk in seven innings. For the tournament, she was 2-0 with a 0.50 earned run average, and allowed 10 hits and one walk in 14 innings. Tufts advances to play in its seventh straight NCAA Tournament this week.

Emerging as the team's #1 pitcher this spring after backing up All-American Jodie Moreau last season, Grieco enters the NCAAs with a 9-3 record and 1.63 era, which both stand second in NESCAC. She has made 12 starts and finished seven games, compiling 81.2 innings total. Opponents are hitting just .244 against her.

The Jumbos are 25-11 overall and finished 6-2 in the NESCAC's East Division. They tied with Colby for first in the division, but lost a tie-breaker to determine which team would host the NESCACs. The Jumbos have played 33 of their 36 games away from home.

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