Wednesday

Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Written by Julie Fox

SOFTBALL SET TO DEFEND NESCAC CHAMPIONSHIP AT WILLIAMS

MEDFORD -- The three-time defending New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) champion Tufts University Softball team (16-14) will be the East Division's second seed in the upcoming conference tournament to be held at Williams College this weekend, April 30-May 2.

Williams (25-6) won the right to host the double-elimination tournament as the #1 seed in the West. Completing the field is Bowdoin College (21-8), the East's #1 seed, and Middlebury College (20-6), the West's #2 seed. The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. The Jumbos are seeking their eighth straight trip to the NCAA tournament.

Head Coach Cheryl Milligan's team will play Williams in the first game of the conference championships at 2:30 on Friday, to be followed by Bowdoin vs. Middlebury at 5. The Jumbos have a 1-2 record against the other three tournament teams, losing to Williams in a spring-trip game in California in which they allowed two unearned runs in a 2-0 loss. The Jumbos more recently split a double-header against Bowdoin on April 9, winning the first game 7-5 while dropping the second 3-1 in eight innings. The Jumbos take a nine-game winning streak into the tournament.

Once again, the Tufts offense will be tough to overcome for their opponents. The Jumbos are hitting .292 as a team, second in the NESCAC behind Middlebury (.326). They are at or near the top of the NESCAC in quite a few offensive categories, including second in slugging percentage (.399), second in on-base percentage (.346), third in runs scored (127), second in hits (241), second in RBIs (109), first in doubles (39), first in home runs (15), and first in total bases (329).

Junior clean-up hitter Katie Smith (Convent Station, NJ/Morristown) leads the NESCAC with a .430 batting average (40 for 93). She also has seven doubles and four home runs, and is tied for the team and NESCAC lead with 23 RBIs. Senior tri-captain and leadoff hitter Deana Davidian (Pelham, NY/Pelham) has been an excellent table-setter with a .382 batting average (42 for 110), good for sixth in the NESCAC. Her 42 hits are tops in the league. She has scored a NESCAC-leading 24 runs and has a team-leading eight doubles, fourth in the NESCAC. She also has a triple and a homerun to go along with 10 RBIs.

Hitting in the number five slot, junior SS Courtney Bongiolatti (Locust, NJ/MIddletown) is third on the team with a .367 batting average (36 for 98). She leads the NESCAC with six home runs and 63 total bases. She also has seven doubles, a triple, and is tied for the team and NESCAC lead with 23 RBIs. Senior tri-captain Julie Fox (Willow Springs, IL/Lyons Township) finishes up the Tufts' formidable four with a .352 batting average (32 for 91) to go along with five doubles, three home runs, and 16 RBIs. She has been put on base a team-high 10 times, with seven walks and three HBPs.

Freshman outfielder Annie Ross (Newton, MA/Newton South) is also hitting well while splitting left-field duty this season, hitting .280 (14 for 50) in 19 games with two doubles and 7 RBIs. Sophomore Laura Spring (Sutton, MA/Sutton), who has seen action at third base and in the outfield this season, has four doubles thus far, including a very key pinch-hit leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh inning against Eastern Connecticut last Thursday. Spring eventually came around to scoring the game-winning run. Senior tri-captain and center fielder Maggie McClory (Melrose, MA/Melrose) is hitting .253 (22 for 87) with eight RBIs and is tied for the team lead with seven walks. Freshman third baseman Sarah Taylor (Marshfield, MA/Marshfield) has shown a good eye thus far this season, walking seven times and sporting a .327 OBP.

The Tufts defense has been solid once again, sporting a team .947 fielding average, third in the league behind Williams and Middlebury. The team has turned 11 double plays, second in the NESCAC behind Bates, while catcher Fox leads the NESCAC with 6 runners picked off. The pitching staff has been effective as well, with a staff ERA of 4.29. While a clear ace has not emerged, the staff has shared the pitching load fairly evenly. Five different pitchers won games for the Jumbos in a 5-0 week last week. Junior Caroline Grieco (Manasquan, NJ/Wall) leads the team with a 3.91 ERA in a team-high 53.0 innings of work. Sophomore Julia Brenta (San Anselmo, CA/Redwood) follows with an ERA of 4.22 in 49.0 innings of work. Senior Pam Swidler (Stamford, CT/Stamford) has a 4.46 ERA in 42 1/3 innings of work with a team-high 28 strikeouts, while sophomore Sarah Conroy (Biddeford, ME/Biddeford) sports a 4.64 ERA in 33 innings of work. The fifth pitcher to win last week, freshman Lauren Ebstein (Chicago, IL/Loyola Academy), has a 4.58 ERA in 17 2/3 innings of work this season.

Tufts is in a similar situation as last year, coming in as the East's second seed and facing Williams in the first round of the tournament. Last season the Jumbos were able to come out on top with a 4-0 win in the first round of the tournament, then continued on to beat Colby in the second round 4-0. The team dropped the first possible championship game 2-1 to Williams before defeating them 4-1 in the last game of the tournament to secure the conference championship.

In the three year history of the NESCAC Tournament, Tufts has a 9-1 record, including a 5-1 record against Williams and a 1-0 record against Bowdoin. The Jumbos have never faced Middlebury in the conference championships. The tournament will continue on Saturday at 10 with a game between the losers of Friday's games, followed by a game between the winners of Friday's games at 12:30. A third game will be played on Saturday at 3:00 between the winner of the first game on Saturday against the loser of the second game on Saturday. The two remaining teams will play in the first championship game at 10:00 am on Sunday, with a second game on Sunday played 20 minutes after the first game, if necessary.