Teams: Softball: Press Releases

Monday, May 7, 2007

SOFTBALL TO MAKE NINTH NCAA APPEARANCE AT NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL

MEDFORD -- The Tufts University softball team, NESCAC champions for the fourth time this season, will play in their ninth NCAA Tournament this week. Head coach Cheryl Milligan's Jumbos are the second seed in the NCAA New England Regional to be played at Rhode Island College in Providence. Play will start this Thursday (May 10), when the Jumbos will host seventh seed Emerson College at 4:00 pm.

Tufts defeated Trinity College, 5-0, on Sunday to win the conference title. Host Rhode Island College is the top seed at the Regional, Wellesley College is third, Keene State College is fourth, Endicott College is fifth, College Misericordia from Pennsylvania is sixth and Framingham State College is eighth.

The regional champions will advance to the NCAA Division III Championship finals in Salem, Virginia May 18-22. Tufts won the New England regional in 2000 and played in Salem. Last season, the Jumbos played in an NCAA Regional at Rutgers-Camden in New Jersey and finished third. The Jumbos are 13-16 in NCAA Tournament play overall. They won three games at the 2000 Regional and again at the 2001 Regional.

Tufts is fielding one of its most talented teams this spring. The Jumbos are 28-11 overall, including an 11-1 finish in the NESCAC's East Division. Most impressively, they have put together their successful season without the services of 2006 NESCAC Player of the Year Danielle Lopez (Danvers, MA), who missed the season with a knee injury. They've also had only a limited contribution from sophomore Cara Hovhanessian (Farmington, CT), who was a key bat in the line-up last year (.336, 17 BBs, 35 RBIs). She got mono this spring.

The Jumbos are loaded with young talent. Sophomore 3B Sarah Kuhles (Somerville, NJ) has smashed the team's single-season hits and doubles records with 61 and 14, respectively, this year. She's batting .427 overall and is stellar at the hot corner. Casey Sullivan (Berlin, CT) has put together one of the best first years in the team's history. She's hitting .429 with nine home runs, and her 43 RBIs and 95 total bases are nearing Jumbo single-season marks. Christy Tinker (Woodbridge, CT) is another major first-year contributor, heading into the NCAA Tournament with a .363 batting average, four home runs and 33 RBIs. Sophomore RF Maya Ripecky (Chicago, IL) also provides pop at the plate with .384-5-27 numbers. The Jumbos are hitting .341 as a team overall.

Tinker and classmate Stefanie Tong (Burlingame, CA) were voted the conference's Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, after Tufts won the NESCAC title. Tong leads the Jumbos with a 2.05 earned run average, compiling a 7-4 record and the staff's lowest batting average against at .206. The Jumbos go four deep with winning pitchers. Sophomore Lauren Gelmetti (Westfield, NJ) pitched a no-hitter against Colby and is 8-2 with a 2.16 era and a team-high 62 strikeouts. Lauren Ebstein (Chicago, IL) has put together an excellent senior season at 5-1 with a 2.42 era. Junior Erica Bailey (Scottsdale, AZ) is 6-4 and 3.73, along with providing at the plate (.400, 21 RBIs).

Tufts faced Wellesley College and Endicott College during the season, losing to Wellesley and splitting a double-header against the Gulls.

NCAA Division III Softball Tournament Regional Bracket

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