Teams: Softball: Press Releases

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

JUMBOS TO HOST NESCAC SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT FOR THE THIRD TIME

The Tufts University softball team will be playing for its fourth New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championship at home on Spicer Field this weekend. Tufts won the NESCAC East Division pennant for the fifth time overall and for the third straight year this season, earning the right to host the conference tournament.

Junior tri-captain Megan Cusick and the rest of the Jumbos will compete at home for the program's first NESCAC title in four years this weekend

Under a new format that had each team playing divisional opponents three times this season, Tufts rolled to an 11-1 record in the NESCAC East. Six of those wins were eight-run rule shortened games, and the Jumbos out-scored their opponents 85-14 in 12 divisional games. The Jumbos are 25-11 overall and have been ranked first in the New England Intercollegiate Softball Coaches Association poll for a few weeks.

In the first round of the 2007 tournament on Friday (May 4), the Jumbos will host Wesleyan University at 2:30 pm. NESCAC West champion Williams College will play Trinity College in Fridays second game at 5:00 pm. The double-elimination tournament will continue on Saturday and Sunday (May 5-6). The Jumbos will be looking to knock rival Williams off the throne. The Ephs, coached by former Tufts leader Kris Herman, have won three straight conference titles. They have defeated the Jumbos in the championship game two straight seasons.

After a good showing at the 2006 NCAA Tournament Regionals last year, Tufts added a strong recruiting class and came home with an 8-4 record from their spring break trip to California in March. Among the wins was a 12-6 final over Sun West tournament host and sixth-ranked Chapman. However, Tufts lost the last two games of the trip and that evolved into a skid that saw them lose five out of nine games.

Head coach Cheryl Milligans Jumbos appear to have righted the ship with 15 wins in their last 18 games. They rank second in NESCAC in hitting with a .341 average, third in pitching with a 2.74 earned run average and second in fielding with a .952 percentage. Their 253 runs scored lead the league.

"We have one of the most talented teams I have seen in a long time," Milligan said. "There are 21 skilled and able players on this team, we are deeper than we have ever been, and we have several players having outstanding years. The competition will be tough, and the trophy will go to the best team on the field this weekend, so we will have to come out and show our true heart if we want to take home the championship.

"We have everything we need and we'll be heading into the weekend confident," she continued. "It will be a matter of getting the key outs and timely hits."

Three Jumbos are among the top 10 in the NESCAC batting statistics. Sophomore 3B Samantha Kuhles (Somerville, NJ/Rutgers Prep) is fifth at .417, first-year infielder Casey Sullivan (Berlin, CT/Suffield Academy) is right behind her at .415 and sophomore RF Maya Ripecky (Chicago, IL/Northside) is 10th with a .395 mark. Sullivan, the reigning NESCAC Player of the Week, leads NESCAC with nine home runs and 42 RBIs, and is also among the NESCAC leaders with her 51 hits and 38 runs scored. Kuhles already has the Tufts single-season record with 55 hits this spring, and she leads the conference with 12 doubles. Sullivan and Kuhles are first and third, respectively, in total bases.

The pitching staff boasts the top two earned run averages in the conference. Sophomore Lauren Gelmetti (Westfield, NJ/Westfield), who threw a five-inning no-hitter at Colby on Saturday (Apr. 28), is 7-2 with a 2.05 mark. First-year hurler Stefanie Tong (Burlingame, CA/University School) is right behind her with a 2.25 era and 6-4 won-loss mark. The Jumbos have also received effective pitching from junior Erica Bailey (Scottsdale, AZ/Chaparral) and senior tri-captain Lauren Ebstein (Chicago, IL/Loyola Academy).

Tufts won NESCAC titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003. They defeated Bowdoin 8-2 to win the 2001 title, beat Williams 2-0 for the 2002 title and knocked off the Ephs again 4-1 to win it in 2003. The team will be looking to make its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance by earning the conferences automatic qualifier if they win the tournament championship this weekend. If they do not win the tournament, the Jumbos could receive an at-large berth into the NCAAs.

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