Tufts Recovers from Early Deficit to Down Trinity in Softball Championship
Courtesy Williams Sports Information
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Trailing by six runs late in the game, the Tufts University offense erupted for 11 unanswered runs to pull out a 13-8 victory over Trinity in an elimination game of the 2006 NESCAC Softball Tournament Saturday at Cole Fields.
Tufts (26-13) advances to face Williams (28-8) in the championship game of the double-elimination tournament Sunday at 10 a.m. If the Jumbos defeat Williams, the two will play a second game 20 minutes following the conclusion of the first and the winner will be crowned champion.
An eight-run second inning put Trinity in the driver's seat at 8-2. Sara Dougherty started the uprising with a double and ended it with a two-run homer run to right field. On the mound, she quieted the Jumbo bats until the bottom of the fifth.
But in the Tufts fifth, the Jumbos parlayed eights hits and an error into a seven-run rally to take a 9-8 lead. Maya Ripecky had an RBI-single, as did Danielle Lopez. A two-run double to center by Cara Hovhanessian continued the rally. Mara Dodson's two-run single to left tied the game, and Dodson scored the go-ahead run when Megan Cusick's grounder to short was misplayed.
Tufts didn't stop there, adding four more runs on four hits in the bottom of the sixth. Lopez and Cusick each had two-run singles that put the game away.
Lopez finished 2 for 4 with four RBIs for Tufts. Samantha Kuhles hit 3 for 4 with three runs scored. Hovhanessian was 1 for 2 with three RBIs. Cusick was 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Lauren Gelmetti earned the win for Tufts with 5 1/3 innings of strong relief. She allowed only five hits, did not walk a batter, and fanned two.
Dougherty took the loss for Trinity, giving up nine runs on nine hits over five innings. She was 3 for 4 at the plate with two RBIs and two runs scored.
