May 8, 2009

BEVERLY, Mass. - Tufts' Danielle Lopez (Danvers, Mass.) sent a two-run homerun to left-centerfield in the top of the ninth inning to propel the top-seeded Jumbos to a 3-1 win over fifth-seeded Emerson in NCAA Regional Tournament play on Friday afternoon in Beverly, Mass. The win improves the Jumbos' record to a remarkable 40-1 and 2-0 in tournament play.

After five innings of scoreless softball, Tufts got on board first when Emerson committed consecutive throwing errors to open the door for the Jumbos. Samantha Kuhles (Somerville, N.J.) dropped down a sacrifice bunt, only to have Nikki Battaglia (Freehold, N.J.) airmail the throw to first allowing Laura Chapman (Seattle, Wash.) to score from second to take the 1-0 lead.

The Lions roared back in the home half of the sixth as Emerson's Bridget Farago (Oneonta, N.Y.) broke up Izzie Santone's (Madison, Conn.) no-hit bid, reaching on an infield single. Kuhles made a diving stop on Farago's hot shot to the right side, but Farago beat the throw to first by half a step. After the Emerson base runner stole second, Kendall Pieguss (Suquamish, Wash.) singled up the middle to knot the game at 1-1.

Emerson had a chance to win the game in the seventh inning but could not capitalize off what appeared to be a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt. Lynn Herman (Boca Raton, Fla.) got the threat started as she reached on a Tufts' error, and was promptly replaced with pinch-runner Jordan Newell (Palm City, Fla.). Lions' pitcher Kelsey Tuthill (Middlefield, Conn.) bunted the freshman over to second as the Tufts defense retired Tuthill at first, 5-4. As the throw made its way to first to put out Tuthill, Jordan Newell took two steps off second base, leaning towards third. The miscue caught the eye of the Jumbos' defense where they threw behind Newell and caught her with the tag to escape the inning unscathed.

The game would remain tied until Lopez's two-run blast to in the top of the ninth inning put the Jumbos ahead, 3-1. After Kuhles reached base on her second consecutive bunt single, Lopez hit the game-winning homerun to left-center field to put Tufts ahead for good.

Both pitchers went the distance as Tuthill suffered the hard-luck loss with nine strikeouts in nine innings of work. Santone struck out five batters and walked just one in the extra-innings victory. Both pitchers surrendered just four hits on the afternoon.

Tufts stays in the winner's bracket where it will face the winner of Friday's Coast Guard vs. Springfield College game. Emerson looks to avoid elimination as they will meet the Anchorwomen of Rhode Island College at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.