Softball, baseball, tennis, track and field, and sailing stay in national competitions; women’s lacrosse is NCAA championship runner-up and men’s lacrosse falls in final four
Freshman pitcher Sophia DiCocco threw a one-hit shutout and senior Reegan Coleman scored the winning run on a passed ball as the Tufts softball team defeated host Husson University 1-0 to win the NCAA regional on May 23.
Head coach Lauren Ebstein’s Jumbos (21-5), who were the fifth seed in the regional, advance to the NCAA College World Series in Salem, Virginia, starting on May 27.
Tufts went 4-0 at the regional and won three times in the seventh inning. Prior to the Husson game, they defeated Eastern Connecticut 2-1 earlier on May 23 with a run in the top of the seventh. On May 21 the Jumbos opened NCAA action by scoring twice in the top of the seventh to overtake Babson 2-1.
Also this past weekend, women’s lacrosse came within a couple of goals of the national championship, but fell in the final to Salisbury 14-13 on May 23. The Jumbos, playing in the NCAA final for the first time, end the year with a 9-1 mark.
“Two-and-a-half months ago, we weren’t positive we were going to be able to play,” said head coach Courtney Shute. “We started playing contact lacrosse for the first time just over two months ago, and here they are in the national championship. I couldn’t be more proud of them and everything they’ve accomplished together.”
The Jumbos, playing the final at Roanoke College, were led with four goals and two assists from Catherine Lawliss, while Emily Games finished with three goals and one assist. Anna Clarke won eight draws for Tufts and Molly Laliberty made nine saves.
The same day, the men’s lacrosse team fell 18-16 in an NCAA final four match-up against the Rochester Institute of Technology. The Jumbos end the year with a 9-1 record.
Mac Bredahl led the Jumbos with three goals and two assists. Jack Boyden (three points overall), Max Waldbaum, Cam Kelleher, Garrett Samuelson, and Kurt Bruun all scored twice for Tufts. Joe Theuer finished with 15 saves and Finn McTernan caused two turnovers and scooped up three ground balls.
On May 24, the women’s tennis team advanced in the NCAA quarterfinals bracket with a win over Sewanee, the University of the South. They next face Emory.
Looking Ahead
The Tufts baseball team will make its ninth appearance in the NCAA tournament starting May 27 at the Auburn, New York regional. The Jumbos (12-6), seeded fifth in the six-team regional, will open play against number two seed SUNY Cortland (27-6). This is the Tufts program’s fourth berth in the last five seasons.
Competing in the singles and doubles competitions of the 2021 NCAA Division III men’s tennis championships are Tufts senior Boris Sorkin and junior Isaac Gorelik in singles and the doubles tandem of Sorkin with sophomore Josh Belandres.
The individual championships consist of 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams. The singles and doubles championships will be played May 28-30 at Champions Tennis Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
At the same tournament, sophomore Tilly Rigby in singles and the doubles combination of juniors Maggie Dorr and Caroline Garrido will be competing in the singles and doubles portion of the women’s tennis championships.
Rewarding an outstanding 2021 season, nine Jumbo women’s track and field competitors qualified for the 2021 NCAA Division III championships coming up May 27-29 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
This season’s number of outdoor qualifiers is believed to be a record for the Jumbos. Traveling to compete at the Irwin Belk Complex will be sophomore Jaidyn Appel, sophomore Meghan Davis, sophomore Campbell Devlin, junior co-captain Tara Lowensohn, junior co-captain Hannah Neilon, junior Danielle Page, senior co-captain Melissa Rowland, junior Anna Slager and sophomore Lia Rotti.
Freshman Luke Botsford will compete in the 400 meters NCAA Division III men’s track and field championships, also in Greensboro. He will run in the 400 preliminaries on May 28. The New England Small College Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year this spring, Botsford is the only New England competitor in the men’s NCAA 400 field.
The co-ed sailing team will be at the ICSA Team Racing Championships in Annapolis June 2-3.
