Teams: Softball: Schedule & Results

COLLEGE SOFTBALL FINAL SCORE
NCAA Tournament Regional
Tufts 9, Coast Guard 2

Game Box Score

Christy Tinker had RBIs in three different innings for the Jumbos

BEVERLY -- Top-seeded Tufts scored five runs in the second inning en route to a 9-2 win over third-seeded Coast Guard in the winners' bracket final of the 2009 NCAA Division III Softball New England Regional at Endicott College on Saturday.

Coast Guard will take on Springfield, one final time, at noon on Sunday. The winner will have to beat Tufts at 2:00 on Sunday and then again on Monday morning to advance to the 2009 NCAA Division III Softball Championship in Montclair, New Jersey next week.

Springfield and Coast Guard will meet for the sixth time this season. The Bears beat the Pride 7-4 on Friday. Coast Guard won the two regular-season meetings, while Springfield won both games in the NEWMAC tournament.

Tufts (41-1-) had 12 hits and took advantage of five Coast Guard errors. They scored in the first on a lead-off single by senior CF Laura Chapman (Seattle, WA), who stole second on scored on a two-out single by junior 1B Christy Tinker (Woodbridge, CT).

During the five-run second inning, junior SS Casey Sullivan (Berlin, CT) hit a two-run single and Tinker added a two-run double. The Jumbos pushed their lead to 7-0 in the fourth when Chapman reached by error, stole second, advanced to third on a single and scored on a ground out by Tinker, her fourth RBI of the game.

The Bears (38-6-1) scored their runs against Tufts starter Lauren Gelmetti (Westfield, NJ) on a two-run single by freshman Jamie Kim in the top of the sixth cutting the lead to 7-2. The Jumbos (41-1) scored a pair of unearned runs in the home half of the inning to close the scoring. Chapman had her third stolen base of the game during the inning.

Freshman Hayley Feindel (33-5) went the distance for the Bears and allowed a season-high six earned runs while walking none and striking out a season-low two.

Coast Guard had a few chances early, but they could not take advantage against Gelmetti, who left the bases loaded in the first before leaving runners on second and third in the second inning. Gelmetti improved to 19-0 in the game.

Chapman was 3 for 4 with four runs scored at the top of the Tufts order. Senior catcher Cara Hovhanessian (Farmington, CT) and senior Roni Herbst (Montclair, NJ) had two hits in the game, along with Tinker.

Senior Colleen Denny was 2 for 2 accounting for two of the Bears six hits in the game.

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