WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — Some days you just don't have it.
Saturday was one of those rare days for the Williams College softball team, as it dropped a 10-0, 5-inning decision to Tufts in Game 1 of the 2021 NESCAC Championship Series, then fell 7-2 in Game 2 to watch as the Jumbos earned the 2021 NESCAC Championship.
Tufts junior Nicole Russo went 3 for 3 with two home runs, four RBI and three runs scored in the second contest while Casey Maggiore hit a three-rum home run. In the opener, Senior Kristina Haghdan pitched a two-hit shutout without walking a batter and striking out 11 Ephs on the day.
"A big congrats to Tufts — they're by far the best team we played this year and they played well at all facets of the game," Ephs' head coach
Kris Herman said. "We did not have our best day today, and yet we are proud of our battle this season and hope we get to play another game or two.'
Tufts earned the NESCAC automatic berth into the Div. 3 NCAA Tournament after winning its 12th NESCAC championship overall and improving to 17-3 on the season. The Ephs will hope for an at-large berth into the tourney, the selection show is Monday. They suffered their first two losses of 2021 and fell to 12-2.
In the opener, Haghdan faced off with Ephs senior
Kirstin Mapes and after 1 /2 innings it was scoreless. The Ephs had their only real scoring opportunity in the second when senior
Gabi Cirigliano and
Bailey Burger-Moore drilled back to back singles and a subsequent wild pitch put the runners on second and third with one out. But Haghdan recovered to strike out the next two batters and extinquish the threat.
In the top of the third, Tufts broke open the game with 5 runs on two hits, two Ephs errors and two walks. Rachel Moore and Emma Della Volpe led off the inning with a base hit and a walk, respectively, and both scored. Casey Maggiore hit a two-run single to cap the inning. The Jummbos pulled away in the fourth when Michelle Adelman launched a three-run homer to left center that led to the Ephs losing
Mara Kipnis to injury. In the Tufts fifth, Josie Steinberg hit a two-run double for the 10-run lead.
The Jumbos wasted no time building a 4-0 lead in the second game, scoring four times in the first inning. Maggiore's three-run homer to left was the big blow. Williams answered with one in the second off Tufts starter
Sophia DiCocco.
Dacia Green led off with a single and scored on a base hit by
Rachel Neugart.
Russo hit her first homer in the second for two more runs and a 6-1 margin. In the Williams fourth, Aly Granados singled and Neugart doubled her home to make it a 6-2 game.
Russo hit her fifth home run of the season - and Tufts fourth of the day - to lead off the fifth giving the Jumbos a 7-2 lead. Tufts senior Kristi Van Meter came on and picked up a three-inning save allowing just one hit and no runs to finish the game and the championship.
Mapes, Granados and Neugart all had two hits for Williams.
