After a hard-fought campaign, the UMass Boston softball team’s season came to an unfortunate end. After a tough battle to make the NCAA tournament, the Beacons found a way to win the Little East Conference (LEC) Championship. The Beacons finished 5-9 against teams within the LEC, but found a way to win against conference opponents when it mattered most. Their success in the early portion of the post season earned them a spot in the NCAA East Regional Tournament and a chance at the NCAA Title. They opened the tournament with a pair of games in Cambridge over Mother’s Day weekend.
First, the Beacons went up against Tufts University on Friday, May 11. Tufts got off to a fast start to the game, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after putting UMass Boston pitcher Jess Greenspan, sophomore, into bases loaded jam. The first run was scored on a walk from Kristen Caporelli, which scored a run. Emma Della Volpe grounded out to second after that to score another run. With runners still on the corners, Jamie Steven drove a base hit up the middle to score another run. Finally, the death blow came from Sarah Finnigan who drove a base hit up the middle to score the fourth run, followed up by a throwing error that scored Jamie Stevens from first. The score ended at 5-0 in the first inning, and would stay that way until the sixth inning when the Beacons got on the board with a Gigi Braga, sophomore, single to center field that scored Gianna Salemi, freshman, to make the score 5-1. Tufts added on one more in the sixth inning to make the score 6-1, which would be the final score.
The Beacons now faced an elimination game on Sunday afternoon after their loss to Tufts. They met Framingham State University in a more competitive contest than their first game. The Beacons actually opened the scoring in the first inning. Braga got aboard with an infield single that scored, by freshman Kelly Danahy. However, the lead was short-lived for UMass Boston. The second inning doomed the Beacons, as Framingham State dropped another five-run inning on UMass Boston. Framingham State added three more runs in the third inning to bring their run total to eight and the score to 8-1. Greenspan was once again on the mound for the Beacons, on short rest after her start on Friday. The Beacons made this game more competitive, however, as they added three more runs in the fifth to draw within four runs. However, the sixth and seventh innings came and went without a run for the Beacons, and the Beacons fell by a final score of 8-4, eliminating them from the NCAA Tournament.
While the season came to an unfortunate end for UMass Boston, they made it much farther than anyone would have expected considering where they were mid-season. An LEC title win seemed out of question, but Beacons softball battled back and figured out how to defeat division opponents. A tremendous achievement, even in defeat for UMass Boston’s softball program.