The NECC Champion Lynx will be making their third straight NCAA Championship appearance and earned the eight-seed in the Babson region of the bracket and will play top-seeded Tufts University to open up the 2013 NCAA Softball Championship on Thursday, May 9th at 10:00a on the campus of Babson College. Lesley, led by NECC Tournament MVP Nicole Mercurio (Wakefield, Mass.), wrapped up its fifth consecutive NECC title on with a 15-6 win over Newbury College on Saturday afternoon.
Tufts, which finished the year with a 38-3 record and ranked seventh in the last National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, captured its eighth New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championship with an 8-0 win over Bowdoin College on Sunday morning. The Jumbos are led by sophomore pitcher Allyson Fournier (South Windsor, Conn.) who went 18-1 with a 0.27 earned-run average and 195 strikeouts in 102 innings pitched.
The Lynx enter with a 24-17 record and winners on nine in a row, including a perfect 3-0 showing at the NECC Championship. Mercurio, who set the single-season record for doubles with 20, has a team-high 29 RBI and is second on the team with a .369 batting average. The junior has also posted an 11-5 record in the circle, hurling 15 complete-games and racking up three shutouts.
Visit the tournament website for further information.
The rest of the Babson Park, Mass. bracket is as follows:
#1 Tufts University (38-3)
#8 Lesley University (24-17)
#5 St. Joseph's College (Me.) (33-9)
#4 Springfield College (26-18)
#3 Babson College (32-12)
#6 Bridgewater State Univeristy (24-15)
#7 Husson College (28-16)
#2 Rowan University (37-7)