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Salisbury Softball, 5-24-24
FOTOJOE PHOTOGRAPHY INC./Hannah Reagle
1
Salisbury SAL 39-7
4
Winner Tufts TUFTS 38-8
Salisbury SAL
39-7
1
Final
4
Tufts TUFTS
38-8
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Salisbury SAL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 2
Tufts TUFTS 0 0 0 4 0 0 X 4 9 1

W: S. Johnson (15-3) L: Ortega, Nicole (17-6) S: S. DiCocco (5)

Game Recap: Softball |

No. 5 Softball toppled by No. 17 Tufts in Super Regional finale

SALISBURY, Md. – The fifth-ranked Salisbury University softball team saw its season end two wins shy of a return trip to East Texas, falling to the 17th-ranked Tufts Jumbos, 4-1, on the final day at the Salisbury Super Regional of the 2024 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament on Friday afternoon at Margie Knight Sea Gull Softball Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • After being shut out in Thursday's opener, the Sea Gulls wasted no time getting on the board early. Abby Mace led off the top of the first inning with a single and Emily Challender took her place on a fielder's choice. Lindsey Windsor followed with a double to move Challender to third, then Carrie Jacoby lifted a sac fly to left to put SU up 1-0.
  • The Jumbos answered with a two-out rally in the fourth. Haley Leimbach and Josie Steinberg put together back-to-back singles, then Lauryn Horita banged a two-run double to the wall in left center to give Tufts a 2-1 lead.
  • Bela Jimenez followed by reaching on an error at short, then Kaitlyn Perucci singled home one run and another scored on an error in center to make it 4-1.
  • Tufts starter Sky Johnson shut down Salisbury after the first inning, but the Sea Gulls had one last rally in them in the seventh as Meghan Reed and Mace each singled to put runners on the corners. Sophia DiCocco came in from the bullpen and forced Challender to ground out to second, though, and the Jumbos spilled out to celebrate punching their ticket to the Division III World Series.
SALISBURY GAME NOTES
  • Abby Mace tallied three of the Sea Gulls' six hits, finishing 3-for-4.
  • Meghan Reed went 2-for-3.
  • Carrie Jacoby hit a sac fly in the first inning to score Emily Challender for Salisbury's only run.
  • Nicole Ortega (17-6) endured the loss after giving up four runs (two earned) on eight hits in 3.2 innings. Ortega walked one and fanned two on 84 pitches.
  • Sydney Adolfson tossed 2.1 scoreless one-hit frames in relief of Ortega to keep things within striking distance.
TUFTS GAME NOTES
  • Lauryn Horita smacked the go-ahead two-run double in the fourth inning, finishing 1-for-3 with a walk, run, and two RBIs. Horita was named Most Outstanding Player of the Salisbury Super Regional.
  • Josie Steinberg went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
  • Kaitlyn Perucci picked up a rib-eye during a 1-for-3 day.
  • Keila McCabe and Haley Leimbach each had two hits.
  • Sky Johnson (15-3) settled down after giving up a first-inning tally and finished one out shy of a complete game, allowing one run on six hits over 6.2 innings. Johnson walked one and punched out one on 97 pitches.
  • Sophia DiCocco needed just three pitches to induce the game-ending groundout and earn her fifth save. DiCocco was named Salisbury Super Regional Most Outstanding Pitcher after Friday's save and Thursday's complete-game shutout victory.
  • Tufts has now beaten Salisbury in five straight NCAA Tournament games dating back to 2014.
WRAPPING UP
  • Salisbury caps the 2024 season with a 39-7 record, winning its third consecutive NCAA Regional championship and 12th in program history.
  • The Sea Gulls graduate a six-member senior class of Meghan Reed, Natalie Paoli, Lauren Meyers, Lindsey Windsor, Abby Mace, and Nicole Ortega. In their five years together dating back to the 2020 campaign, SU went 172-33 (.839) with two Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) championships, three regional championships, two super regional titles, two College World Series berths, and a national runner-up finish in 2023.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football and men's and women's swimming, and the Coastal Lacrosse Conference for men's lacrosse. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 23 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 199 conference championships, and 45 Academic All-Americans.

To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.
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