MEDFORD, MA (May 26, 2024) – The Tufts University softball team enters the 2024 NCAA Division III College World Series (CWS) later this week in Marshall, Texas as the underdog. Head coach
Lauren Ebstein's team is the eighth seed out of the eight teams traveling to East Texas Baptist University for the tournament.
Tournament Details
NCAA Division III College World Series
Dates: Thursday, May 30 to Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Location: Marshall, TX - Bell Park at Taylor Field
Live Coverage:
LIVE STATS -
LIVE VIDEO
On paper, Tufts was the underdog at the NCAA Super Regional at Salisbury University in Maryland last week. The Sea Gulls were the #5 team in the NFCA national poll, and had not lost an NCAA game on their home field since 2011. The 17th-ranked Jumbos were the better team when they had to be though, defeating Salisbury two straight games 3-0 and 4-1 to advance to the CWS.
Tufts will immediately see where they stand as they open play at the national finals against the #1 team in the country and #1 seed Linfield University (48-2). The Jumbos and the Wildcats will play the first game of the week on Thursday at 11:00 AM Central time (noon Eastern).
The eight teams will play a double elimination bracket until two teams remain and those squads will meet in a best-of-3 championship series that starts on June 4. A national champion will be crowned on Wednesday, June 5.
The Jumbos (38-8) are making their eighth appearance at the CWS. They are chasing the program's fourth national championship. Tufts is the only team to win three consecutive NCAA titles from 2013-15. Following the two wins at Salisbury, the Jumbos have an 81-38 record in NCAA Tournament play now in their 22nd appearance overall.
Tufts enters the week fourth nationally with a 1.29 earned run average, with senior pitcher
Sophia DiCocco sixth individually with a 0.92 mark and junior
Sky Johnson 24th at 1.26. They score at a 5.87 runs-per-game clip, led offensively by sophomore RF
Kaitlyn Perucci with a .442 batting average and 16 doubles. Super Regional Most Outstanding Player
Lauryn Horita has 10 home runs, and sensational shortstop
Josie Steinberg (.432, 15 doubles) was the NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player.
Linfield, which has only lost twice, had to come back from down a game to win the Super Regional against Central College (IA). The McMinnville, Oregon school is in its 19th NCAA appearance with an 84-40 record in those games. This is their eighth trip to the CWS (second straight). The Wildcats, members of the Northwest Conference, won national championships in 2007 and 2011.
Head coach Jackson Vaughan's team is #1 in the nation scoring 8.46 runs per game. The Wildcats have four players with double-digit home runs led by 14 each from junior 2B Brynn Nelson (.496 average) and junior CF Claire Seats. Senior pitcher Tayah Kelly leads Division III in both victories (30) and strikeouts (271). The Wildcats have a 1.49 team era.
The Jumbos will play either the #4 seed University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (44-5) or #5 seed Virginia Wesleyan University (40-8) in their second game on Friday.
Oshkosh eliminated defending national champion Trine University in the Supers, winning twice on Friday after losing the opener 9-0 in five innings. When Tufts last went to the CWS in 2021, it was the Titans who knocked them out of the tournament. UW-Oshkosh is in the CWS for the third time, in their 11th NCAA appearance overall and has a 26-22 mark in those games. They are seeking their first national championship.
The Titans, coached by Scott Beyer and members of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, have a 1.32 team era and score 5.49 runs per game. Senior Hannah Ritter hits .436, while junior catcher Sophie Wery provides power with 11 home runs and 47 runs batted in. Junior Sydney Nemetz tops the pitching staff with 19 wins and has a 1.39 era. The Titans are the top fielding team at the site with a .982 percentage.
Virginia Wesleyan's Marlins have won the most recent national championship among the teams in action this week. They were 2021 champs, and also won back-to-back titles in 2017-18. Those are the three times VWU has previously been to the NCAA Finals round. The Marlins haven't lost in NCAA play yet this year, and have a 49-24 tournament record overall in 14 appearances.
From the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, head coach Brandon Elliott's team likes to run and is scoring 6.75 runs per game. The Marlins are second in the nation with 4.31 stolen bases per game (207 total). Three players have 35 or more this season, led by senior Julia Piotrowski's 37. Sophomore Emma Adams leads the pitching staff (2.06 team era) with a 24-2 record and 1.31 era.
On the other side of the bracket are teams Tufts would face if they win and advance to Saturday - #2 seed and host East Texas Baptist University (43-2), #3 seed Case Western Reserve University (40-7), #6 seed Belhaven University (42-7) and #7 seed Rowan University (39-8).
Of those teams, host ETBU leads the nation with a .389 batting average. Rowan is the only team in the tourney with a lower team era than the Jumbos at 1.28. Belhaven's 41 home runs (fourth nationally) are second only to Linfield's 59 among the teams. CWRU's highest team ranking in the DIII Statistics is fifth with their 96 doubles.
Visit the NCAA DIII College World Series host site's website linked to above for more information on the teams, tickets, schedule and more.
--JUMBOS--
