NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll - 2014 Preseason

[jonriv]

Allyson Fournier tosses fourth career perfect game as Tufts takes twoTufts Athletics
Last Updated - Apr 17, 2014 19:51 EDT
Contact |
Archive |
RSS MEDFORD, Mass. -- Junior Allyson Fournier pitched the fourth perfect game of her career Thursday as No 4 Tufts swept a doubleheader from Bridgewater State.

Tufts won 2-0 in the opener as Fournier struck out 15. The Jumbos then had 11 hits and took advantage of five Bears' errors in the second game for a 12-4 final in six innings.

With the wins, Tufts has won nine in a row and improves to 23-3 overall. Bridgewater State had won seven of eight coming in, but drop to 19-11 with the pair of defeats.

Fournier's perfect game was helped by a nice running catch in left field from Jumbo senior Sara Hedtler against BSU senior catcher Jill Welch. Otherwise, Fournier was dominant. The perfect game was her first since May 2012. The no-hitter is the ninth of her career. The shutout is her seventh this season.

Bridgewater State starter Amber White allowed just one earned run on six hits. Tufts scored its first run in the fourth after Cassie Ruscz led off with an infield single. Following a sacrifice by Gracie Marshall, back-to-back singles up the middle by Summer Horowitz and Bri Keenan brought in the run.

Michelle Cooprider scored the other Tufts run after leading off the fifth with a single through the left side. When she eventually moved over to third on a ground out, she scored on an errant throw as the Bears tried to catch her off third.

Horowitz continued to wield a hot bat for the Jumbos, going 2 for 3 in Game 1.

Tufts built a 10-1 lead through three innings in game two. Jo Clair had a pair of doubles, scored three times and drove in two runs during the first three innings. Marshall was 3 for 3 with three RBIs and a run in that span. Cooprider had two hits, a walk and scored twice, Horowitz had three RBIs and Ruscz scored twice in the first three frames. Five of the runs were unearned.

Tufts senior pitcher Lauren Giglio was the beneficiary. Through four innings, she had given up only one run. The Bears had four singles off her in the third, including one by Jocelyn Bettencourt who eventually scored on another base hit by Tara McCann.

The Bears were able to avoid a mercy-rule defeat by scoring three times after two were out in the fifth. Courtney Leddy and Welch walked, Bettencourt advanced both a base with a sacrifile and then Jessica Laudati dropped a two-run single into shallow center. She eventually scored on a Tufts error making it a 10-4 game.

The Jumbos would eventually get a mercy-rule win as Shelby Lipson hit her first collegiate home run to left-center, scoring two and ending the game in the bottom of the sixth.

Giglio earned her 10th win, allowing six hits and four runs (three earned) with six strikeouts and five walks in six innings.

Welch was 2 for 2 for Bridgewater State. Starter Iliana Rivera took the loss, giving up five hits and five runs (three earned) in 1.2 innings.

[jonriv]

Williams gets ranked!!!


NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll - April 23, 2014
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Poll is voted on by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Records as of Monday are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.

Rankings
Rank Team Record Points Previous
1 Texas-Tyler (6) 35-2 196 3
2 Tufts (1) 26-3 188 4
3 Trine (1) 30-1 187 5
4 Montclair State 30-2 170 2
5 Linfield 34-7 164 6
6 Salisbury 33-3 154 1
7 Christopher Newport 35-6 150 13
East Texas Baptist 32-5 150 7
9 Coe 30-5 133 9
10 Luther 23-6 129 8
11 Virginia Wesleyan 31-5 123 11
12 Illinois Wesleyan 28-5 104 17
13 Piedmont 41-6 101 10
14 Central (Iowa) 27-7 96 12
15 Lebanon Valley 24-3 94 14
16 St. Thomas (Minn.) 27-5 71 20
17 Emory 36-7 70 15
North Central (Ill.) 27-5 70 16
19 Redlands 27-11 51 18
20 Augustana (Ill.) 27-9 39 19
21 Chicago 19-5 37 21
William Paterson 24-6 37
23 Fontbonne 27-5 27 22
24 Kean 25-9 19 23
25 Williams 18-6 17

Others receiving votes:
Rowan 12, Wellesley 8, Alfred 1, Anderson 1, Wis.-Oshkosh 1.

Dropped out:
Stevens Tech, Western Connecticut State, Wheaton (Mass.), Wis.-La Crosse.

[hit4power]

Williams gets ranked!!!

Nice to see the NESCAC getting some recognition beyond Tufts.

Williams took down MIddlebury 4-3 yesterday in game 1 of their series and was leading 3-2 in the second game when suspended for darkness. A Williams win likely sets up a Tufts-Williams showdown in the NESCAC tournament.

[jonriv]

NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll - April 30, 2014
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Poll is voted on by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Records as of Monday are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.

Rankings
Rank Team Record Points Previous
1 Tufts (8) 31-3 200 2
2 Texas-Tyler 37-3 186 1
3 Linfield 34-7 178 5
4 Salisbury 33-3 171 6
5 Montclair State 34-4 166 4
6 Christopher Newport 35-6 160 7
Trine 33-2 160 3
8 East Texas Baptist 35-5 147 8
9 Coe 33-6 132 9
10 Virginia Wesleyan 37-5 128 11
11 Luther 27-6 123 10
12 Illinois Wesleyan 35-5 100 12
13 Central (Iowa) 30-8 98 14
Piedmont 41-6 98 13
15 St. Thomas (Minn.) 31-5 79 16
16 Emory 36-7 67 17
17 Lebanon Valley 29-4 62 15
William Paterson 29-7 62 22
19 Augustana (Ill.) 31-9 53 20
20 Redlands 27-11 49 19
21 Fontbonne 31-5 43 23
22 Rowan 31-8 41
23 Wisconsin-Whitewater 27-8 27
24 Kean 29-9 20 24
25 Williams 22-7 18 25

Others receiving votes:
North Central (Ill.) 11, Wellesley 8, Univ. of Chicago 6, Thomas More 4, Rochester 3.

Dropped out:
Alfred, Anderson, Wis.-Oshkosh.

[jonriv]

NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll - May 7, 2014
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Poll is voted on by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Records as of Monday are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.

Rankings
Rank Team Record Points Previous
1 Tufts (8) 37-3 200 1
2 Linfield 34-7 188 3
3 Texas-Tyler 41-4 186 2
4 Salisbury 35-3 177 4
5 Christopher Newport 35-6 164 6
6 East Texas Baptist 39-7 144 8
7 Trine 37-3 143 7
8 Luther 30-6 142 11
9 Virginia Wesleyan 37-5 138 10
10 Illinois Wesleyan 37-5 133 12
11 Coe 35-8 118 9
12 Montclair State 36-6 116 5
13 St. Thomas (Minn.) 36-5 102 15
14 Piedmont 41-6 92 14
15 Emory 36-7 79 16
Rowan 34-10 79 22
17 Central (Iowa) 30-10 74 13
18 Lebanon Valley 32-4 65 17
19 Kean 32-11 44 24
20 Wisconsin-Whitewater 31-9 43 23
21 Fontbonne 34-5 41 21
22 Augustana (Ill.) 33-11 35 19
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 28-13 35
24 William Paterson 30-9 22 18
25 Redlands 30-13 18 20

Others receiving votes:
Univ. of Chicago 9, Texas Lutheran 4, Anderson 3, Wellesley 3, Rochester 2, Williams 1.

Dropped out:
North Central (Ill.), Thomas More.