Eastern Nazarene scored six second innings runs and never looked back on Saturday afternoon, en route to a 7-1 win over the Husson Eagles in an elimination game at the NCAA Division III softball tournament at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The loss ends the season for Husson.
Elisabeth Schaffer broke a scoreless tie for the Lions with a sacrifice fly in that second inning to make it 1-0. Rebecca Hayner then walked with the bases loaded, and Dominque Santos hit a two run single that turned into three runs on a Husson error to make it 5-0. Santos scored on another Eagles error to extend to 6-0, before Rebecca Ashman made it 7-0 with an RBI double in the fourth. Husson got an unearned run on a throwing error in the sixth for their only run of the contest.
Bri Brochu and Olivia Smith had the only two Husson hits, while Arika Brochu (11-9) took the loss in the circle allowing five runs, three hits, with two walks in 1.1 innings. Santos had two hits to lead Eastern Nazarene, while Schaffer (25-6) got the pitching win allowing one run (none earned), two hits, with one walk, and six strikeouts in the complete 7.0 inning effort. The Lions improved to 29-14, but later lost on Saturday evening to host MIT in walkoff fashion to have their season end. MIT will need to beat Rowan University on Sunday twice to win the regional, as the Profs of Rowan are 2-0 on the weekend and in the drivers seat.
Husson ends their season with a record of 24-11 having won their second straight conference title.
