The Husson baseball and softball teams were playing for a chance at a North Atlantic Conference Championship on Tuesday afternoon in Bangor and Utica, New York respectively. And both got it done as the two teams are adding yet another trophy to the trophy case and are headed back to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
In Utica, NY at Wildcat Softball Field- Bulla McCabe hit a two-out walkoff RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Husson a 1-0 win over Cazenovia College to capture the 2023 North Atlantic Conference Championship. The Eagles got another great pitching performance in the circle from the Tournament MVP McKenna Smith. The senior from Old Town hit 500 strikeouts with the Eagles in the second inning, and allowed no runs on just two hits while walking none and striking out nine. Smith (20-5) in this postseason tournament fired 20 innings, didn’t allow any earned runs or walks, and struckout 32. Husson has now won the last five postseason championships that have been played (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and now 2023). 2020 there was no tournament due to the pandemic. The game winning hit was set up by one out singles from Tegan Blackie and Katie Raymond. They moved up to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Olivia McCarty, to set the stage for the single to centerfield to end it by McCabe. Raymond and Kenzie Dore each had two hits to cap off a 3-0 road playoff run in the tournament that was hosted by SUNY-Poly. Cazenovia was held to just the two hits with Sarah Penney (7-5) taking the pitching loss. The Wildcats season ends with a record of 24-19.
Husson (30-12-1) now advances to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Their destination and opponent will be announced on the NCAA website next Monday, May 15th at 1 p.m. The Eagles went 1-2 in the Amherst, Massachusetts Regional last spring. McCabe, Dore, McCarty, and Smith were named to the All-Tournament Team with Smith earning the MVP. Kelsey Currier and Maddie Rock from Thomas College also were named to the team.
At the Winkin Complex in Bangor- The Husson baseball team needed a win in game one against SUNY-Cobleskill in order to force a winner take all game two for the NAC Title. And the Eagles did just that. A seven run first inning allowed Husson to cruise to a 16-6 victory. Tanner Evans, Jackson Curtis, Hunter Curtis, and Colin Marshall had run scoring singles in that big first inning. The Fighting Tigers cut it to 8-5 with two in the fourth and three more in the fifth, before the Eagles put it away with six more runs in the seventh inning on an RBI single by Keegan Cyr, a two-run double by Evans, and a three-run homerun to left by Jackson Curtis. Husson pieced it together using six different pitchers with Sully Beers (2-0) picking up the win. Jackson Curtis and Ethan Stoddard had three hits each, while Kobe Rogerson, Evans, Akira Warren, and Cyr had two a piece to lead a 16 hit attack. Jackson Curtis and the freshman Cyr each had four RBI. Andrew Jarkow (3-3) suffered the pitching loss for SUNY-Cobleskill, and Chris Champlin had three of the Fighting Tigers 14 hits.
In the second game for the title- Champlin broke a sixth inning scoreless tie with an RBI single for a 1-0 SUNY-Cobleskill lead, but Husson scored once in the seventh and then more three times in the eighth to capture the championship 4-1. Ty Knowlton led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo homerun to left centerfield to make it 1-1. In the last of the eighth, the Eagles loaded the bases with no outs. Warren came up with the game winning hit when he slapped a two-run single to centerfield. Beers added an RBI sacrifice fly to finish the scoring to give Husson their third straight title. Ryan Robb (5-0) won in relief firing 3.0 scoreless innings with no walks and three strikeouts. No Eagles batters had more than one hit. Frank Leger and Stephen Tejada had two hits each for SUNY-Cobleskill, and freshman Tanner Wood (3-1) was the tough luck loser on the mound after being charged with three runs on five hits in 7.0+ innings. The top seeded West Division Champion Fighting Tigers end their season with a record of 22-15.
Husson (24-17) now heads back to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Eagles (NAC Champs in 2021, 2022, and now 2023) went 1-2 in the NCAA Tournament last spring in the Glenside, Pennsylvania Regional. They’ll find out their destination and opponent during the selection show on the NCAA website on Monday, May 15th at 12 p.m.
Recaps by Chris Lessner/Videos below are courtesy of Husson Athletics
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