| Roommates Allyson
Fournier, right, and catcher Jo Clair were the first to celebrate
Tufts' title. d3photography.com file photo |
Offenses ruled the day as Tufts outlasted a determined Cortland State team to earn a 6-5 win over the Red Dragons and claim the 2013 NCAA D-III National Championship in a game played at Carson Park in Eau Claire, Wis.
"National champions. It sounds surreal and has not hit yet," said Tufts coach Cheryl Milligan. "We did not have our best game as we have a few nerves out there. It was fantastic to come out on top."
- Softball championship scoreboard
- Game 13: Cortland rallies in seventh
- Game 12: Salisbury staves off elimination
- Sunday softball championships coverage
- Saturday softball championships coverage
- Friday softball championships coverage
"We knew Tufts had a great team," said Cortland State head coach Julie Lenhart. "They definitely layed it out today and did a great job. I was hoping to squeak out another one and make it to tomorrow but they truly battled to the end."
"Expecting" is printed on the back of the Tufts' warmup shirts. It refers not to Cheryl Milligan, their pregnant head coach, but to the expections that they had at the beginning of the season.
"I could not be prouder of the roles our seniors have played," said Milligan. "It has been a journey."
Cortland State, fresh from a five-run inning to eliminate Salisbury in the previous game, kept the momentum going with a leadoff home run by Diane Cork. Fournier worked around two singles to keep the score 1-0.
Tufts matched Cortland's first inning home run with one of its own in bottom half of the inning. Jo Clair hit a solo shot to left-center. Kristine Parr added another solo jack in the second to give Tufts a 2-1 lead.
| All-time Division III softball champions | ||
| Year | Champion | Runner-up |
| 2013 | Tufts | Cortland State |
| 2012 | Pacific Lutheran | Linfield |
| 2011 | Linfield | Christopher Newport |
| 2010 | East Texas Baptist | Linfield |
| 2009 | Messiah | Coe |
| 2008 | UW-Eau Claire | UW-Whitewater |
| 2007 | Linfield | Washington U. |
| 2006 | Rutgers-Camden | St. Thomas |
| 2005 | St. Thomas | Salisbury |
| 2004 | St. Thomas | Moravian |
| 2003 | Central | Salisbury |
| 2002 | Ithaca | Lake Forest |
| 2001 | Muskingum | Central |
| 2000 | Saint Mary's (Minn.) | Chapman |
| 1999 | Simpson | Chapman |
| 1998 | UW-Stevens Point | Chapman |
| 1997 | Simpson | Montclair State |
| 1996 | TCNJ* | Chapman |
| 1995 | Chapman | Trenton State* |
| 1994 | Trenton State | Bridgewater State |
| 1993 | Central | Trenton State |
| 1992 | Trenton State | Buena Vista |
| 1991 | Central | Eastern Connecticut |
| 1990 | Eastern Connecticut | Trenton State |
| 1989 | Trenton State | Eastern Connecticut |
| 1988 | Central | Allegheny |
| 1987 | Trenton State | UW-Whitewater |
| 1986 | Eastern Connecticut | Central |
| 1985 | Eastern Connecticut | Trenton State |
| 1984 | Buena Vista | Trenton State |
| 1983 | Trenton State | Buena Vista |
| 1982 | Eastern Connecticut | Trenton State |
| * Trenton State is now known as TCNJ | ||
In the third, the Jumbos took advantage of Cortland's starter Amber Corrigan's wildness. Brianna Keenan was awarded first base when she was plunked and moved to third on Clair's double. A wild pitch brought home Keenan for Tufts' third run.
The Red Dragons cut the Jumbos' lead to 3-2 with two doubles to start the fourth inning by Cassie Kardias and Nicole Gallo.
Cortland retook the lead in the fifth with three runs. Alicia Hibbard, Cassie Kardias, and Gallo started the inning with singles. Briana Barca's double score two and Jamie Bucci's single scored Cortland's third run of the inning.
"I was thinking 'what is wrong with Allyson and what are we
going to do to fix this,'?" said Milligan. "We had all the faith in
the world in her and stuck with her."
"At this point, I just kept thinking 'we can win,' " said Lenhart.
"This is something everyone always hopes for as you don't know if
you are ever going to be back."
Tufts came back with a three-run inning of its own. Diane Cooprider's one-out double scored Emily Beinecke and Clair. Cooprider moved to third on an illegal pitch and scored on Gracie Marshall's single to left center.
"We trusted our bats all season,"said Milligan. "We had a couple of weekends where we had to make do and Allyson pulled us through. Today we had to pull Allyson through a bit."
Cortland State (35-17) finished second in the double-elimination tournament, the highest finish for the Red Dragon program.
Fournier, who improved to 25-1, was named Most Outstanding Player of the Division III Softball Championships.
Cooprider was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI, while Clair scored twice and was 2-for-4 herself. Parr went 2-for-3, including the solo homer.
| Photo by Larry Radloff, d3photography.com |
