Softball | Martinez, Eagles deny Jumbos World Series berth
May 17Heading into the NCAA Tournament New England Regional, the softball team appeared to be in good position to contend for its first berth in the College World Series since 2000. On May 4, the Jumbos successfully defended their conference championship with a 10-3 victory over Wesleyan in the NESCAC title game, their sixth win by five runs or more in their last eight games. Four days later, the team carried that momentum into the Providence, R.I. regional bracket, where it had earned the No. 2 seed. That's when Tufts ran into Jennifer Martinez. St. Joseph's record-breaking ace pitcher brought her NCAA-leading 0.47 ERA into two double-elimination tourney contests against the Jumbos and shut them down, downing Tufts 3-0 in eight innings on May 10 and 3-1 later that weekend to end the Jumbos' season shy of a trip to Salem, Va. "She's probably the best pitcher that our team has ever seen," senior co-captain Danielle Lopez said. "We were really disappointed in the fact that we couldn't get past her. It's still kind of shocking to think that our season is over because we had such a great team, and we had such high hopes, but props to her for beating one of the best offensive teams in the nation." After beginning the tournament with a 6-3 win over seventh-seeded Rivier, the Jumbos moved on to their first meeting against Martinez, who entered the game having assembled arguably the most dominant season by any pitcher in the history of Div. III softball: a 30-2 record, 202.1 innings pitched, 17 shutouts and an NCAA-record 465 strikeouts. Against Tufts, the Golden Eagles' senior tri-captain stayed true to form, limiting the Jumbos to just one hit - a bunt single by junior third baseman Samantha Kuhles in the bottom of the first inning - while striking out 15. "She had a very, very effective rise ball, in the zone and out of the zone, and a really great late-breaking curveball," coach Cheryl Milligan said. "We needed to find some ways to eke some runs out against her, but she certainly stymied our ability to do what we're used to doing."
