CLERMONT, FL (March 24, 2023) - In a great day for the Tufts University softball team on Friday, sophomore
Lindsay Neumann hit a walk-off home run for a 4-2 extra-inning win against the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and the Jumbos added a 5-1 victory over Luther College for the 100th victory of head coach
Lauren Ebstein's career.
In a match-up of unbeaten opponents, the Jumbos (11-0) had held a slim 1-0 lead over UW-Oshkosh (16-1) for most of the game. The Titans tied the score in the top of the seventh and after Tufts could not score in their half of the inning the game went to extras with the international tie-breaker rule in place (runner on second to start the inning). Following a scoreless eighth, the Titans took a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth.
Into the bottom of the ninth,
Josie Steinberg took second base for Tufts and moved to third on
Rachel Moore's bunt single. After an out, Neumann went to a 1-2 count and then sent a rocket over the fence to the left-of-center field to win it.
Junior starting pitcher
Sophia DiCocco had kept UWO scoreless through six innings. Tufts had tallied in their first at-bat when
Michelle Adelman singled, stole second and then scored on a first-pitch base hit by Steinberg.
With one out in the Titan seventh, Gabby Buikema singled, Zoe Malone walked and then Ana Iliopoulos singled down the right field line tying the game 1-1. DiCocco retired the next two batters to leave a pair on base.
Into the eight inning the Titans moved their runner to third base with a fly ball, but Tufts first-year reliever
Emilie Doty got a pop-up and a ground ball to end the threat. The Jumbos would get their runner to third with two outs in the eighth, but UWO starter Maddie Fink ended the inning with a strikeout.
The Titans would take the 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth as runner Morgan Rau advanced to third on a bunt by Haylie Wittman and then scored on a sac fly from Buikema. However, Neumann would take the game for the Jumbos with her game-winning laser in the bottom of the frame.
Doty got the win for Tufts, throwing two no-hit innings. DiCocco was good in her seven-inning stint allowing six hits and one run. Steinberg and Moore had two hits each for Tufts.
Fink went all 8.1 innings for the Titans surrendering six hits and four runs (three earned). Catcher Sophie Wery had two hits for UWO.
Changing fields at the Legends Way complex, Tufts started against a good Luther team 20 minutes later with sophomore
Sky Johnson in the circle. She retired the first 10 batters she faced, while the Jumbos scored three in the third with a pair of Norse miscues leading to the unearned runs.
It stayed a 3-0 game into the sixth, with Johnson and Luther's Kendra Cooper dueling. Both teams scored in the sixth, with another Norse error leading to the Jumbo run. Luther's Belle Berg singled and then scored after two were out on a single through the right side by Riley Sauser. Tufts finished the scoring on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by
Keriann Slayton in the seventh.
Johnson improved to 4-0 for the Jumbos going six innings giving up four hits and the one run. Moore and Neumann had two hits each for the Jumbos.
Only one of the five runs Luther's Cooper gave up in seven innings was earned and she allowed seven hits. The Norse fell to 16-3 overall.
Head coach of the Jumbos since 2019, Ebstein now has a 100-29 record for a .775 winning percentage.
The Jumbos play Wisconsin-Whitewater and Milliken tomorrow.
--JUMBOS--
