Husson softball starts NCAA Tournament run with 9-3 loss to Tufts

MEDFORD, Mass. (WABI) - The Tufts Jumbos were too much to handle for the Husson Eagles softball team on the opening day of NCAA Division III Regionals.

The regional hosts jumped out to a 7-0 lead through four innings and never looked back on the way to a 9-3 win.

Tufts started its offense in the first inning thanks to Kaityn Perucci’s RBI single.

In the next frame, Kat Yuzefpolsky added another RBI base knock to make it 2-0.

The Jumbos’ most explosive rally came in the third inning with RBI extra-base hits from Haley Leimbach and Nicole Russo, plus RBI singles from Emma Jacobson and Yuzefpolsky to stretch the lead to 6-0.

Then in the fourth, Rachel Moore crushed a solo home run to hand Tufts a 7-0 advantage.

The Eagles got on the board in the fifth frame with RBI singles from Tatyanna Biamby and Katie Raymond, pulling them to within 7-2.

In the sixth, Julia Gregoire hit a solo home run.

The Jumbos responded in the bottom half of the six with Josie Steinberg singling in Yuzefpolsky, followed by a Perucci RBI flyout to get to the final score of 9-3.

The Eagles are not eliminated. They will play in a win-or-go-home game on Friday at 1:30 p.m. against Cabrini, which fell to Moravian, 8-4, earlier Thursday in the same regional.

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