Box Score

AMHERST, Mass. -- The University of New England pounded out 16 hits on the way to an 11-8 victory over Husson University in Game 6 of the Amherst Regional in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship played Friday afternoon (May 11) on the campus of Amherst College.

Big Blue (27-13) -- the seventh seed in the double elimination tournament -- advances to take on No. 1 SUNY Cortland in the Game 9 elimination match, which is currently scheduled for Saturday at 12 p.m.

2012 NCAA Division III Softball Championship

Amherst Regional (Game 9) | Amherst, Mass.

Saturday, May 12 | 12:00 p.m. (Approx.)

#7 UNE (27-13) vs. #1 SUNY Cortland (39-9)

Live Coverage: Video / Stats

The Eagles are the second team eliminated from the competition, ending their season with a 33-13 record.

The NCAA win was the first for any University team since the 2000 softball squad picked up a 2-1 triumph over St. Joseph's College (Long Island) in its tournament opener that year.

Senior Ashley Gott (Winterport, Maine) was one of four Nor'easters to tally three hits in the game, and surpassed the 200 career-hit total with her second hit of the game -- a double off the fence in left-center in the 5th. She also scored a team-high three runs in the contest.

Classmate Maegen Johnson (Standish, Maine), along with sophomores Allie Frazier (Tewksbury, Mass.) and Jessica Potter (Crown Point, N.Y.), all recorded three hits as well.

First-year Kelly Reid (Nantucket, Mass.) allowed four earned runs in the complete-game effort, striking out six against no walks to move to 17-5.

For Husson, Courtney Hill had three hits -- all infield singles -- and Aimee Mortensen had two hits with two runs scored. Becca McCarty was charged with three earned runs of the eight scored while she was in the circle.

After a scoreless 1st inning, UNE plated seven in the top of the 2nd to take a commanding lead. Sophmore Kirstyn Tracey (Hope Valley, R.I.), junior Casey Brigham (New London, Conn.), and Potter each drove in runs during the frame, as the Nor'easters capitalized on three Husson errors in the field.

The Eagles quickly went down for two outs in the bottom of the stanza, but followed with six consecutive singles to put four up on the board and cut the difference to three. Lona Sargent had a two-RBI single to left in the middle of the stretch.

An RBI-single by Gott in the 3rd doubled the margin, and Johnson extended the gap to five with an RBI-single in the 4th. Junior Erin Grover (Biddeford, Maine) drove in Gott in the 5th on a sacrifice fly to make it 10-4.

Husson combined two hits with two UNE errors to get a pair back in the last half of the 6th, but an RBI-single by sophomore Amanda Vaudreuil (Windham, N.H.) in the 7th set the cushion at five (11-6) heading into the Eagles' last at-bat.

The home side again posted two hits and used two errors to score twice in the bottom of the 7th, but with the bases then empty, Reid fanned the next two batters to wrap things up.

Big Blue had been swept by Husson during a non-league doubleheader during the regular season, by scores of 7-5 and 8-4.


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