Worcester, Mass. – 18th-ranked Stockton University (30-8) played its first NCAA Tournament softball game in school history but fell to UMass Dartmouth (31-11) 12-2. The Ospreys were relegated to the elimination bracket of the regional, which is taking place at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
McKenna George (Centennial, Colo./Eaglecrest) went 2-3 with a walk and an RBI.
Camryn Harry (Swedesboro/Paul VI) stroked two hits and scored once.
Casey Sokol (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) added two hits as well.
UMass Dartmouth scored twice in the top of the first before Stockton got on the board in the bottom half when George drew a bases-loaded walk that scored Harry. The Corsairs plated one run in the second inning, two in the fourth, three in the fifth and four in the seventh.
The Ospreys scored the last run of the game on a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh to set the final at 12-2. Playing its first game in two weeks, Stockton totaled eight hits and got runners aboard but stranded 11 in the contest.
Bre Fontes and Olivia Silva rapped three hits apiece and combined for five RBI and three runs for UMass Dartmouth, who earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as champions of the Little East Conference.
Stockton will play an elimination game against Albertus Magnus tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. Should they survive, then they would face either #12 WPI or UMass Dartmouth in another elimination game at 4:00 p.m.
