LITTLE FALLS, NJ…In a season of firsts for the Tufts University softball program, chalk up yet another milestone. The Jumbos scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings against Second-Team All-American junior pitcher Katie Finch (Amsterdam, NY) and Tufts sophomore right-hander Izzie Santone (Madison, CT) did not allow an earned run over seven innings as Tufts defeated SUNY Cortland, 3-1, in game three of the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Division III Softball Championship, hosted by Montclair State University at the MSU Softball Stadium.

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Tufts (43-1), ranked No. 7 nationally in the final regular season National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Poll, won its eighth consecutive game after a 35-0 start to the season and claimed its first-ever victory in the championship bracket of the NCAA Tournament while increasing its winning percentage to .977. Tufts is making only its second appearance in the championship bracket—previously going 0-2 in 2000. No New England Region school has ever won the NCAA Division III title in the 28-year history of the event.

Cortland, the only team returning from the 2008 championship field, falls to 44-8 overall. The Red Dragons entered the game ranked #10 in the NFCA poll and are making their sixth appearance in the championship bracket.

Tufts will play the winner of #11 ranked Salisbury University (39-5) and #17 Coe College (38-11) in game eight of the tournament on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Cortland will meet the loser in an elimination game at 1:30 p.m.

Santone allowed one unearned run and seven hits with two strikeouts and no walks over 68 pitches to improve to 20-1 on the season. Finch dropped to 26-6 for Cortland. She allowed three runs and eight hits, fanning four without a walk.

Tufts senior centerfielder Laura Chapman (Seattle, WA) was 2-for-4 with one run batting in the leadoff spot while senior catcher Cara Hovhanessian (Farmington, CT) finished 2-for-3 with an RBI double.

Cortland junior first baseman Emily Ringen (Pompton Plains, NJ) was 2-for-3. Freshman shortstop Jessica Harman (Penfield, NY) was 1-for-3 with one RBI.

The Jumbos quickly set aside any nerves by scoring in the top of the first inning. Chapman doubled to right center, moved to third on a bunt single by senior third baseman Samantha Kuhles (Somerville, NJ) and scored on an infield error.

Cortland evened it in the bottom of the fourth. Ringen had a one-out single and pinch-runner Lexi Deming (Oswego, NY) moved to second on a passed ball, third on a single, and scored on a ground out by Harman. Cortland stranded a runner on third on a strikeout by Santone.

Tufts regained the lead in the top of the fifth. Hovhanessian singled. Senior left fielder Roni Herbst (Montclair, NJ)—playing for a national championship in the shadows of her hometown—doubled and junior shortstop Casey Sullivan (Berlin, CT) knocked in the winning run on a single to left that allowed senior pinch runner Alison Drobiarz (Old Saybrook, CT) to make it a 2-1 lead.

After the Red Dragons stranded the potential tying run on third in the bottom of the fifth, the Jumbos tallied an insurance run in the sixth as senior Second-Team All-American right fielder Maya Ripecky (Chicago, IL) singled with two outs before scoring on an RBI double by Hovhanessian. Morrison nearly made the defensive play, fading back towards the warning track with her back to the ball and the sun, but could not reel in the two-out extra-base hit.

Cortland had a chance to tie in the bottom of the seventh, putting runners on the corners with two outs after singles by freshman pinch hitter Lyndsay Rowell (Sandy Creek, NY) and junior left fielder Rose Morrison (Miller Place, NY) but Santone coerced a game-ending groundout to third to seal the win for Tufts.