Husson softball advances to day 3 of NCAA tourney

The Husson University softball team had its 30-game winning streak snapped by Framingham State on Thursday, but bounced back on Friday to extend its NCAA Division III national tournament run.

Playing for their tournament lives, the Eagles walked Rensselaer Polytechnic (34-7-1) off 2-1 in eight innings Friday afternoon , and then silenced Framingham (25-20) Friday night 2-0 to advance to the regional finals on Saturday versus Williams College.

Husson (37-5), the No. 1 seed in the Bangor regional, will have to beat Williams (25-11), winner of the New England Small College Athletic Conference and No. 3 seed in the region, two times in a row on Saturday to advance to the round of 16 — for the first time in program history.

Husson head coach Rick Roberts says the Eagles have the energy and resilience to accomplish this unprecedented feat.

“These are tough games, and these are great teams that are here,” Roberts said. “We have great balance on this team. We have some really good hitters and great pitching when we need it, and they’re coming through. There’s no quit in them.”

Against RPI, freshman Ana Lang (eight innings, 10 strikeouts) of Searsport held the Engineers hitless through 5.2 innings, and junior catcher Bulla McCabe of Hawaii drove in both of Husson’s runs to seal the victory.

With two outs in the eighth and the Eagle faithful on the edge of their seats, two-time All-American Kenzie Dore (2-for-4) of Brewer smacked a double to the fences, and McCabe (1-for-3, first inning sac fly) beat the rain with a walk-off bloop single to center.

“It’s win or go home, so the stakes are high. We’ve found a way to win, and we’re ready to win another one,” McCabe said after Husson’s victory over RPI. “Another game, another day with this team — they make it worth it. We just have to play Husson softball.”

On the turf at UMaine Friday evening, Husson’s vets struck again to open the scoring in the first. With two outs and nobody on, Dore and McCabe teamed up with junior Tori Exel to collect a single and two doubles to score twice.

The Eagles’ brief outburst was all sophomore Dani Masterson needed to avenge her loss to Framingham, twirling four innings of shutout ball with two strikeouts. Lang relieved Masterson in the fifth to notch the nine out save.

“It feels great. I love this team, and everybody’s playing for us seniors,” Dore said. “No matter what coach Roberts does with the lineup, we have all the confidence in the world in each other.”

Husson will begin play Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at O’Keefe Field in Bangor. Should the Eagles win, their second and final game versus Williams is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Williams previously beat RPI 9-0 and Framingham 6-1 to advance to championship Saturday.