Husson softball loses in 1st round of NCAA regional

The Husson University softball team lost its first game in the NCAA Division III national tournament on Thursday, falling to the Framingham St. Rams 3-1 in Bangor.

The loss snapped Husson’s 30-game winning streak this year, as the Eagles — ranked No. 20 in the country and winner of the North Atlantic Conference for six straight years — moved to 35-5.

Framingham, winners of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, improved to 25-18.

The Rams and Eagles held each other scoreless through four, before Framingham scored three in the fifth. Husson retaliated in the bottom of the fifth with a sacrifice fly from sophomore Lydia Rice of Winthrop, but couldn’t mount the full comeback.

Husson will play for its tournament life versus the loser of Williams College and Rensselaer Polytechnic at 1:30 p.m. Friday at home. The Eagles will have to win this game, along with another on Friday at 4 p.m. and two on championship Saturday if they want to advance out of their region and into the round of 16.

“When you get to this level, these games can be tough. We just need to play Husson softball,” head coach Rick Roberts said. “That loss does not define us. I [don’t] expect these young ladies to win every game, but I expect them to play to win every game, and boy they’ve done that. Their season’s been phenomenal — they’re gonna come back fighting, I know that for a fact.”

The Eagles were on the wrong side of some weird plays towards the end of Thursday’s game.

In the top of the fifth, sophomore pitcher Dani Masterson (five innings, three runs, zero earned, six strikeouts) fielded an unexpected chopper off the plate but threw the ball over junior Tori Exel’s head at first. Later, Framingham sophomore Makayla Rooney smacked a line drive to dead center, which Husson fifth-year player Katie Raymond misread, allowing two runs to score.

In the bottom of the seventh, junior Kiara McLeod hit a hard line drive right to Framingham first baseman Kelsey McGuill, who promptly doubled off freshman Josie Cornell for the unassisted double play.

Both teams recorded four hits on Thursday, but Husson committed three errors compared with Framingham’s one. The Eagles drew two bases on balls, and the Rams drew none.

“You’re not gonna win or lose games on one play. Sometimes you just gotta shake their hand and say nice job,” Roberts said. “Dani pitched great, and their pitcher [senior Ally Moran] did well. She mixed in some changeups on us and kept us off-balance a little bit. She knew how to pitch to some of our better hitters.”