(Records through May 12, 2008)
TEAM PTS PVS
—- — —
1. FLORIDA (20) (62-2) 500 1
2. ARIZONA ST (56-5) 471 2
3. UCLA (45-7) 451 3
4. ALABAMA (51-6) 445 4
5. TEXAS A&M (49-7) 425 6
6. MICHIGAN (48-6) 388 5
7. ARIZONA (36-16) 364 9
8. OKLAHOMA (43-11) 353 7
9. STANFORD (46-12) 346 8
10. NORTHWESTERN (37-13) 312 12
11. HOUSTON (50-9) 305 11
12. FRESNO ST (51-11) 267 10
13. TENNESSEE (47-14) 231 14
14. LSU (42-16) 224 15
15. NORTH CAROLINA (50-10-1) 217 13
16. VIRGINIA TECH (44-15) 193 17
17. UL LAFAYETTE (46-12) 185 18
18. LONG BEACH ST (39-15) 181 16
19. SAN DIEGO ST (43-15) 147 19
20. MASSACHUSETTS (39-11) 119 21
21. DEPAUL (48-16) 90 23
22. NEVADA (42-16) 82 20
23. HAWAII (34-18) 46 22
24. WASHINGTON (28-23-1) 33 24
25. CALIFORNIA (40-21) 30 25
Dropped Out:
Others Receiving Votes: MISSISSIPPI ST 19, SOUTH FLORIDA 18,
HOFSTRA 15, GEORGIA 13, CREIGHTON 10, MISSOURI 10, BYU 5,

From:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/ranking?key=GENCOLLEGESOFTBALLPOLL

From Youtube: “University of Texas softball pitcher Cat Osterman talked to Chris Wragge and Raymond Ramirez before she took the mound in one of her high school games, BEFORE she became the Longhorn Legend.”

Back with a Big Bat

Out last season with an injury, 2006 player of the year Danielle Lopez looks to help the Jumbos softball team maintain NESCAC dominance

By Paul Sweeney (from Tufts Website)

Softball coach Cheryl Milligan thought she was giving her team a break when she suggested they begin this season’s practice a day later than planned, but they would have none of it. They wanted to get their season going.

One of those players has even more reason than most for wanting to get out on the field and into the batting box. Senior Danielle Lopez, an All-American as a freshman in 2005 and the New England Small College Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2006, missed all of last season with a knee injury. Now she’s back and eager to play again.

The softball team was coming off a sub-par season when Lopez and other freshmen were counted on to help turn the team around in 2005. The adjustment didn’t take long. She hit a home run in the third game of her career against defending national champion the University of St. Thomas, and went on to hit eight home runs that season. The team hit 42 homers overall, an average of 1.2 per game and fifth-best mark in NCAA Division III softball history.

Playing second base, Lopez had an even better season as a sophomore, hitting 11 home runs and nabbing the conference’s Player of the Year award. In 2007, a more experienced Tufts team headed into the season with great optimism. But nine days before they were to leave for the season-opening tournament in California, Lopez tore her anterior cruciate ligament during a team exercise, and was out for the season. She made the best of it, though, staying with the team that season and helping out however she could from the bench.

“I had moments when I couldn’t take sitting there watching other people do my job on the field,” says Lopez, who is called D-Lo by her teammates. “But to be behind the scenes, on the bench, I got to see a lot and hear a lot. I was able to interact in ways that I otherwise wouldn’t have if I was playing.”

Lopez returns to a team that is so talented this spring that she says she will have to win her position back. She joins an infield that includes All-Region First Team players Casey Sullivan, A10, and Samantha Kuhles, A09. Lopez, who was red-shirted last season and can play again next spring, expects to pick up where she left off.

“She may not feel 100 percent yet, but with D-Lo, her 89 percent is close to everyone else’s 100 percent,” says Milligan, J98, G01. “She’s worked hard to get to or very close to 100 percent.”

The Jumbos season starts on March 16 at the Sun West Tournament near Los Angeles, and hopes are high. Last year’s team was one win away from heading to the College World Series. All of the key players returned this spring, and another talented class of recruits has been added.

“We’d like to be at the College World Series, no doubt about it,” says Lopez.

A Fresh Start

On and off the field, Tufts has helped Lopez realize her potential. She entered college as a naïve local kid from Danvers, Mass., who was intimidated by Tufts’ academic reputation. Intent upon taking advantage of a college education that her parents did not have, she embraced all that Tufts had to offer. She has immersed herself in academic pursuits and studied abroad in Barcelona. Her grades are dean’s-list caliber.

“I thought I was going to be the dumbest person at Tufts when I got here,” she says. “Coming here and succeeding athletically and academically showed me that I’m not limited. Being at an academically challenging place and succeeding, I guess the sky’s the limit when you realize that.”

Lopez’s passion through her teen years was horses, not softball. She’s owned four and has enjoyed success in the sport of equestrian showing. As a sophomore at Tufts in 2006, she was a regional champion and placed third nationally in her division. She initially came to Tufts to be a veterinarian.

Horses had been her life, but Tufts has broadened her horizons. After completing half of the required credits for pre-vet, she changed her focus to neuroscience. She’s now a double major in biopsychology and biomedical engineering, with hopes of pursuing a Ph.D. and potentially working on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

“Tufts is famous for being able to find out anything and everything that you want to know about anything, because there’s so many people willing to help,” she says. “Being here was probably the best thing ever for me.” And with her help, this might be the Jumbos’ best season ever, too.

“Oh no, I’m not nearly ready to pitch in a game.”

“What happens if I never get a hit???”

“Oh me! I couldn’t field that ball if my life depended on it!!!”

DO THESE SOUND FAMILIAR???

IF SO READ ON TO FIND OUT ERINBRIDGET’S PRE-SEASON TIPS ON HOW TO STOP THESE EVIL THOUGHTS!!!

1. NEVER say that you can’t do something! Just because you have trouble at first doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to do it with a little practice!!

2. PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT NOT PERFECT! Always make sure that you’re practicing the right thing, with the right form!

3. Don’t make the excuse that it is too cold to practice!! There are plenty of indoor batting cages and gyms to workout in! Even at home, pitchers can throw rolled-up socks up against their mirror, and batters can use plastic bats to watch their swing mechanics!

4. WORK ON ENDURANCE! you can’t be your best at softball without being in good shape!

5. SOFTBALL IS FUN! If you were having the thoughts listed above, then you clearly don’t get it.

(In case you’re wondering, I just wanted to post something. This is mostly a joke — except the part about throwing socks at your mirror.)

USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll:

(02/19/2008) Schools Pts Prv
1.	Alabama	688	2
2.	Northwestern	641	6
3.	Texas A&M	622	3
4.	Arizona State	614	5
5.	Tennessee	584	4
6.	LSU	530	8
7.	Florida	501	11
8.	Oklahoma	473	9
9.	Arizona	472	1
10.	Baylor	470	7
Complete Rankings

The Tufts Jumbos look like they’re in for a great season, with hitting and fielding star Danielle Lopez healthy and ready to help lead her team to success. The following summary comes from the Tufts softball website.

* * *

The Tufts University Softball team is one of New Englands most successful with nine NCAA Tournament appearances and six conference championships. Coming off a record-tying 31-win season that ended with a runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament Regionals, the Jumbos expect continued success under Coach Cheryl Milligan in 2008.

Ranked by NCAA Tournament appearances, Softball is the most successful program in the school’s history despite its relatively short 23-year history. Tufts has played in nine of the last 11 NCAA Tournaments, and in 2000 the team advanced to the NCAA College World Series in Salem, Virginia. Last years conference championship team finished just outside of the top 25 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll.

The Jumbos have won the last three NESCAC East Division pennants and have played in three straight conference tournament finals. Six of the last seven NESCAC Player of the Year awards have gone to Jumbos. Last season, infielder Casey Sullivan gained All-American honors and was one of five Jumbos picked to the All-New England team. Milligan was voted by her peers as the conferences Coach of the Year for the second time. In 2005, Courtney Bongiolatti was named the conference Player of the Year and a First Team All-American. The team is 96-24 against NESCAC rivals over the last six years.

Located right outside of Boston, Tufts offers a well-rounded collegiate experience to student-athletes. Within its picturesque small-college campus, Tufts is a major university with an unprecedented diversity of programs, exceptional faculty and staff, and bright and talented students, according to President Lawrence S. Bacow. The Athletics Department sponsors a varsity program of 28 sports that is among the most competitive in the NCAAs Division III. Tufts finished sixth in the 2006 U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup, the award presented annually to the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country. The Universitys proximity to a world-class city renowned for its academic institutions is also a major draw.

A four-year starter at shortstop and an assistant coach for six years at Tufts, Milligan was promoted to head coach of the Jumbos in July 2003. She is a 1995 Tufts graduate who played every inning of the 120 games during her Tufts softball career. Her .377 career batting average is sixth all-time, and she is second on the teams career runs scored list with 119. Milligan was a member of the class that vaulted the softball program into annual post-season contention. The 1995 team hosted and won the ECAC North Championship, finishing with a record 31 wins.

As members of NESCAC, Tufts is part of the nations most competitive small college conference academically and athletically. The NESCAC is a group of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities that share an academics-first philosophy for intercollegiate athletics. The Tufts program has matched its competitive success with academic achievement. Four members of the team were chosen to the NESCAC All-Academic Team last spring.

The Jumbos will be a force to reckon with again in 08. Senior 2B Danielle Lopez, the 2006 NESCAC Player of the Year, returns from a knee injury. She joins an infield that includes Sullivan (.399, 9 HR, 43 RBIs last year), Kuhles (.407, 14 2Bs, 38 R) and Christy Tinker (.349, 4 HRs, 34 RBIs). All-New England outfielder Maya Ripecky (.366, 5 HRs, 29 RBIs) and pitcher/DH Erica Bailey (.406, 22 RBIs) are other big bats returning to the team. Catcher Megan Cusick and infielder Heather Kleinberger, both seniors, are also assets on a deep Tufts roster. Talent is also returning in the pitchers circle, with Lauren Gelmetti (9-2, 1.95 era), Stefanie Tong (7-4, 2.05) and Bailey (9-5, 3.26) leading the way.

Courtney Duggan and Dr. Paul Rahmeier are Milligans assistants for 08. Duggan, a 2005 graduate of Stonehill College, was a member of two national championship lacrosse teams at Stonehill and is a lifelong baseball player. She was the North American Women’s Baseball League’s MVP in 2006. After his retirement as Provost at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Rahmeier became the UML softball pitching coach, and in 2005 also began serving as pitching coach at Tufts. During a 50-year career, Rahmeier pitched over 2,000 games and won 20 state tournaments in eight different states. Among his pitching highlights were three no-hitters in one day in St. Louis.

Tufts University’s Spicer Field is home to the Jumbos. A new batting cage and bullpens were added to the field last season. Tufts hosted the 2007 NESCAC Tournament at Spicer. The Jumbos start their season with a spring break trip to California for the annual Sun West Tournament, featuring games against some of the nations top teams.

To view “Bandits Replay” series featuring  highlights from the epic inaugural duel between superstar pitchers Jennie Finch and Cat Osterman, click here.