Husson University baseball and softball have dominated the North Atlantic Conference tournament in recent years and are poised to repeat as champions again this weekend.
Both squads have been crowned NAC tournament champs the past three years and enter the 2024 postseason with the No. 1 overall seeds. By winning their respective conference tournaments, the Eagles could qualify for the NCAA Division III national championships later this month.
The softball team has the good fortune of hosting this year’s conference tournament and is riding a 27-game winning streak. It has won the NAC tournament five straight times and 12 total times since 2009.
After a first-round bye, the Eagles (32-4 overall) will play the winners of No. 4 SUNY-Cobleskill (19-15) and No. 5 SUNY-Morrisville (14-17) at 2 p.m. on Thursday. Depending on Thursday’s result, the Eagles will then play one or two games on Friday and one on Championship Saturday, in a six-team, double-elimination format.
“This year we have played well both at home and away,” Husson softball head coach Rick Roberts said. “We take a lot of pride [in] hosting the tournament, and we still have a lot to accomplish. We’re gonna have to fight hard.”
The Eagles finished with a 12-0 record versus NAC East competition this spring, sweeping both No. 3 UMaine-Farmington (10-2) and No. 6 Thomas College (5-7) on the road in late April.
Spearheading the softball team’s repeat bid will be starting pitchers Ana Lang of Searsport (1.18 ERA) and Dani Masterson of Hampden (1.51 ERA), plus sluggers Kenzie Dore of Brewer (.527 batting average), Lydia Rice of Winthrop (.429), Julia Gregoire of Lyman (.371) and Tori Exel of North Berwick (.353).
The Husson baseball team will only compete against three other teams for rights to the NAC crown, in a double-elimination tournament at SUNY-Cobleskill in upstate New York.
The Eagles (20-10 overall, 16-2 against NAC East opposition) will begin play at 10 a.m. on Thursday versus No. 4 Eastern Nazarene College (9-6 in NAC West).
Depending on the result of Thursday morning’s game, Husson will then play the winner or loser of No. 2 Lesley University (13-5 NAC East) and No. 3 SUNY-Cobleskill (10-3 NAC West), at a time to be announced. The NAC baseball tournament will conclude on Saturday.
At the forefront of the baseball team’s repeat bid will be starting pitchers Matt Wallingford of Greene (1.87 ERA) and Alex Smith of Massachusetts (3.32 ERA), the Curtis brothers of Ellsworth (Hunter and Jackson are both batting at least .385, with 11 total home runs), Matt Holmes of Bangor (.365 batting, five homers) and Cam Rendell of Nova Scotia (.375).
