With nine national championships between them, Eastern's baseball and softball teams have high standards and expectations each year they take the field.
The women's softball team -- third and fifth in the nation the previous two years -- fell just short of returning to the national NCAA Division III Tournament in Salem, VA, for the third year in a row. The Warriors finished second to Tufts University at the NCAA Division III New England Regional Tournament held May 10-13 on Eastern's new softball field at the Mansfield Sports Complex. Despite not meeting all of its goals, the team has an outstanding year, finishing with an overall record of 44-3, breaking the the program's all-time record for victories. Coach Diana Pepin became the all-time leader in wins by an Eastern softball coach with 286. The team won the Little East Conference for the third year in a row and made the NCAA tournament for the fourth year in a row. In addition to a record 28 home runs during her Eastern career, senior three-time All American Molly Rathbun ended the season with a 33-3 record, and ended her career with 103 wins (including nine no-hitters and a perfect game) and 1,135 strikeouts, both program records. Arielle Cooper had a record-breaking streak of 33 games with a hit, and Priscilla Alicea broke the all-time school record for hits with 206.
Ranked ninth in New England entering the Little East Conference Tournament, Eastern's baseball team needed to win the event to guarantee a ticket to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Instead, the Warriors were eliminated after sustaining consecutive one-run losses to second-seeded Keene State College, 4-3 in 12 innings, and sixth-seeded Plymouth State University, 1-0. The team finished the season at 29-13.
Earlier in the month, the men's lacrosse team won its LEC conference tournament for the seventh time in 12 years.
