Minutewomen atop A-10 again

The University of Massachusetts earned its 13th trip to the NCAA Division 1 softball tournament in the last 14 years, riding a seven-run third inning to a 9-3 win over Saint Louis yesterday in Amherst for its 19th Atlantic 10 tournament title overall.

Junior second baseman Stacy Cullington set a UMass and conference season record with her 15th homer, a grand slam during the game-breaking frame.

UMass (37-21-1) got a strong effort from Brandice Balschmiter in its 26th straight win. The sophomore struck out 13 in her 31st complete game of the season, but her scoreless streak was broken at 37 1/3 innings.

UMass will find out its next opponent when the NCAA pairings are released today at 3 p.m.

NCAA Division 2: Bryant (27-17) stayed alive in the Northeast Regional bracket in Brookville, N.Y., as senior Amanda Wilbur cracked two home runs in the Bulldogs' first win of the day, 5-2 over Adelphi, and Janine Enos worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 6-0 victory over Dowling . . . A five-hit shutout by Samantha Yodowitz propelled C.W. Post (44-15) to a 2-0 triumph over UMass-Lowell (30-21) in Brookville.

NCAA Division 3: At Providence, Wellesley's Kara Wong belted a pair of solo homers to send the Blue (25-13) to a 5-1 victory over Emerson and into today's Northeast Regional elimination game with Tufts . . . Awaiting the winner of that game will be regional host Rhode Island College (40-5), which defeated Tufts, 3-0, as Nicole Riley tossed her 12th shutout of the season.

America East: Krissy Licursi clubbed a three-run walkoff homer to give Maryland-Baltimore County a 3-2 victory over Hartford in a semifinal in Boston, but the Retrievers (32-18) couldn't get past Albany (33-15) in the final, 6-4.

Little East: Eastern Connecticut (34-10) dropped the first game to Keene State, 6-3, but rallied to capture the second, 4-3, in Mansfield, Conn., on Shawn Gilblair's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. The title automatically qualified the Warriors for the Division 3 tournament.

Northeast-10: Kevin Cobb (5 1/3 innings) and Eric Polvani combined to stymie Franklin Pierce in a 7-3 win that sent Bryant (32-20) into today's championship game in Lowell. The top-seeded Ravens (43-9) rebounded, though, by dumping Pace, 5-1, and setting up a rematch with the Bulldogs . . . UMass-Lowell is hopeful for an NCAA Division 2 regional bid after it was unable to solve Pace starter Dustin Corbett in a 4-0 loss.

NESCAC: After pitching host Williams (24-8) to a 4-3 lead through eight innings, senior Ryan Fote put it out of reach with a two-run homer as the Ephs advanced to today's championship round with a 6-3 victory over Amherst, which also lost to Tufts, 9-4, thus advancing the Jumbos (25-11). Tufts had already beaten Bowdoin, 11-6.

NCAA Division 1: Providence (7-10) was no match for host Duke (15-2) in the first round as the Blue Devils got five goals from Zack Greer in an 18-3 blowout.

NCAA Division 3: Adam Cherry had two goals and a pair of assists, and WNEC improved to 17-0 by dispatching Keene State, 13-5, in a second-round game in Springfield . . . Wesleyan (17-2) won its first-ever tournament home game, a 13-9 dismissal of Middlebury, behind four goals from Grayson Connors . . . Tufts was unable to get past host Gettysburg, 12-7, which got four goals from Ben Sufrin.

NCAA Division 2: A hat trick by Shannon Fabian boosted C.W. Post (16-0) to an 11-8 victory over Stonehill in the national semifinals in Salem, Va. Both losses for the Skyhawks (18-2) came against the Pioneers.

NCAA Division 3: Host Middlebury (15-1) scored the first 10 goals to rout Drew, 19-2, and move on to face the College of New Jersey, which edged Cortland State, 8-7, in four overtimes . . . Trinity (12-5) received three goals from Carrie Disa but still was sent packing by host Gettysburg, 13-8 . . . Babson's first-ever tournament appearance ended in the second round with an 18-14 loss to Mary Washington in Lancaster, Pa.

ECAC New England: With a 16-12 home win over Worcester State, Plymouth State (13-5) moved on to today's final against Curry. Annie Pinault netted a career-best seven goals for the Panthers.