When graduating senior Emily Beinecke arrived at Tufts, she joined a team coming off a fourth place finish nationally, which had aspirations and expectations of similar success in her freshmen year. The talented young infielder had landed herself smack in the middle of a potential dynasty.
But the wheels came off in the 2010 season, even as Beinecke hit .467 — the second best single-season mark in program history, and two blowout losses in the NESCAC tournament brought an abrupt end to the team’s aspirations. The following year only brought more disappointment, both for the Jumbos and for Beinecke personally. Her batting average dipped nearly 100 points to .374. Meanwhile, the team, this time hosting the conference championships, again came up short of the title and NCAA bid, losing to Middlebury in the finals, 7-4.
So coming off the team’s worst season since 1999, Beinecke found herself as an upperclassman with no NCAA tournament experience in one of the region’s proudest programs. It was no longer enough to just be a contributor; she needed to become a leader as well. And her offensive production would no longer only affect her, as she was now in the five-hole protecting rising senior Jo Clair, arguably the best hitter Tufts has ever seen.
Things started off slowly in her junior season, but years of experience had taught her that nothing else mattered if the NESCAC title couldn’t be secured. She responded by hitting .535 for the season in conference play, including going 4-for-8 in the NESCAC tournament, which Tufts swept with three straight wins. Finally, the Jumbos had reached their destination, and while she cooled down a bit, the team did not, running off four more wins to earn a regional crown and a trip to the College World Series.
In her final season, Beinecke has found herself one of the few veterans on a young Tufts squad. Not only did she have to learn to deal with the newly added pressures of captaincy but also, after a just two-error season as a junior, a switch to shortstop for the first time in her collegiate career. She took it all in stride, raising her batting average to .414, the highest since her freshman year, while striking out just three times in 140 at bats. She made just four errors at her new position, and once again turned it on in the NESCAC tournament, going 5-for-10 with three RBIs.
But perhaps the moment most emblematic of Beinecke’s career at Tufts came just earlier this week in the NCAA Regional Championship game against Rowan. With the score still tied at zero, Rowan elected to pitch around Clair with a runner on second base to pitch to Beinecke instead. In a career of getting to her biggest goals the hard way, she had one final chance to do it again. And, after dumping a ball into the outfield for an RBI single that started the Jumbos on the way to a regional-clinching 4-1 win, she had done just that.
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