In its toughest test of the 2007 Atlantic 10 season, the Massachusetts softball team (22-12-1, 8-0 Atlantic 10) swept the Charlotte 49ers (23-20, 3-6 A-10) in North Carolina this weekend - winning 4-1 on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday.
Left fielder Lauren Proctor and second baseman Stacey Cullington continued their stellar junior campaigns, pacing the UMass offense in the victories. The Minutewomen's winning streak now stands at 11 games.
In the third inning of Friday's game, Cullington came to the plate with the Minutewomen up 1-0 and runners on first and second base. After working the count, she took the payoff pitch over the left field wall, extending the UMass lead to four.
While the Charlotte pitchers managed to keep Proctor in the ballpark, her two doubles in Game 2 did enough damage. After a walk to Cullington in the UMass half of the fourth, Proctor slapped a Christy Murray offering to left-center field. Senior Jackie Teman, who pinch ran Cullington, scored all the way from first.
Senior captain Amanda Acampora also homered in Game 2 for the Minutewomen. Acampora battled to a full count before turning on a fastball and lining it over the left field wall. In her last three games, she is 3-for-7 with two homers and three RBIs.
Sophomore ace Brandice Balschmiter pitched well for the Minutewomen and got the victory in both games.
In the weekend's first contest, she walked five hitters, but otherwise kept the 49er offense in check, yielding two hits. She has now won her last 10 starts and is 17-8 on the season with a 1.48 earned run average. She allowed two earned runs over the weekend in her 11 innings pitched. The 49ers also scored an unearned run against the Minutewomen.
The Minutewomen take on the Connecticut Huskies (15-17, 4-7 Big East) tomorrow in Storrs, Conn. The all-time series stands at 42-41-2 in UMass' favor. Under current coach Elaine Sortino, the Minutewomen are 39-40-1 with their New England rivals.
The Huskies are hitting .260 as a team, but a strong trio headlines UConn's offense. Senior third baseman Holly Calcagno leads the team with a .337 batting average and is second on the team with six homers.
First on the team in homers is sophomore Micah Truax with seven. She already matched last season's mark with a month left in the 2007 campaign. She's also first on the team in stolen bases with four.
As a team, the Huskies don't do much running. They've attempted 21 stolen bases compared to 38 by their opponents. Their offense relies heavily on the long ball - four players on the team have at least three on the season.
However, the home run has been the undoing of the Huskies for most of 2007 as well. Opponents hit 32 homers off UConn hurlers through the first 32 games of the season and hit at a .292 clip.
Calling any of the UConn pitchers an ace would be inaccurate. Freshman Tricia Sullivan's 3.95 ERA is tops on the Husky roster, but she does lead the team in losses with seven.
Senior Krista Michalczyk leads the team with eight wins in her 18 appearances and is second on the team with a 4.20 ERA.
Last season against the Minutewomen, Michalczyk allowed four runs in her four innings pitched - just one of the four was earned. Senior Michelle Couette entered the game in relief of Michalczyk and allowed two runs in her three innings.
The Minutewomen won the game 6-4. Balschmiter didn't allow an earned run, but the Huskies scored four unearned runs to keep the game close.
Whitney Mollica led the UMass offense, going 2-for-4 with one run scored and one run driven in.
In her sophomore season, Mollica has struggled to replicate the success she enjoyed in her freshman campaign. Her batting average currently stands at .275 and her home run total (two) is good enough for third on the team. She is hitting just .262 with runners in scoring position. Against the 49ers, she went 1-for-4 with a walk in the two-game set.
Freshman pitcher Bailey Sanders pitched the final inning of the second game for UMass. In her only inning of work, she didn't allow any baserunners, coaxing two groundouts and a fly out from the 49ers batters.
Since the game with UConn has no bearing on the team's A-10 record, Sortino may decide to start Sanders and rest Balschmiter.
Fellow freshman, Jessica Serio, went hitless in her four at-bats against Charlotte and is 0-for-6 in UMass' last three contests. Her batting average for the season stands at .158.
Serio hasn't brought her struggles at the plate into the field with her. In the first game over the weekend, she caught Charlotte sophomore Jenny Rumbles trying to steal.
Joe Meloni can be reached at jmeloni@student.umass.edu. Log onto the Daily Collegian's sports blog at dailycollegiansports.blogspot.com for more coverage of all UMass sports.
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