2008 Woodie Awards
Minutewomen drop Rams, 49ers up next
Maroney's single gives UMass win
Steve Games, Collegian staff
Issue date: 5/9/08 Section: Sports
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UMass and Fordham stood deadlocked at 0-0 until freshman Lindsay Maroney hit a two-out single to left field scoring sophomore Jill Andrews, who was pinch running on the play. Maroney is getting her first taste of tournament play; she batted .387 during the season and has shown the ability to come up with clutch hits, batting .448 with two outs.
"I thought she came up big. I wasn't surprised at all," UMass coach Elaine Sortino said when asked if she was surprised that the freshman got the first big hit. "I'm always glad to see her coming to the plate."
Sophomore catcher Jessica Serio added some insurance by knocking a double to left-center, scoring junior right fielder Samantha Salato from second. Serio went 2-for-3, but no other UMass player had two hits.
"Great for our team to get this win under our belt," Sortino said. "I felt like we were a little tight in the beginning, but we really worked it out."
Balschmiter did not allow any runs, giving UMass its 20th shutout of the season. She went seven innings and allowed four hits and walking three. Balschmiter struck out three batters, while on the season she averaged 8.32 strikeouts per game. She didn't let up any extra base hits as all four hits came on singles.
"I thought she did her job," Sortino said. "She took a close game and got the job done for us."
The team helped her in the field by playing errorless defense. The Rams best chance to score came in the fourth when they had a runner on second with freshman Meghan Shager at bat. Shager hit a single into left field, giving Fordham a chance to score from second, but senior left fielder Lauren Proctor hit Serio on target to make the out at home.
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