2008 Woodie Awards
Softball: Minutewomen take A-10 title
Steve Games, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 5/12/08 Section: Sports
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On Friday, the Minutewomen battled from behind to defeat Charlotte in the semifinal, 5-4, in nine innings. UMass, Fordham and Charlotte all advanced to the final championship day. The Minutewomen remained undefeated and secured a spot in the championship game. Charlotte and Fordham played earlier in the day with Charlotte winning and advancing to the final game with a 2-1 win.
"This was a tough tournament for us. We had to play a real tough Fordham team in the first round, and Charlotte was unbelievable [on Friday]," UMass coach Elaine Sortino said in a post-game interview with CBS Sports. "Today they had a couple of flurries at us; and we showed up with our A-game on the mound, took care of the ball and had some timely hitting."
Junior pitcher Brandice Balschmiter brought her best to the mound on Saturday by throwing a complete game shutout and only allowing Charlotte to get three hits. Balschmiter also struck out 10 batters including the final batter of the game to wrap up the championship.
"Much better compared to the last two days of the tournament," Balschmiter said in her post-game interview. "I just reared back and tried to blow it by them to finish them out a little bit."
On Friday, Balschmiter allowed four runs (two earned) and let up eight hits. However she struck out 11 batters and only walked one. The Minutewomen defense that helped her against Fordham committed four errors in the semifinal game.
In the championship game, Balschmiter came out stronger than she did on Friday by not allowing a base runner to reach until the fourth inning. In that fourth inning, Balschmiter got herself out of a jam. With two outs, she allowed back-to-back singles from the 49ers. With runners on first and second and the game still scoreless, Balschmiter struck out the next batter to end the scoring threat.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Minutewomen produced the clutch hits needed to win the tournament. With two outs and runners on first and second, freshman designated hitter Lindsay Maroney doubled to center field scoring junior right fielder Samantha Salato for the first run of the game.
Sticking with the freshmen, Sortino put in freshman Audrey Boutin to pinch-hit for junior second baseman Carly Morin. Boutin hit a double to center field in her first A-10 Tournament appearance scoring both sophomore first baseman Sarah Reeves and Maroney.
"I thought they did a great job, and we got our biggest hits from the class of 2011," Sortino said. "They delivered the game-winning hits."
Sophomore center fielder Carly Normandin doubled through the right side; but Morin, who came back in the game for Boutin, tried to score from second and was thrown out at home to end the inning.
Charlotte managed only one hit off Balschmiter after the fourth inning, and UMass could not muster any hits after the three-run fourth.
The championship game was the largest margin of victory for the Minutewomen in the tournament, as every game was close. UMass defeated Fordham, 2-0, in the first round and went nine innings against Charlotte in the semifinals for a 5-4 win. Sortino feels the league is getting better each year.
"The coaches in this league have really raised the bar," she said. "They've gone out and got great talent, and they are well coached. I think the Atlantic 10 is definitely on the up swing every year."
Game Notes
Maroney went 5-10 in her first A-10 Tournament with two key RBI's…Junior third baseman Whitney Mollica knocked in the game-winning RBI in the semi-final against Charlotte to put UMass in the championship game. With two outs and the game tied, senior left fielder Lauren Proctor hit a single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Mollica then provided the game winning single...Balschmiter went all nine innings in the semi-final game…On the season, Boutin has totaled 21 at bats and has appeared in 13 games with seven starts.
Steve Games can be reached at sgames@student.umass.edu.
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