April showers will hopefully bring a continued display of power for the Massachusetts softball team.
On the heels of a four-game winning streak to open play at home, the Minutewomen (13-14, 5-3 Atlantic 10) were slowed down on Monday and Tuesday as rainstorms swept through Amherst and postponed their home date with Connecticut.
Instead, the Maroon and White will go for five-in-a-row when they travel to Boston Wednesday to take on Boston University.
Although the Terriers (18-10, 4-2 America East) are a part of a different conference than UMass, the Minutewomen should be very familiar with their in-state counterparts, as they played three games against them in 2010, posting a 2-1 record.
However, the lone game that UMass surrendered to BU may have been the one that stung the most throughout the 2010 campaign, as it came in the NCAA Amherst Regional, a 10-4 Terriers victory that cut an optimistic Minutewomen season short.
In that game, ace pitcher Sara Plourde didn’t come close to her record-breaking form that she displayed throughout the season that included a nation-leading 556 strikeouts and 40 wins. In just one inning of work, she gave up four quick runs before UMass coach Elaine Sortino pulled the plug and replaced her with senior pitcher Bailey Sanders, who went on to surrender six more runs in five innings of relief.
It was revealed later that Plourde suffered from a stress fracture in her hip that limited her abilities in the postseason. However, after an offseason of being on crutches and going through rehabilitation, Plourde is back and will look to avenge the loss from last season.
On their trip, the Minutewomen will hope to duplicate the success they had against BU in the regular season a year ago, in which they shutout the Terriers at home, 3-0, before traveling to Boston less than a week later to defeat them again, 7-5.
In those contests, Plourde picked up both wins and pitched two complete games, which included a two-hit, 15-strikeout performance in the first matchup before giving up five runs and striking out nine in the second game.
If the latest home stand for the Minutewomen is any indication, Plourde should be pitching at the level she did in that first game as she steps on the rubber this afternoon.
Over the latest four-game stretch, Plourde has picked up three wins and her first save in two starts and two relief appearances, and recorded 39 strikeouts in 17.2 hitless innings of work. For her impressive week’s efforts, she was named the National Softball Player of the Week by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
As dominant as Plourde has been of late, however, she won’t be at it alone as the Minutewomen offense will have to put some runs on the board to give their ace some support.
The Terriers will pose as a threat for the Minutewomen, as they are highlighted by top players Erin Schuppert, Holli Floetker and Whitney Tuthill, who highlight a pitching staff, each boasting an ERA under 2.00.
As dominant as the BU pitching staff appears to be throughout the course of the season thus far, UMass might be playing them at just the right time, as the Terriers have just hit a bit of a rough patch in their schedule, having just lost two out of three in a series against Maine this past weekend, including losing both contests in a doubleheader on Sunday, 8-2 and 6-1, respectively.
Looking to take advantage on the attack for the Minutewomen will be freshman Lindsey Webster, who was recently named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week. During the homestand, she went 5-for-10, including two doubles and a home run.
Continuing the offensive support for Plourde will be in the form of junior Kyllie Magill, who posts a .301 batting average and a team-leading 15 RBIs as the team’s leadoff hitter. Much like Plourde, Magill should be familiar with the Terriers, as she went 3-for-3 and hit a two-run home run in the first regular season meeting with them last season before going hitless in the following two meetings.
The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the BU Softball Field. After Wednesday, UMass will dive right back into conference action on Sunday, hosting St. Bonaventure in a doubleheader.
Stephen Hewitt can be reached at [email protected].
