For the second time in as many weeks, the Massachusetts softball team’s scheduled contest was rained out, as showers swept through Massachusetts to postpone the Minutewomen’s trip to Boston College on Wednesday afternoon. The game has yet to be rescheduled.
The Maroon and White will now search for their eighth and ninth consecutive victories this weekend when they travel to play Atlantic 10 foe Dayton for a two-game series scheduled for Friday and Saturday afternoon.
The Flyers (13-19, 5-5 A-10) currently sit in seventh place in the conference, two games behind the third-place Minutewomen (16-14, 7-3 A-10), and are sliding as of late, as they have lost 11out of their last 14.
UMass is 26-3 all-time against UD, which includes a doubleheader sweep last season that was held at the UMass Softball Complex.
Sara Plourde picked up both victories on the day against the Flyers, as she pitched 13 total innings, striking out 23 and allowing six runs, all earned, in the Minutewomen’s 8-2 and 5-4 wins.
UD pitchers Amanda Daly and Sarah Wedel respectively started in each game, while also pitching in relief of each other. The duo was unable to tame the UMass lineup, as it combined to give up seven runs and record four strikeouts in Game 1 before allowing five runs and striking out three combined in Game 2.
To this point, neither pitcher has shown encouraging signs this season, as Daly is 2-6 with an 8.01 ERA while Wedel has a record of 3-5 with a 3.86 ERA.
However, the Flyers have a new weapon in the circle this season that they hope can compete with Plourde in the form of freshman Alysha Isaacson.
The Chula Vista, Calif. native was recently named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for her career performance last Saturday against Saint Louis, when she pitched a complete game, one-hit shutout victory while going 3-for-6 in the two-game series. So far this season, Isaacson boasts a team-best record of 8-7, which includes seven complete games to go along with a 4.03 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 90.1 innings.
At the plate, UD features three batters with a batting average of at least .350: Isaacson (.350), sophomore Kathleen Maloof (.356) and junior Lauren Nacke (.371).
Of the three, Maloof and Nacke are the only ones to have seen action in every game for the Flyers, and they have produced big numbers, combining for 16 home runs and 57 RBIs, both of which are about half of the team’s total.
Nacke, with 10 home runs and 30 RBIs, is second in the conference in home runs and third in RBIs. She also holds the Flyers all-time record for home runs with 27 career round-trippers and she is still just a junior.
Friday’s game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start while Saturday’s action will get started at noon from the UD Softball Stadium. After the weekend, the Minutewomen will conclude their road trip at Connecticut on Wednesday before starting an 11-game homestand.
Stephen Hewitt can be reached at [email protected].
