Cyndil Matthew remained hot, Lindsey Webster homered twice and Sara Plourde threw two complete games for the Massachusetts softball team, which swept Sunday’s doubleheader against La Salle, 9-2 and 8-0, respectively.
After suffering two losses against Atlantic 10-leading Fordham (36-17, 14-4 A-10), UMass (25-17, 12-5 A-10) bounced back with two convincing wins against last place La Salle (4-37, 1-15 A-10).
Junior Sara Plourde started and won both games for the Minutewomen, improving her record to 23-13. In game 1, Plourde threw a complete game and allowed two runs on two hits while striking out 18.
The UMass offense gave Plourde more than enough support, extending its early 1-0 lead with three runs in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively. Freshman Lindsey Webster hit her fifth home run in the fifth inning and finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs and two RBIs. Sophomore Cydil Matthew also went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.
“[Fordham] kind of quieted us down a little bit,” said Plourde. “But once we came back out here today we busted it open and our bats came alive, so I think that was a really big door-opener for us.”
Senior Meghan Carta added a solo home run and three runs scored and junior Kyllie Magill added three RBIs in the rout.
Game 2 was nearly a carbon copy of Game 1, as the UMass offense remained potent behind Plourde, who threw the 12th perfect game in UMass history in the shortened six inning, 8-0 game.
The Minutewomen got it going early, scoring six runs in the first three innings. Webster hit her team-leading sixth home run of the season and drove in three runs while Matthew went 3-for-3, driving in a run and scoring twice. Magill added two runs and an RBI in her 2-for-3 effort.
UMass coach Elaine Sortino, who thought her team looked at too many strikes from Fordham’s ace Jen Mineau, was very impressed with her offense, particularly Webster and Matthew.
“She’s fantastic,” Sortino said of Webster. “To know that we’ve got so many more years with her, she’s just going to get better.”
“Cyndil’s coming on like gangfire,” added Sortino. “She can do it all now. She’s killing the ball, she’s a triple threat.”
While the Minutewomen’s offense has lacked consistency, Webster is confident that the bats will continue to roll throughout the four remaining regular season games and into the A-10 tournament, which begins next week.
“The pitching [today] wasn’t the [same] as Mineau,” said Webster. “I still think we can hit her just as much as we hit the pitching today… We can beat Fordham.”
The sweep certainly gives the UMass confidence going into its final four games, which feature one non-conference game against BC, two conference games against lowly Rhode Island and a final non-conference game against Quinnipiac. A sweep of Rhode Island is a big priority for the Minutewomen because it would give them the tournament’s No. 2 seed and an extra day of rest for Plourde, who has been a workhorse due to injuries to secondary pitchers Webster and Caroline Raymond.
“I can’t even tell you how broad [Plourde’s] shoulders are,” said Sortino. “She literally had to carry the team today and she threw a perfect game.”
Steve Levine can be reached at [email protected].
