The Massachusetts softball team continued its inconsistent start to the season after splitting a pair of doubleheader matchups last weekend against Temple and Saint Joseph’s.
Saturday’s doubleheader split versus Temple (10-14, 2-2 Atlantic 10) featured a total of 22 runs, with each game being very lopsided. The Minutewomen (9-14, 3-3 A-10) lost the first game, 7-1, before taking the second contest, 12-2, in five innings.
In the late afternoon game, sophomore Teea Rogers and freshman Tiffany Meeks each hit grand slams, as UMass scored six runs in the fourth inning, followed by four more in the fifth, erasing what was previously a 2-2 tie after three frames.
Rogers’ slam was the first home run of her collegiate career, while Meeks’ marked her fourth four-bagger of her rookie year.
“It felt really good, it’s about time,” said Rogers. “Our offense had a hard time in the first game, so we knew we had a lot coming in the second game. In that inning, we started off hot and just kept it going. We were a lot more aggressive. We didn’t let pitches go by, we were hitting everything that was on the plate.”
The aggressive change in philosophy could also be seen in Meeks’ approach at the dish in the second game.
“Game one I saw a lot of good pitches,” said Meeks, “I let a few go by. This game I just really wanted to attack the ball and get some hits.”
Freshman Caroline Raymond claimed her first win in her first ever start as a Minutewoman with five solid innings of work. She gave up two runs while collecting four strikeouts.
“[Raymond] pitched an amazing game,” said Rogers. “She kept her cool and did everything that was asked of her.”
Raymond’s only other action on the mound prior to Saturday was a combined total of three innings of relief.
Junior Sara Plourde suffered the loss in the earlier 7-1 defeat to Temple. She surrendered six earned runs courtesy of five hits and seven walks while striking out 13.
Sunday’s two-game set against Saint Joseph’s in Villanova, Pa., saw the Minutewomen follow a 6-4 win early in the day with a 5-2 loss shortly afterwards.
Freshman Caroline Raymond took the loss in the Sunday finale, allowing five runs (two earned) in six innings. The Hawks tallied seven hits and a walk, handing Raymond her first loss of the year.
St. Joe’s began the scoring early with two runs in the first. The Minutewomen came right back to knot the score at two thanks to run-scoring singles by Rogers and junior Kyllie Magill. The score remained 2-2 until the Hawks scored three times in the seventh to secure the victory.
In the first game of the doubleheader, Plourde got her seventh win of the season en route to a 6-4 Minutewomen victory. The staff ace went eight innings, giving up four runs on four hits and four walks while striking out 12.
It was Plourde’s 14th complete game of the season in 18 starts. Her earned run average now sits at 1.78, while her strikeout total has climbed to 193 in 117.2 innings.
The six runs were all scored in the final two innings, as UMass came back from a 2-0 deficit after six frames.
Freshman Lindsey Webster powered a two-run home run in the seventh to even the score, and Plourde added a run-scoring single.
Sophomore Cyndil Matthew laced a two-run double in the eighth inning as the Minutewomen put together a two-out rally keyed by an error to keep the inning alive.
Magill, the team’s leadoff hitter, had three hits with a run scored and one RBI. Six more hits this weekend give her a team-leading 27 hits.
UMass returns to action March 30, when it hosts Dartmouth for a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
Pete Vasquez can be reached at [email protected].
