Amidst all the theatrics and milestones on Wednesday, the Massachusetts
softball team jumped back on top of the Atlantic 10 standings. However, with four games in three days forecasted this weekend, a lot can change by the time Monday rolls around.
After a quick visit from Boston University, which featured Sara Plourde collecting the 1,000th strikeout of her career as well as another walk-off win, the Minutewomen have a quick turnaround as they defend their top position in the A-10.
UMass (21-15, 10-3 A10) has overtaken Fordham, at least for the time being, as the teams meet for a two-game set on Friday, their first meeting of the season.
Although the Rams (34-17, 12-4 A10) have played three more conference games than UMass, the Minutewomen moved percentage points ahead with their doubleheader sweep of George Washington last Sunday.
Against the Terriers, Plourde became the third pitcher in program history to reach the 1,000-strikeout mark and the first to accomplish the feat prior to her senior season. Her 14-strikeout display on Wednesday sustained BU just enough, as UMass scored in the bottom of the seventh to take the 3-2 victory.
Cyndil Matthew singled through the left side to lead off the frame, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error by Terriers second baseman Melanie Delgado.
Plourde’s one blemish was a two-run home run to the No. 3 hitter, April Setterlund, in the top of the seventh. The two-run shot temporarily evened the game at two.
The once-first-place Rams are coming off of a three-game winning streak. In the last two matches, Fordham has outscored its opponents 18-0 and sealed both games in five innings.
The Rams also saw their share of milestones passed in the doubleheader sweep of St. Peter’s on Wednesday. Junior Jen Mineau pitched her fourth career perfect game and senior Jocelyn Dearborn became Fordham’s all-time hits leader while raising her average to .400.
Chelsea Plimpton nearly pitched her own perfect game in Game 1, allowing just one ball out of the infield, while striking out nine and facing one batter over the minimum.
The two aces, Mineau and Plimpton, have each won at least 16 games apiece while sporting earned run averages of 1.56 and 2.15, respectively. Together, they have compiled a 33-17 record this season.
While Plimpton, the senior pitcher, has pitched slightly more innings, Mineau has racked up 74 more swing-and-misses, notching 215 K’s in 153 innings and holding her opponents to a .171 batting average.
Mineau was a 2010 First-Team All-American and currently leads the conference with four saves.
Although the Minutewomen have enough concerns dealing with the two-headed attack on the mound, the aforementioned Dearborn has proved to also be threat on the offensive side. Her 14 home runs and 40 runs batted in lead the team as do her 66 hits, 165 at-bats, .818 slugging percentage and .452 on-base percentage.
Beckah Wiggins and Gabby Luety have six and eight home runs to their names, respectively.
More numbers are sure to clash this weekend, as UMass own a dominant 11-1 mark at home while Fordham claims an impressive 10-3 record on the road.
Despite both teams appearing at even strength this season, the Minutewomen lead the lopsided all-time series with the Rams, 41-4.
Last season, UMass took four out of five meetings with Fordham. The lone win for the Rams came early in the A-10 tournament before the Minutewomen came back with two straight wins to take the 2010 conference title.
Flipping the page on Fordham, La Salle (3-34, 0-12 A-10) is the cellar dweller of the conference and will play two on Sunday in Amherst.
The Explorers recently split a doubleheader against Bucknell, however before that, their latest win was on March 8, a 1-0 win over Bryant.
As a team, La Salle is batting a combined .192 average while allowing their opponents to hit .332 against them.
UMass has never lost to La Salle, dominating the all-time matchup at 33-0.
Pete Vasquez can be reached at [email protected].
