The members of the Massachusetts softball team are growing increasingly consistent all around the diamond, and are riding an eight-game winning streak in the process. Now if they can just get consistent weather from Mother Nature, the Minutewomen can try to sustain their momentum as conference playoffs near.

After its latest win, a 9-1 victory over Dayton, UMass (17-14, 8-3 Atlantic 10) learned that the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader was cancelled and wouldn’t be rescheduled.

News of rainouts is coming as no shock to UMass, as the team has heard this story more than a handful of times.

While cancellations are a part of the outdoor game, stretches of continuous rainouts are starting to take their toll on the Minutewomen.

“We don’t take it very well,” said UMass coach Elaine Sortino. “It’s very, very important that we play every conference opponent, and that we get all our conference games in. We’ve certainly had our share of losing games to bad weather. This is the sixth game we lost to rain and that’s enough already.”

Before their most recent postponement, the Minutewomen’s trip to Boston College on Wednesday was also cancelled due to rain. That makes UMass 1-for-3 in attempted games played for the week.

Earlier this season, UMass participated in the Buzz Classic, which was also cut short because of heavy rains. Games against Kennesaw State, UNC Greensboro and Georgia Tech were never made up.

Still, when the Minutewomen have taken field they have put on a show featuring solid all around play.

“[We’ve had] overall consistency on three ends: pitching, defensively and hitting as well,” said Sortino. “We’re in a better spot and we’re continuing to get better.”

Each of the three phases soundly presented itself throughout the 9-1 win.

While Sara Plourde continued to overpower her opponents, going all seven innings and striking out 17 batters, the offense exploded for nine runs.

Two key innings set the tone for the Minutewomen. In the third inning, the power display of UMass was on. Back-to-back home runs from Meghan Carta and Stephanie Mayne accounted for all five runs.

The sixth inning saw the Minutewomen take advantage of suspect defense by the Flyers. Three hits, one passed ball and an error later, the score ballooned to 8-1.

The best play of the game, according to Sortino, was when Carta threw out a runner trying to steal second. It was a fitting last play of a impressive game for UMass.

The Maroon and White currently sit in third place in the A-10 standings. While the three conference losses are equivalent to the top two teams, the eight wins are three less than conference-leading Fordham.

It is possible that the Minutewomen could be tied for the A-10 lead without these rainouts. However, the players have not lost focus during these postponements, putting a sporadic run together.

UMass’ current streak is the longest of the season, doubling the previous longest streak of four from March 11-12.

The streak also helps nullify an eight-game losing streak the Minutewomen suffered earlier in the season from Feb 20 to March 4.

UMass is scheduled for six games this week, including two doubleheaders. Weather permitting, the Minutewomen hope to keep their sporadic winning streak alive.

Pete Vasquez can be reached at [email protected].