After scuffling for over a month to start the season, the University of Massachusetts softball team has looked a lot like a Atlantic 10 Championship team again over the past two weeks. The Minutewomen will go for their fifth and sixth wins against non-conference opponents this week, when they host Connecticut on Tuesday and travel to face Boston University on Wednesday.
UMass (13-14, 5-3 A-10) lost 10 of 12 to start the season, often struggling to find consistent offense. However, UMass has averaged nearly four runs a game its last seven contests (6-1). UMass coach Elaine Sortino has seen her young players mature at the plate, citing a better approach and more patience.
Still, the Minutewomen are characterized by their starting pitching. Junior ace Sara Plourde has thrown two consecutive no-hitters while her understudies, freshmen Caroline Raymond and Lindsey Webster, have pitched well at the back-end of the rotation. Plourde carries an 11-10 record with a 1.51 earned run average to go along with 244 strikeouts in 143.1 innings. Raymond has seen the bulk of No. 2 duties, going 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA through 24.1 innings. Collectively as of March 31, the UMass staff is second in the conference with a 2.22 ERA behind Fordham’s 2.15. Defensively, the Minutewomen rank fourth in the conference with a .958 fielding percentage.
As the offense, pitching and defense are all coming together, it’s clear that UMass’ confidence is rising as it heads into the heart of the season. The Minutewomen will look to fine-tune their offense this week, starting with Tuesday’s contest against the University of Connecticut Huskies (13-15), who are coming off a 13-7 loss against Rutgers on April 3. UConn’s ace, sophomore Kiki Saveriano, will look to bounce back after her poor outing in which she gave up nine runs (six earned) over 6.1 innings. The Huskies led 5-4 after five innings, but surrendered a nine-run seventh to the Scarlet Knights, which put the game out of reach.
Despite her performance, Saveriano will likely make her team-leading 19th start against the Minutewomen. Saveriano holds a 7-10 record along with a 3.19 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 98.2 innings.
Plourde, who currently holds a UMass record with 17.2 consecutive hitless innings, will likely start against the Huskies, which boasts four players with over a .300 average. Senior Julianne Towers is leading the team in all major hitting categories, including average (.386), runs batted in (26), home runs (seven) and runs (23).
Following the UConn game, the Minutewomen will get on a bus to Boston to face the Terriers (18-10). It is unclear which pitcher BU will choose to make the start, but they have three very solid options in sophomore Erin Schuppert, Holli Floetker and Whitney Tuthill. All three pitchers sport an ERA under 2.00 and at least a .500 winning percentage.
Highlighting the Terriers offense is senior outfielder April Setterlund, who leads her team in the triple crown categories (.382 average, six home runs, 26 RBIs). As a team, BU has a .273 average.
Following this week’s games, the Minutewomen will return home for a doubleheader against conference rival St. Bonaventure (6-11, 3-5 A 10) April 10 at the UMass Softball Complex.
Steve Levine can be reached at [email protected].
