The Massachusetts softball team got its 2012 season underway this past weekend, as it picked up three wins and lost two at the FIU Combat Classic in Miami.
On Sunday morning, the Minutewomen finished their five-game slate as they fell to No. 24 Louisville, 2-0, in a game that was cut short per the Drop Dead Rule – a rule that states that no matter what point it is in the game, the game must be immediately ended at the given time to allow for the following game in the tournament to start on time.
Senior All-American pitcher Sara Plourde – who returns this year following a stellar junior season in which she recorded a nation-best 498 strikeouts – struck out 12 Cardinal batters and allowed just four hits, but it wasn’t enough as Louisville used a pair of sixth inning runs to take home the victory.
After five scoreless innings, an error by centerfielder Christine Della Vecchia allowed a runner to second base, and then a late throw on the next play turned a single into a double, and a run for the Cardinals.
Plourde then gave up a single, which allowed a Louisville runner to score, as it took a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, UMass tried to start a rally as Stephanie Mayne got things going with a leadoff single before Della Vecchia reached on a dropped fly ball by the Cardinals’ third basemen.
But with Cyndil Matthew up to bat, the “Drop Dead Rule” abruptly ended the game at 11 a.m.
Plourde picked up the loss, as she finished the weekend with a less-than-stellar 2-2 record.
Saturday sweep
In an offensive slugfest – which included a combined 20 hits – the Minutewomen topped Michigan State under the lights, 7-6, on Saturday night.
Freshman pitcher Bridget Lemire earned her first career start and picked up her first win as she struck out three, while allowing eight hits and four earned runs in her debut.
Tiffany Meeks got UMass going as she hit her first home run of the season early in the second for the first run of the game.
After the Spartans responded with three runs of their own in the top of the third inning, Meeks homered again in the fourth inning, making the score 4-2.
In the fifth inning, it was Meeks again as she hit a sacrifice fly that sent home Katie Bettencourt to tie the game, and shortly after, Mayne hit a two-run homer that putt UMass on top, 5-3.
MSU chipped at the lead with one run in the fifth, but the Minutewomen scored two in the sixth, when MSU pitcher Cassee Layne hit two batters with the bases loaded, UMass never relinquished the 7-4 lead it gained in the sixth, as it held on for the 7-6 victory.
Earlier on Saturday, Florida International got on the board first, but the Minutewomen responded with three unanswered runs to beat the host Panthers, 3-1.
After FIU got a little help from the sun which blinded UMass third baseman Teea Rodgers on a fly ball that allowed a runner home, Kyllie Magill knotted the game up in the third inning when her double brought Matthew home.
In the seventh inning, Magill sparked another rally, as she singled to center to bring Lemire home and put the Minutewomen on top, 2-1. Shortly after that, Bettencourt hit a sacrifice fly that scored Della Vecchia to give them their third run and a 3-1 lead that wouldn’t change.
Opening day split
On Friday night, UMass used a complete game, 12 strikeout performance from Plourde to get its first win of the season, a 4-1 triumph over Illinois. Plourde allowed just two hits over the course of the game.
Magill’s sacrifice fly to left in the third inning scored Matthew to give the Minutewomen the 1-0 advantage, and Bettencourt followed with a two-run home run to put the team up 3-0 and ultimately out of reach.
In the fourth inning, Quianna Diaz-Patterson doubled to score Matthew to give the Minutewomen an insurance run. Diaz-Patterson, Matthew, Meeks, Bettencourt and Mayne each collected multi-hit games to help UMass get the win.
In its season-opener earlier on Friday, the Minutewomen blew a 2-0 lead late in the game and allowed UAB to come out on top 3-2 with an impressive rally.
Lindsey Webster hit her first home run of the season, a bomb over the left field wall to give UMass the early 2-0 advantage.
The lead wouldn’t hold though as the Blazers rallied in the bottom of the seventh.
A two-run home run by Mandy Lowman knotted the game at 2-2 before Kristen McGrath came up to bat and hit a walk-off solo shot to give UAB the 3-2 victory.
Plourde pitched six-and-two-thirds innings, striking out eight, walking six and allowing three earned runs as she picked up the loss in her first start of the season.
The Minutewomen will now wait two weeks to play again before they head back south to compete in the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla., where they will take on DePaul, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Illinois and Tennessee.
Stephen Hewitt can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Hewitt.
