The Massachusetts softball team should understand as well as any team that a dominating pitching staff means nothing without run support behind it.

Last season, UMass learned that lesson the hard way.

A season after exploding for 58 home runs, posting a .292 batting average as a team and scoring 266 runs, the Minutewomen’s 2011 offense fell back to earth in a big way.

It was clear that UMass missed its seniors that graduated a season before. Carly Normandin (.400 batting average), Sarah Reeves (.340, 13 home runs) and Michelle Libby (.295, 10 home runs) helped carry the offense throughout their careers and the Minutewomen knew that they would have a lot of missing firepower moving forward.

But who they did have coming back was Katie Bettencourt, the 2010 Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Year. As a sophomore, Bettencourt blossomed, batting .333 – third-best behind Normandin and Reeves – and hitting seven home runs with 31 RBIs. In 53 games starting in right field, she never committed an error and finished with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.

Going into 2011, Bettencourt was going to be counted on to pick up where she left off, be a leader on offense and help maintain some of the explosiveness from 2010.

During the first weekend of the season, it looked like she would do that and then some. In the first game against Penn State, she blasted her first career grand slam in a 10-0 victory. Then the next day, she jacked a three-run homer to help lift UMass to a win over Florida Atlantic.

But it only went downhill from there, as she went on a dry spell that saw her go eight games without recording a hit. On March 11, 2011, she ended the slump, getting a hit in each game in wins over Toledo and South Florida. But just when it seemed as though she might get on track, the unthinkable happened.

On March 13 against St. John’s, after going 2-for-4 with a run scored, Bettencourt suffered an internal injury to her liver after sliding headfirst into second base. At first, it wasn’t ruled out that she could return, but after a few weeks it was decided she would miss the rest of the season, which included the team’s last 34 games.

Now, after a long offseason full of rehabilitation, Bettencourt is healthy and back in the lineup and in the field after a long time of waiting and watching from the dugout.

“It feels awesome,” Bettencourt said of finally being back. “This is my passion. This is what I live for. And it was really tough to sit and have to watch, especially not winning A-10s which is something we regularly do every year, and not make it to the NCAAs was really heartbreaking, so to be back and to be contributing is the best feeling.

And contributing she has been. She’s off to a much better start than she had last year before the injury. Heading into today’s home-opening doubleheader against Dartmouth, she’s hitting .290 – fourth-best on the team – and has hit one homer while driving in 13. She also has a perfect fielding percentage in right field.

Bettencourt said that she’s confident she can return to her 2010 self, and then some.

“I feel like I’m a 10 times more all-around better player,” Bettencourt said. “In the outfield, I feel like I’m much quicker, much better reading the ball off the bat. I feel like I’m a much better hitter, more consistent every game.”

As good as Bettencourt can be, she can’t carry the offense by herself. But that’s not to say her teammates aren’t producing.

When Bettencourt went down with her injury last year, it was Lindsey Webster and Cyndil Matthew that picked up their games on offense in a big way.

Last season, Webster batted .297 while jacking a team-leading eight home runs and driving in 23 runs – impressive numbers considering she was a only a freshman.

Matthew was no easy out either. She made her presence felt at the bottom of the lineup where she got on base often to set up the top of the order. Primarily a slap hitter, she batted a team-high .324 average and stole a team-best 13 bases on 15 attempts.

This season, each are back to their old tricks. Webster already has 15 RBIs to go with her .293 batting average while Matthew leads the team with a .408 batting average, 22 runs and 13 stolen bases.

With the return of Bettencourt and the presence of incoming freshman Quianna Diaz-Patterson (.312 average, 19 RBIs) in addition to Webster and Matthew, the Minutewomen have an offensive core that could help them return to a dominant form in the A-10 in 2012.

“We’re looking a lot better this season,” Webster said. “Offensively, we’re really coming together. We’re really perfecting and working on our swings and working on putting a good swing on a good pitch.”

So far, Webster’s sentiments seem to be true. Team offensive numbers are up from a year ago and while it can’t be all pinned on the fact that Bettencourt is back, one thing is for certain: With her back, the lineup adds a dynamic not possible without her; one that could push the team over the top in its quest to return to A-10 championship glory.

“I feel like we’re a one-two punch,” Webster said. “No one is going to want to walk Kyllie [Magill] to get to Katie to get to me to get to Q, so I feel like we have a very strong offensive lineup right now.”

Stephen Hewitt can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Hewitt.