After a recent home stand served the Massachusetts softball team well, the Minutewomen couldn’t find the same success on a short road trip Tuesday afternoon.

UMass (16-11, 4-0 Atlantic 10) couldn’t hold an early lead, as it fell to Connecticut, 5-3, on Tuesday in Storrs, Conn., snapping its five-game winning streak that dated back to March 25.

“I thought we started with great energy,” said UMass coach Elaine Sortino. “I thought the kids really stuck to what they needed to do. I think that, unfortunately, we rushed instead of being aggressive and I think that led to a couple of the miscues … it was just a tough day all around. We were not on the top of our game offensively, defensively or on the mound.”

Senior pitcher Sara Plourde, a week after garnering A-10 Pitcher of the Week and UMass Athlete of the Week honors, was not her usual self in the circle although she drove in a run at the plate.

Plourde, who was named the Louisville Slugger Division 1 National Player of the Week on Tuesday, pitched a complete game, recorded eight strikeouts and surrendered three hits. But she also gave up six walks and five runs, two of which were earned after she let up an Emily O’Donnell two-run blast that gave the Huskies a 5-3 lead in the sixth.

“I think there are a couple of things with her that we can straighten out pretty quick,” said Sortino. “I know exactly what she was doing and I’m not worried about that. She struggled a little bit today on the mound but, all in all, she knows what she’s doing, we’ll get it back. It’s not something that’s going to linger.”

The Minutewomen got on top early in the first inning when their first three batters got on base. After Katie Bettencourt walked, Plourde reached on an error that scored Cyndil Matthew, but that’s all that UMass got as it stranded two runners.

The Minutewomen scored again in the third following a leadoff double from Quianna Diaz-Patterson. After Plourde singled – which extended her hitting streak to seven games – Kyllie Magill came up to the plate and singled through a hole at short that drove home Diaz-Patterson to extend the UMass lead to 2-0.

UConn eventually struck back in the bottom of the fourth. After Plourde drew the first two Huskies out, she started to lose her control as she walked Andrea Huelsenbeck. Kim Silva then reached second on an error, which put two runners in scoring position for Amy DeLuca, who singled down the third base line to score Huelsenbeck and cut the deficit in half.

Plourde’s control issues continued in the fifth inning as she walked the leadoff batter and then surrendered back-to-back singles, the second of which was hit by Marissa Guches to left that scored two runners to give UConn a 3-2 advantage.

The Huskies could have done further damage after Plourde then gave up back-to-back walks following a strikeout that loaded the bases with one out. But Silva then lined out to Diaz-Patterson, who then fired the ball to third for a double play to end the inning and the threat.

“They hit it right at her head so she had to be heads up,” said Sortino. “She’s a great shortstop, and for a young kid, I thought she played really well.”

With their backs against the wall, the Minutewomen responded nicely in the top of the seventh. After Stephanie Mayne drew a leadoff walk, Teea Rogers and Jordan Storro went down on strikes back-to-back to put them in a two-out hole. But Christine Della Vecchia followed them off with a single that brought Lindsey Webster – who was pinch-running for Mayne to second. Matthew then followed that with a single that scored Webster from second to knot the game at 3-3.

UConn didn’t go down without a fight either, though, as DeLuca drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth. After Plourde then struck out Audrey Grinnell and forced Jennifer Ward into a fly out, it seemed like UMass was back in control. But that all changed with one swing of the bat, as O’Donnell went yard to center field to put the Huskies back ahead.

The Minutewomen were unable to counter in the top of the seventh as Bettencourt, Plourde and Magill went down in order to give UConn the victory.

UMass will now turn its attention to this afternoon’s matchup with instate rival Boston College as it returns home to Amherst.

Sortino wasn’t hung up on the loss, and instead said she was looking forward to putting it behind her and looking ahead at a chance to quickly turn it around.

“You don’t like to lose, and God knows I hate them, but you have to look for what you did well,” said Sortino. “And then you have to find your shortcomings and you pick it up tomorrow and you make it better. It’s early April, and these are the things we’re going to learn from. We know the mistakes we made, we know where we fell short and we know what we need to do to adjust.

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