The Massachusetts softball team’s bats have come alive since it started conference play against Dayton a couple weeks ago, helping the team to a 4-1 record over that span after starting the season 2-15.

In the last five games, the Minutewomen have scored 44 runs for an average of 8.8 runs per game after scoring 44 runs over their first 17 games in Florida and California (2.59 runs per game).

Coach Elaine Sortino said one of the main things the team has worked on offensively has been improving the hitters’ pitch selection.

“I think it’s a little bit better deliberation, and a better intent, and a better purpose early and late in the count,” Sortino said. “I think that every hitter’s going up there with a little bit better plan.”

Sortino also said that the team has been playing against some easier competition than the teams they faced in Florida and California, which has played a part in the hitters’ turnaround.

“I think that the pitching that we’re seeing is not as consistently good as the pitching we saw earlier on in the first four trips (to Florida and California),” she said. “However, I will say this. I feel like, more than the pitching, it is the hitters that have gotten better.”

Since their first Atlantic 10 game against Dayton, UMass batters have been hitting .370 and have hit nine home runs, as opposed to their first 17 games, when they hit .201 with four home runs.

Sortino said the improvement from the hitters could help the pitching staff to improve their game as well.

“I think as our pitchers come to find their own, I think there’s a sense of confidence that they can have, standing on the mound, knowing that their team can score multiple runs,” she said.

The pitching staff has already shown slight improvements since the start of conference play. Over the past five games, the pitchers have a collective ERA of 4.67, as opposed to the 5.82 team ERA they had over their first 17 games.

The Minutewomen’s next game will be against Connecticut on Tuesday in Storrs, Conn. UConn comes into the contest with a strong pitching staff, led by Kiki Saveriano, who in 17 appearances this season has a 10-4 record, a 1.71 ERA and 74 strikeouts.

Sortino said the team will be ready for the matchup come Tuesday.

“We’ve faced the UConn staff before,” she said. “We kind of have an expectation level of the kind of pitches we’re going to see, particularly from Saveriano … and we’ll be prepared.”

Jesse Mayfield-Sheehan can be reached at [email protected] and can be followed on Twitter at @jgms88.