When the Massachusetts softball team swept Saint Joseph’s in a doubleheader on Sunday, coach Kristi Stefanoni noticed a difference in the way her team was walking after the games.
“I don’t think there were a lot of people in the conference who thought we were not gonna sweep St. Joe’s at all, and we proved a lot of people wrong,” Stefanoni said. “Winning does so much for your confidence and your swag, so the fact that they were able to get two big wins is a very good host for your morale.”
After losing four of their last five going into Sunday’s games, the Minutewomen (13-19, 7-5 Atlantic 10) were in desperate need of conference wins and showed how resilient they were by fighting back against a tough Hawks team.
“I told them how extremely proud I was of them for hanging on and coming out the way they did, especially in Game 2,” she said. “They came out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and they knew these were two huge conference games, so I told them that they should enjoy this and be proud of themselves.”
UMass will now turn its attention to a struggling Rhode Island team, which has an abysmal record of 12-30 and has lost seven of its last eight. Stefanoni said that one of the keys to getting another sweep will be for her team to not overlook the Rams, and staying true to themselves and playing to their potential.
“I think the two most important things about these games are to not look past them and to not play down to their level,” she said. “In the last couple of games that we’ve lost, we’ve gotten away from what UMass softball is and how we usually play, so it’s important we stay in the moment and come out fast.”
Lately, the Minutewomen have been getting offensive contributions from all parts of the lineup, specifically senior Tiffany Meeks. Meeks had an astounding Senior Day versus St. Joe’s, hitting two home runs and knocking in five runs, including a three run homer that gave UMass a 6-4 lead in the second game of the doubleheader versus the Hawks.
With the remaining five games of the season all at home, the pressure will be on the Minutewomen to maintain their unbeaten streak at Sortino Field, carrying a 7-0 record into Tuesday’s doubleheader. The opportunity to hold an unbeaten record at home gives UMass a chance to do something that hasn’t been done since the 2012 season, when it won 13 straight at home on its way to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
The head-to-head matchup versus URI has been extremely one-sided, with the Minutewomen last falling to the Rams 1-0 in the 2002 Atlantic-10 Tournament. Last year, UMass traveled to Kingston, R.I., and crushed URI 7-0 and 10-0, and Stefanoni hopes that these results will be repeated.
“I think it’s going to be coming out tomorrow and not taking URI lightly, no matter what kind of season they’ve been having,” she said. “We showed up against St. Joe’s very high energy wise so I think that’ll be a key to our success on Tuesday.”
Game 1 of the doubleheader is set to begin at 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon with the second game scheduled to begin approximately 30 minutes after the completion of Game 1.
Jason Kates can be reached at [email protected].
