Heading into this weekend’s double header against Dayton, the Massachusetts softball team was holding on for dear life as the sixth and final seed in the Atlantic 10.
UMass (14-23, 8-11 A-10) failed to make its job of maintaining that seed any easier Sunday, as it dropped a pair of games to Dayton, 1-0 and 6-0.
The Flyers (34-12, 17-2 A-10) came into the matchup in first place within the A-10 and on a seven-game conference winning streak.
A three-run third inning and a two-run fourth inning doomed the Minutewomen in the back leg of the series as Meg Colleran lasted only 32/3 frames. The freshman was outdueled by Dayton’s Manda Cash, who threw a complete game, three-hit shutout.
Despite being heavy underdogs, the Minutewomen matched Dayton for the majority of the first game. UMass outhit the Flyers 7-4 before Jordan Jennings connected on a walkoff home run to give Dayton the victory.
Redshirt senior Caroline Raymond was strong in game one, going six innings with the only major blemish being Jennings’ home run.
“Caroline was on her game today,” Stefanoni said. “She was in control throughout and made it really hard on the Dayton hitters to get comfortable. Unfortunately, the home run undid her great work but she pitched phenomenal (Sunday).”
Before Sunday’s struggles, offense was something that has come easy for UMass recently. The Minutewomen led the A-10 with 24 home runs in conference play coming into the day.
But the offensive surge was invisible this weekend, asUMass mustered a combined 10 hits in the two-game set.
Shortstop Quianna Diaz-Patterson, the Minutewomen’s leading hitter, epitomized UMass’ struggles at the plate, going 2-for-7.
“A lot of the credit has to go to their pitchers,” Stefanoni said. “We were able to get the bat on the ball but they made us uncomfortable up there and it led to us swinging at a lot of junk pitches in the second game.”
The Flyers’ pitching was strong in both games. Senior Kim English threw six shutout innings before being relieved by Cash in game one. Cash followed up her 10-strikeout first game with her second win of the day, throwing a scoreless ninth inning in the 1-0 victory.
Stefanoni said that pitch selection and patience were concerns following the pair of shutout defeats.
“We were really inconsistent on the day,” Stefanoni said. “The first game we did a phenomenal job hitting the ball but in the second we were just swinging at junk and we struck out 10 times because of it.”
Stranding runners on base was also a huge problem for UMass Sunday, according to Stefanoni.
“You can’t expect to win games against top teams like Dayton when you can’t drive runners in,” Stefanoni said. “We hit the ball very well in the first game but nothing was falling in for us when we needed it and it cost us.”
Senior Bridget Lemire was the only Minutewoman player to post a multi-hit game Sunday. She finished 2-for-4 in game one.
Despite the two losses, Stefanoni said the ability to stay competitive in both games against the top team in the conference still gives her confidence moving forward as the season winds down.
“Being able to play tough against a good team like Dayton only adds to our confidence,” Stefanoni said. “We knew going in that they were going to be a tough team to beat but I feel like we showed them we can compete with the best, especially with our performance in game one.”
Adam Aucoin can be reached at [email protected].
