The Massachusetts softball team ended its season versus George Mason with a win and a pair of losses in which it was shut out this weekend.
The Minutewomen (16-34, 7-18 Atlantic 10) bats went quiet in two of their three games this weekend, going 14 combined innings of just one walk and one hit. The Patriots (31-21, 16-10 A-10) had back-to-back outings from their ace Aly Rayle.
Rayle was virtually unhittable in both Friday and Saturday’s games, pitching a combined 14 and two thirds’ innings, giving up one walk, one hit and striking out 21 Minutewomen. Rayle’s ERA dropped to 2.20 on the season.
The final game of the series on Saturday concluded with a 7-0 loss for the Minutewomen. Julianne Bolton struggled coming out of the gate in Saturday’s matinee, tossing out two innings while giving up three earned runs, five hits, one walk and one strikeout. Jessie DiPasquale, who came on in relief for Bolton, did not fare much better herself as she hurled four innings, giving up one earned run but four hits, three walks and three strikeouts.
The bats came alive in the second half of Friday’s double header, with the Minutewomen topping the Patriots by a score of 6-3. Third baseman Sarah Keagy led the way for UMass, racking up two hits, a walk and a game-leading four RBIs. Two of the four RBIs for Keagy came via the long ball, which was her first of the year which was scorched over the right field wall.
The Minutewomen lost the first game of Friday’s doubleheader by a score of 1-0 in an extra innings walk-off. The walk-off, which came by the way of a sacrifice fly by George Mason second baseman Marlaina Bozek, was started by a fielding error from UMass first baseman Abby Lamson. The Patriots’ Alena Ball used her top end speed to come all the way home and score the winning run after a bunt single followed by sac fly.
“I think the difference was the pitcher we were facing. The first pitcher [Rayle] for Mason will probably be up for pitcher of the year in the conference,” head coach Danielle Henderson said of the difference in the Minutewomen’s hitting between Friday’s games.
Bolton was the lone star of the contest for the Minutewomen, a stark contrast from her Saturday outing. Bolton pitched to the tune of seven and two-thirds innings giving up five hits, two walks and no earned runs while striking out five batters. Despite Bolton’s efforts, the New York native did not get much support from her offense, as the Minutewomen were held hitless throughout the game and got one runner on base via a walk by Chloe Whittier.
“I think [Bolton] was just moving a little bit faster and getting the ball to spin better,” Henderson said. “She was watching some video and just wanted to get out there and do what she knows she is capable of doing.”
The Minutewomen pitching continued to shine as, with Jenna Bradley and DiPasquale combining for seven innings of two-run ball. Both pitchers got into trouble, as they gave up 11 hits in the game, but continued to pitch themselves out of jams and came out largely unscathed.
With the loss on Wednesday to Merrimack and the series loss this weekend, the Minutewomen have been eliminated from postseason contention. UMass finishes a somewhat rocky season with a record of 16-34.
“I think there are some areas that we improved on,” Henderson said. “We became better softball players but we are going to have to re-evaluate over the summer on ways we can be more consistent. The season was very up and down and we want to find ways to improve earlier on.”
Eli Weisberger can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Ealchek.
