The Massachusetts softball team won its weekend series against Saint Joseph’s after winning both doubleheader games on Saturday afternoon.
The Minutewomen (18-33,14-12 Atlantic 10), hosted the Hawks (21-28,14-12 A-10), in their last regular season series at home. They came into the weekend after an extra-innings loss away at Merrimack on Wednesday.
UMass’ weekend victory was secured in its second game on Saturday. The Minutewomen won by a final score of 3-2, after keeping the Hawks scoreless in both the sixth and seventh innings. The win made it freshman Hannah Streicher’s third recorded victory of the season.
After a wild pitch in the first inning, Bella Pantoja scored, kick-starting UMass’ scoring for the afternoon. Odyssey Torres and Keagy advanced to second and third base, respectively. Wrapping up the Minutewomen’s scoring in the home half of the third inning was Torres’ single up the middle of the field. She recorded two RBIs, driving in Lydia Castro and Pantoja, making it a season-high for the freshman.
Saint Joe’s last run scored came in the fifth inning, after Malito popped out to Jordyn Graime in left field and brought Kayla Tauber home with a sac-fly for the Hawks’ second run of the game.
“I thought [this weekend] was pretty good. [Saturday] was a great day,” head coach Danielle Henderson said. “[Sunday] I thought we had it and then we just let it go. We could have taken advantage and shut them down, but we let them back in the game.”
The Minutewomen nearly swept the series, but the tide changed during the fifth inning of Sunday’s matchup. Riley York doubled to left field, bringing in Malito and Sarah Cancila. York’s double was originally called a home run, but was overturned after a video review of the call.
UMass took this overturned call and used it to end the inning after facing three more Saint Joe’s batters. Then in the bottom half of the inning, Keagy came up to the plate and hit her tenth home run of the season over the fence in center field.
“[Keagy’s] bat has been on fire. She’s a good hitter and she’s been coming up big,” Henderson said.
Despite Keagy’s kick start to the Minutewomen’s half of the fifth, they could not score in the game’s last two innings. In the sixth, the Hawks scored three runs and one in the seventh.
In the first game on Saturday afternoon, UMass was tied 3-3 with Saint Joe’s going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Pantoja stepped up to the plate with Chloe Whitter on second. The count was 1-2 when Pantoja swung and singled to left field. Whittier ran home, securing the Minutewomen their first victory of the weekend, with a final score of 4-3.
Abby Packard opened UMass’ scoring in the fourth inning after she hit a home run to left field. Even though the Hawks responded in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs, it proved futile. Keagy notched her ninth home run of the season during the sixth inning, bringing home Giana Wameling who had pinch run for Castro.
The Minutewomen now look ahead to the A-10 tournament which begins next week. They currently sit in sixth place within the conference and will face the third-seeded Fordham Rams on Wednesday, May 8 at 2:30 p.m.
Emma Bensley can be reached at [email protected]
