The Massachusetts softball team split its doubleheader with Saint Bonaventure on Monday. The Minutewomen (10-24, 4-7 Atlantic 10) rebounded with a strong game two victory after losing the first matchup of the day in a close final.
UMass defeated the Bonnies (5-29, 1-15 A-10) 4-1 behind strong performances by freshman pitcher Olivia Cutuli and sophomore pitcher Hannah Streicher. The tandem combined for only one run allowed and seven strikeouts on the day, limiting St. Bonaventure’s offense.
Cutuli pitched a shutout up until the sixth inning, when the Bonnies’ Victoria Jacques scored off a ground ball single to center field by Kendall Stull. Streicher subbed into the game, threw a strikeout and coaxed a fly out to third base freshman Sophia Thormeyer after St. Bonaventure had the bases loaded with only one out.
“[Cutuli] was hurt for a little bit … this is the most innings she’s thrown all season so I thought she did a good job with that,” head coach Danielle Henderson said. “And [Streicher] comes in and is consistent all the time for us, she’ll keep people off balance.”
The Minutewomen started off their scoring in the third by a single to centerfield by sophomore Riley Kairer, which led to an error for the Bonnies, allowing Thormeyer to score from third base. In the bottom fifth, UMass extended its lead after a single by Katharine Heslin allowed Kairer to score from third base. St. Bonaventure then committed a throwing error after tapping out sophomore Odyssey Torres, paving the way for a Lily Woodworth double.
In the bottom of the sixth, freshman Brooke Musch’s stolen base and advancement to third on a Thormeyer putout set her up in scoring position. Woodworth singled to right field and drove in Musch for the Minutewomen’s final run of the day. Woodworth was a great source of offense against the Bonnies, recording three total hits and leading the Minutewomen with two runs on the day.
“[Woodworth] has a lot of fight up at the plate. She always goes up swinging and trying to make something happen,” Henderson said. “She did a great job on defense [Monday] too, she does the dirty work and gives us that fighting attitude.”
St. Bonaventure eked out a close 4-3 win in game one of the doubleheader. After allowing one run in the top of the first, UMass responded with two runs of its own, taking an early 2-1 lead. Senior Lydia Castro’s fly out to centerfield allowed for junior Riain Keefe to score from third. Kairer then singled, which led to a throwing error by the Bonnies, leading to a Woodworth score from second for the Minutewomen.
St. Bonaventure knotted up the score at two apiece with a Jacques run off a throwing error by UMass. The Minutewomen responded in the bottom of the third with a Torres score after an error by the Bonnies, taking a 3-2 lead.
The turning point for St. Bonaventure was in the top of the fourth as freshman Abigail Ahern launched a two-run homer off senior Julianne Bolton, taking a 4-3 lead. Junior Natalee Horton subbed into the game for Bolton in the final three innings, pitching a shutout.
UMass never got a big scoring play of its own. The Minutewomen gave the Bonnies a scare, getting both Torres and junior Angie Rama on base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but St. Bonaventure secured the final out and prevented the UMass comeback.
UMass looks to secure back-to-back wins with a matchup at Dartmouth on Wednesday, April 16, before its A-10 series against Loyola Chicago this weekend. First pitch against the Big Green is slated for 4 p.m. at Dartmouth Softball Park.
“Wednesday is what’s going to help propel us into the weekend, so you [got to] take it very seriously and have a lot of energy,” Henderson said. “Friday, that’s a big conference series for us, so we’ve got to show up every single time for it.”
Irwin Mburu can be reached at [email protected] or followed on X/Twitter @irwinmburu.
