The Massachusetts softball team walked off Saint Louis, 4-3, in eight innings on Saturday to take two of three games against the Billikens (30-21, 18-7 Atlantic 10) this weekend. The Minutewomen (14-33, 6-16 A-10) rode the momentum of a seventh-inning comeback to secure their second walk-off win of the week and end the season with a series victory.
Odyssey Torres led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk before moving to second base on Sarah Keagy’s sacrifice bunt. An infield single by Angie Rama moved pinch-runner Olivia Cutuli to third, putting runners on the corners with one out.
Senior Taylor Richardson stepped up to the plate in her final game with a chance to send her and her fellow seniors off on a high note. Richardson grounded the first pitch she faced to third, where Kendall Johnson made a diving stop for St. Louis.
After initially freezing, Cutuli broke for home, and with Johnson still on the ground and unable to get the ball out of her glove, she ran straight through home to the outfield to celebrate with Richardson.
“I’m so glad that [the seniors] get to go out on a high note because they all deserve that,” head coach Danielle Henderson said. “I told them to [not be] sad on the day, enjoy the day and be sad after so they could step up in those big moments, and I feel like all did their part and contributed to the win.”
UMass entered the bottom of the seventh down 3-1, needing the bottom half of its order to push the game into extras. Katharine Heslin led off the inning with a double off the center field wall, and after a strikeout by Richardson and a single by Brooke Musch, the Minutewomen had runners on second and third with one out.
Riley Kairer smacked a groundball off St. Louis pitcher Anna Christ’s legs, sending the ball skidding toward third. Johnson fielded the carom cleanly, but Kairer’s speed made Johnson rush the throw, sending it sailing into the outfield and allowing both runners to score and tie the game.
“[Saturday’s win] shows the type of team that we are,” Henderson said. “I think being young, we needed to show that sooner, and [we] just didn’t know how. I’m glad [we] figured it out because then that rolls over into next year.”
UMass split the doubleheader on Friday, claiming a 6-2 win in the second game. Julianne Bolton earned her 400th career strikeout in a seven-inning, four-strikeout effort that led the Minutewomen to victory.
A three-run first inning fueled by Musch, Lydia Castro and Lily Woodworth gave UMass a quick lead. Two innings later, Heslin tacked on another run with a sac fly that scored Kairer. In the fifth, consecutive doubles by Castro and Heslin gave the Minutewomen a six-run cushion that the Billikens couldn’t overcome.
In the opening game of the series, UMass’ bats couldn’t quite figure out St. Louis’ Taylor Hochman as she notched a complete game, allowing five hits and one earned run. The lone run came in the bottom of the first after Musch doubled, stole third and then scampered home on a Sophia Thormeyer ground-out to tie the game at one.
The Billikens responded in the third with an RBI double by Abby Mallo that drove in Natalie Sullivan. Mallo extended St. Louis’ lead with a solo home run in the fifth to make it a 3-1 game.
Bolton ends the season as the Minutewomen’s leader in wins and strikeouts with eight and 94, respectively, while also maintaining a 3.33 ERA. Castro led the team in batting average and RBIs, hitting .313 with 23 RBIs, and was tied for the lead in home runs with Torres at three.
UMass missed the postseason after making it last year but closed the season winning three of its last four games. Seniors Richardson, Castro and Bolton leave big shoes for the Minutewomen to fill next season, but Henderson will enter next season with a lineup full of young players who have already started contributing.
“I think [the young players] have good skill,” Henderson said. “We’re going to have to reset and work on the mindset a little bit more because we’re a sport of failure. When you fail, you have to learn how to bounce back a little bit quicker.”
James Rust can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @James__Rust.
