University of Massachusets Athletics
Holtz And Busa Pick Up A-10 Awards
March 24, 2003 | Softball
March 24, 2003
AMHERST, Mass. - University of Massachusetts pitchers Kaila Holtz (North Vancouver, British Columbia) and Jenna Busa (Lexington, Mass.) were named the Atlantic 10 Pitcher and Rookie of the Week the league office announced this afternoon.
Holtz earned a pair of complete game shutouts at the Atlantic 10/Big East Challenge this past weekend. The Minutewoman ace scattered four hits and struck out four in a 4-0 blanking of Villanova on March 22. She then came back the next day to toss a three-hit shutout of Seton Hall. She tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts in the 3-0 victory. Holtz walked just four batters in 14 innings last weekend. At the plate, Holtz batted .333 (4-12) with a double and three RBI. On the mound, Holtz is 6-6 with a team-low 1.34 ERA in 83.1 innings this year. She has walked 15 batters and struck out 56 thus far. Opponents are hitting just .215 off of Holtz.
Making just her second career start March 23 against Villanova, Busa pitched six shutout innings and picked up the 3-0 win. The freshman scattered five hits and struck out a career-high seven batters in the win. She is now 2-0 on the season with a 1.70 ERA. Busa has struck out nine batters in 12.1 innings and held the opposition to a .234 batting average.
Massachusetts will open up Atlantic 10 Conference play on Friday, March 28, with a 2:00 p.m. doubleheader at La Salle. Their scheduled game at Boston University tomorrow has been postponed due to poor field conditions. With a sweep of the Explorers, UMass Head Coach Elaine Sortino would become just the 16th coach in NCAA history to reach the 800-win plateau.
