University of Massachusets Athletics
Softball Set For Showdown Sunday At Fordham
April 01, 2006 | Softball
April 1, 2006
What's On Tap: Massachusetts (15-11, 4-0 A-10) will take on Fordham (17-13, 4-0) Sunday at Noon in the Bronx. Unfortunately, the games will NOT be broadcast online as originally published, but live stats are available. The Minutewomen are red-hot having won six straight games by a combined score of 57-0. UMass leads the all-time series against the Rams 25-2 and beat Fordham twice in last year's A-10 Tournament in the Bronx, ioncluding a 7-0 score in the title game. Whitney Mollica is hitting .588 with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and 11 RBI in the last six games.
Pitching Is The Key: While the Minutewomen have been tearing the cover off the ball during this winning streak, Jenna Busa and Brandice Balschmiter have dominated in the circle. The duo have each had three shutouts in the last six games and not given up more than two hits in one contest. Busa recently fired her fourth career no-hitter against La Salle. Balschmiter broke the UMass five-inning strikeout record with 13 k's against the Explorers. Danielle Henderson held the previous mark of 12 in 1997 against Virginia Tech.
School Records Falling: In addition to Balschmiter's strikeout record, two other UMass records have fallen in the last week. UMass scored 20 runs (albeit in 20 innings) last Wednesday against Dartmouth. That beat the previous record of 19 which had stood for 21 years. The Minutewomen beat Saint Peter's 19-0 in 1985. UMass also had eight doubles in that game breaking the previous high of seven set in 1991 against Providence.
On Fire: Since returning from Florida two weeks ago, UMass has been clicking on all cylanders. The Minutewomen have outscored the opposition, 57-0 while out-hitting them .417-.043. UMass has the edge in doubles, 13-1, triples 3-0 and home runs 10-0. The Minutewomen have an amazing .731 slugging percentage in those contests.