University of Massachusets Athletics
Softball To Host Harvard Thursday At 3:00
April 19, 2006 | Softball
April 19, 2006
WHAT'S ON TAP... UMass (24-12) hosts Harvard (15-16) in a non-conference doubleheader this afternoon. The Minutewomen last defeated Boston College 6-0 Tuesday afternoon for their 15th win in the last 16 games. KJ Kelley was 2-for-4 with three RBI and her 40th career home run while Brandice Balschmiter fired her seventh shutout of the year.
A-10 Dominance... UMass has put up some impressive numbers en route to its 11-1 conference record. The Minutewomen have outscored their league foes, 87-17, and out-hit them .375-.140. Six of the 12 games have been shutouts and UMass pitchers Brandice Balschmiter and Jenna Busa have allowed just eight earned runs in 76 innings for a miniscule 0.74 ERA. Balschmiter has 64 strikeouts, an average of 1.2 an inning and 8.6 per game. Balschmiter has three one-hitters, while Busa has a no-hitter (March 31 at La Salle). The UMass offense has racked up 23 doubles, five triples, 14 home runs, 78 RBI, 27 stolen bases and a 1.059 OPS (on-base pct. plus slugging pct.).
TID-BITS... At the top of the order, Amanda Morin has hit safely in 23 of her last 26 games... she is batting .455 with 30 runs scored in this time ... Candice Molinari is on an 11-game hitting streak ... she is batting .514 during the streak ... dating back to the 2004 season, Molinari has successfully stolen 59 of her last 60 bases ... with five RBI against Temple last Sunday, Whitney Mollica broke the UMass single-season RBI record... Kim Gutridge held the previous mark with 45in 59 games of the 1998 season ... Mollica now has 47 and did it in just 35 games ... Mollica also hit a pair of home runs against the Owls to bring her team-high total to nine... she is now tied with Brandi Cross for the most by a freshman ... Cross hit nine during her All-American campaign in 2000 ... in the last 21 games, Mollica is hitting .471 (33-70) with 20 runs scored, seven doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 37 RBI and a 1.477 OPS ... she has hit safely in 19 of those contests posting 11 multi-hit and 12 multi-RBI games ... KJ Kelley hit her 40th career home run at BC on Tuesday ... she is already the career leader at UMass, a record she shattered last year ... in the last 14 games, Lauren Proctor is batting .452 (19-42) ... Lesley Ferrara is 6-for her last 13 at the plate ... she made a couple of great catches in the field saving runs at BC and is the only UMass starter to have not committed an error... Brandice Balschmiter has 193 strikeouts this season, the seventh most in school history.
NATIONAL STATS... UMass can be found all over the latest edition of NCAA stats. As a team, UMass ranks 14th in batting average, 16th in stolen bases, 20th in doubles and slugging percentage and 24th in scoring. Mollica is second in RBI per game, 11th in slugging percentage, 22nd in batting average and 24th in doubles. Balschmiter is ninth in ERA and 18th in wins.