University of Massachusets Athletics
Top Of Lineup Serves Some Tasty Appetizers
May 10, 2006 | Softball
May 10, 2006
Top Of Lineup Serves Some Tasty Appetizers
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
By DICK BAKER
rbaker@repub.com
They're the table setters, and the hitters who follow are filling up on a steady diet of RBIs.
Actually, it's the opposing pitchers who have had their fill of University of Massachusetts softball leadoff hittter Amanda Morin and Candice Molinari in the No. 2 slot. The duo has combined for 89 runs this season with Morin getting aboard to start things off and the 5-foot-2 jet Molinari bunting her over to second while frequently landing safely on first herself.
It's a menu the Minutewomen (34-14) don't plan to change for the Atlantic 10 tournament when they open tomorrow against Fordham (35-21) at 2 p.m. at Temple University's Ambler Complex in Philadelphia.
Morin, a graduate of Worcester Academy, is second on the team and third in the A-10 with a .406 batting average. She is hitting .440 with 37 runs scored while batting first.
Molinari, who had a 20-game hitting streak stopped May 5 at St. Bonaventure, has hit safely in 21 of her last 23 games. During that span, she is batting .507 (38 for 75) with 29 runs scored, a .680 slugging percentage, a .554 on-base percentage, and 12 stolen bases.
Molinari has scored 45 runs, which ranks 18th in the nation in Division I. Morin has 44 runs, and is 23rd.
"As a kid I thought I was slow," said Molinari, a Californian who lives about 10 miles east of the Rose Bowl. "I always seemed to be out by a step or two."
Enough was enough, so Molinari turned herself around to bat left-handed when she was about 14, and the speed picked up. She leads UMass with 23 stolen bases in 25 tries.
"I take pride in my bunting, and if I can get on base too, that's even better," she said. "The most important thing is to put the ball between all four defenders. If I do that, they're in trouble."
If she swings away, they're in trouble too, at least this year. After hitting only one double over her first two years, she has eight already this season. As a freshman, her slugging percentage was .285, .362 as a sophomore, and .467 this season.
"A lot of (the improvement at the plate) has to do with mental preparation, I don't even know how I got any hits as a freshman," Molinari said. "This year, I tried a power-slap. I take a few steps and kick my leg up, and it keeps me from pulling out."
UMass coach Elaine Sortino said the new approach is helping Molinari with her timing.
"She was a little bit ahead of the pitches last year," Sortino said.
Morin, a 6-foot first baseman, doesn't know much about losing. In her career at Worcester Academy, her team went 60-1, but Morin was 60-0. She missed the last game after coming down with mononucleosis. She was also a 1,000-point scorer in basketball as a shooting guard. Amanda's sister, Carly, is a freshman on the UMass softball team.
Amanda, a junior, batted .289 last year, and .276 as a freshman.
"I think I trust myself more this year, I feel like I can get a hit every time up," she said.
Sortino said the 117-point difference in Morin's average this season is patience.
"Normally, she'd swing at anything around the plate, she was a 1- or 2-pitch hitter," Sortino said. "But this year she's going deep in the count. And even if she doesn't get a hit, we're getting a good look at the pitcher and know what she has."
UMass is seeded second for the A-10 tourney after finishing in a first-place tie with Charlotte at 17-3. Charlotte (42-11) won the tiebreaker and is seeded first. The 49ers will face fourth-seeded St. Bonaventure (22-20) tomorrow at noon.
The winners of tomorrow's games square off Friday with the losers meeting in an elimination game.
UMass has won 17 A-10 titles (16 outright, one shared with Temple, 1990), including 15 of the last 17.