University of Massachusets Athletics
Minutewomen Ready For Tournament Opener
May 10, 2007 | Softball
May 10, 2007
AMHERST - If the University of Massachusetts softball players were nervous about starting the postseason, they didn't show it Wednesday afternoon.
The top-seeded Minutewomen (34-12-1) will begin defense of their Atlantic 10 title at noon today against No. 4 Temple (18-19) at the UMass Softball Complex.
"Everything seems to be clicking on offense and defense. We're taking in all in stride," said junior second baseman Stacy Cullington. "We know this is going to be a tough tournament. We can't relax for a second. We need to come with our best stuff."
UMass, which had a first-round bye in the six-team event, practiced at Amherst College Wednesday morning and then arrived to watch Temple beat Charlotte 8-0 in five innings. The Minutewomen swept their two regular-season games against the Owls 5-1 and 7-4 April 20 and 21 in Philadelphia.
UMass coach Elaine Sortino said her first concern is Temple's hitting.
"You have to approach them as a good hitting team and you have to move the ball around. We'll approach them the same way we did a couple weeks ago," said Sortino, who said her team's big-game experience is important.
"It's very helpful to have weathered the experience of championship play," she added. "Everybody comes at us hard. We're a big game on everybody's schedule. We know that. Weathering all the storms we have to weather during the season helps us too."
Temple coach Casey Dixon said she hopes the momentum from Wednesday's win carries over.
"We have to keep doing what we've been doing. If we try to change, it takes us out of our comfort shell. We know what we need to do," Dixon said. "The biggest thing when you play UMass is they take advantage of your mistakes. We need to do the same thing and take advantage of their mistakes."
Sophomore pitcher Brandice Balschmiter, the A-10 pitcher of the year, hasn't made many mistakes lately. While she pitched well in last year's A-10 Tournament, Balschmiter said feels better going into this one.
"I'm 100 times more comfortable. I know what to expect. Last year I came into it blind," Balschmiter said. "This year I'm more prepared, more ready. I'm mentally tougher."
Temple 8, Charlotte 0 - A walk-off grand slam home run by Shannon James in the bottom of the fifth inning invoked the mercy rule in Wednesday's first game.
The Owls scored single runs in the second, third and fourth, before James' bomb over the scoreboard in left highlighted the five-run fifth.
Junior pitcher Brianna Dairy worked around five hits to earn the shutout.
No. 5 Charlotte was only charged with one error, but some late breaks on fly balls and mental mistakes cost the 49ers.
Saint Louis 5, George Washington 4 - Jenna Renner's pinch-hit, two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth capped a back-and-forth game that featured four home runs.
No. 3 Saint Louis (27-31) advanced to face No. 2 Fordham in today's second game at about 2 p.m.
The Billikens took a 3-0 lead after three innings, but the Colonials answered with one in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth to pull ahead, setting the stage for Renner's heroics.
Charlotte 4, George Washington 2 - The 49ers' four-run fourth inning was enough to make the No. 6 Colonials (23-27) the first team to be bounced from the tournament.
Christy Murray earned the win, giving up just five hits while striking out eight.
Kaycie Jones had two hits and drove in a run for Charlotte (33-32).
The 49ers will play the lower-seeded loser from today's first two games at 4 this afternoon.
MOLINARI MILESTONES - Senior Candice Molinari, who heads into today's game on a 15-game hitting streak, needs just nine stolen bases to become the program's career base-stealing leader.
With 95 steals, Molinari is chasing Tracy Osier's record of 103. Molinari is hitting .399 and is trying to become just the ninth player in school history to hit .400 or above.
