University of Massachusets Athletics
Softball Set To Host NCAA Regional Beginning Friday
May 15, 2007 | Softball
May 15, 2007
ABC40 Previews The NCAA TournamentMinutewomen Set To Host NCAA Regional For Second Straight Season
• Massachusetts, the hottest team in the nation, is hosting a NCAA Regional for the second straight season. The Minutewomen (37-12-1) are seeded second in the Amherst Region and will face third-seeded Long Island University (33-20) on Friday at 4:30 PM.
• Oklahoma (52-6) is the top seed in Amherst and No. 3 national seed. The Sooners square off against fourth-seeded Colgate (25-22) in Friday's first game at 2:00 PM.
2007 NCAA Softball Amherst Regional Schedule
(schedule is subject to change)
Friday, May 18
Game 1: #1 Oklahoma (52-6) vs. #4 Colgate (25-22) 2:00 PM
Game 2: #2 UMass (37-12-1) vs. #3 Long Island (33-20) 4:30 PM
Saturday, May 19
Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 12:00 PM
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 2:30 PM
Game 5: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 5:00 PM
Sunday, May 20
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 12:00 PM
Game 7: Same teams (if necessary) 2:30 PM
• The winner of the Amherst regional will face the winner of the Carbondale, Ill., regional hosted by Southern Illinois. No. 14 DePaul is the top seed in that bracket.
• This is the second straight year and 10th time overall that the Minutewomen have hosted a regional. Last year, UMass won the Amherst regional in three games and went to the Evanston, Ill., Super Regional where it took eventual national runner-up Northwestern to a decisive third game.
• This is the 13th straight and 17th overall NCAA Tournament for the Minutewomen. They are 26-33 (.441) all-time in the NCAA Tournament and have advanced to the Women's College World Series three times, most recently in 1998.
• UMass is 17-12 (.586) in home regional games.
Regulars
• This marks the 13th straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 17th overall for Massachusetts.
• The Minutewomen are tied for the ninth-most appearances of any school in the nation while their 13 straight trips are tied for seventh-best.
Broadcast Information
• Live video of every game from the Amherst Regional will be available free of charge through the Tournament Central page at www.umassathletics.com.
• All UMass games will also be broadcast online with Bob Behler and Matt Goldstein beginning 15 minutes prior to the scheduled first pitch.
UMass In The NCAA Tournament
• UMass is 26-33 (.441) all-time in the NCAA Tournament (see chart on page 5).
• The Minutewomen have advanced to the Super Regionals once (2006) and Women's College World Series three times (1992, 1997, 1998).
• This also marks the 10th time that UMass has hosted a regional and second straight season. The Minutewomen are 17-12 (.586) in NCAA Tournament games played in Amherst and a perfect 3-0 at the UMass Softball Complex.
• This will be the second time that Oklahoma has come to Amherst for a regional. The Minutewomen defeated the Sooners twice in 1998 en route to the Women's College World Series.
• UMass travelled to Norman, Okla., for the 2001 regionals but did not face the host squad.
No. 1 Oklahoma
• Oklahoma (52-6) comes to Amherst as the top seed in the region and No. 3 national seed. The Sooners were Big 12 Tournament champions and received their highest-ever national seed.
• UMass is 3-3 all-time against Oklahoma. The two teams last played in the 2004 NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga., a 9-0 OU win.
• UMass is 2-0 all-time against Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament.
• The Sooners might have the No. 3 seed in the Amherst region, but have a No. 1 ranking in the May 15 ESPN/COM/USA Softball top 25 poll.
• The last time UMass faced the No. 1 team in the nation was a 1-0 loss to Arizona on Feb. 10, 2002. The Minutewomen also played the top-ranked Wildcats in the 1997 Women's College World Series and dropped a 2-1, eight-inning thriller.
• The highest win over a ranked opponent in school history since the inception of the top 25 poll in 1995 came against the No. 2 team in the land twice. UMass beat No. 2 Stanford on Feb. 23, 2002 (3-1) and also upset Fresno State when the Bulldogs were second by a 1-0 score on March 13, 1999.
No. 3 Long Island
• Long Island (33-20), winners of the 2007 Northeast Conference Tournament title, were awarded the league's automatic berth.
• LIU is in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year and the sixth time in school history, after winning its 10th NEC crown on Saturday.
• UMass is 5-0 all-time against Long Island. These two teams have met twice in the postseason, a pair of UMass wins in the 1999 NCAA Regional Tournament which was played in Amherst.
No. 4 Colgate
• Colgate (25-22) is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance after knocking off Lehigh to win the Patriot League title last weekend.
• UMass has never played Colgate before.
UMass Wins 19th A-10 Title
• Massachusetts wrapped up its 19th A-10 championship with three wins in three days last weekend at the UMass Softball Complex.
• As the top seed in the six-team field, the Minutewomen defeated Temple (8-0 in 5 innings), Fordham (5-0) and Saint Louis (9-3) en route to the championship.
• Sophomore pitcher Brandice Balschmiter was named the championship's Most Outstanding Performer for the second straight season. She won all three games while allowing just two earned runs in 19.0 innings pitched for a 0.74 ERA.
• Balschmiter pitched three complete games, two shutouts and struck out 28 batters while walking only five.
• At the plate, junior Lauren Proctor led the way going 6-for-10 (.600) with two doubles, a triple and four RBI. Freshman Whitney Williams and sophomore Samantha Salato each batted .500 while senior Candice Molinari hit.444 with four runs scored and two stolen bases.
• UMass outscored the opposition in the three games, 22-3, while out-hitting them .356-.178.
We're Going Streaking
• Dating back to last year, the Minutewomen have the nation's longest home winning streak at 32 games. Tennessee is second at 24 games followed by Alabama with 17.
• This includes three games in last year's NCAA Tournament, as well as three games from the 2007 A-10 Championship.
• The Minutewomen have the longest overall winning streak, as well, having reeled off 26 straight since a 9-8 loss at Florida Atlantic on March 19.
• Hofstra has the second-best current winning streak at 15, followed by Loyola Marymount (13) and Fresno State (10).
• North Carolina holds the longest winning streak this season with a 28-game streak in March.
• The longest winning streak in school history was a 33-game run in the 2001 season. That was tied for the eighth-longest in NCAA history and spanned from March 23 until the first round of the A-10 Tournament when UMass was upset by Rhode Island (May 9).
• The 2001 team put together a 24-game winning streak (March 16-April 25), while the 1979 squad won 23 of the first 24 games to start the season. There was a tie in the middle of that run.
Bonds Treatment For Cullington
• When UMass traveled to Philadelphia April 20-21 for a big series with Temple, junior Stacy Cullington was hitting .293 with eight home runs, one every 12.4 at bats.
• Maybe the Owls sensed something special was on the way...Cullington was intentionally walked four times in the first game of the series.
• In the series finale, after being intentionally walked in in her first at bat Cullington finally saw a pitch to hit and ripped a Brianna Dairy 2-1 offering over the scoreboard in left-center field. With first base open in the sixth inning, Cullington drove a 1-0 pitch over the fence in right-center field for a two-run shot.
• Since the beginning of that Temple series, Cullington has hit .394 (13-33) with seven home runs and 18 RBI. She has a 1.662 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) and hit a home run in six of 19 at bats at one point during this run.
• Cullington had three, two-home run games (at Temple, vs. Boston University and vs. George Washington) while recording a school record seven RBI vs. the Terriers.
Oops...Well I Guess It Worked Out
• In the 2007 A-10 Championship game against Saint Louis (May 12), Cullington came up with the bases loaded and nobody out in a 1-1 game in the third.
• Cullington quickly got down in the count 0-2, but battled back to a full count at 3-2. She thought it was ball four, however, and tossed the bat away and made her way down the first-base line. After receiving the bad news from the home plate umpire, Cullington smacked the next pitch over the scoreboard in left field and etched her name into the UMass record books.
• The grand slam was her 15th home run of the season, setting a new UMass and Atlantic 10 single-season record.
• Cullington surpassed current assistant coach KJ Kelley for the UMass and Atlantic 10 single-season home run record (14), while her 53 RBI currently stand as the second-best single-season output.
• Cullington homered once every 5.5 at bats in A-10 play this year and was intentionally walked 11 times.
• In the latest NCAA stats report, Cullington ranks 21st in the nation in home runs per game, 14th in RBI per game, 43rd in walks (0.62/game) and 31st with a .742 slugging percentage.
Killer B's Are Buzzing
• One of the biggest reasons for UMass' 26-game winning streak has been the pitching.
• Since March 28, the pitching duo of sophomore Brandice Balschmiter and freshman Bailey Sanders are 26-0 with a minuscule 0.84 ERA. The Killer B's have held opponents to a .150 batting average and struck out 195 batters in 167.0 innings.
• Balschmiter is 19-0 with two saves in this stretch and a 0.79 ERA. Opponents are hitting .144 off of her while striking out 152 times in 124.2 innings pitched. She has 10 shutouts and two no-hitters (March 28 vs. Dartmouth and May 4 vs. Fordham), the second and third ones of her career, during this time.
• Sanders, meanwhile, is 7-0 with a 0.99 ERA. Opponents are hitting .166 off her and have fanned 43 times in 42.1 innings pitched.
Sanders On cloud 9
• Freshman Bailey Sanders put together her best all-around performance in an 8-0 UMass win at Saint Joseph's April 22.
• It looked bleak at first when the Hawks had runners at second and third with just one out, but when Sanders got out of the jam things picked right up.
• The Durham, Conn., native struck out a career-high nine batters in just five innings to complete her first career shutout.
• Including that outing, Sanders has been nearly untouchable. She is 4-0 with a 0.64 ERA having allowed just two earned runs in 22 innings. Sanders is holding opponents to a .163 batting average, while recording 21 strikeouts and walking just six.
Balschmiter Nearly Perfect
• Sophomore Brandice Balschmiter nearly had her first career perfect game May 4 against Fordham. With a No. 1 seed in the A-10 Championship on the line, UMass' ace did not allow a Fordham base runner until a one-out error in the seventh inning.
• She settled for her third career no-hitter and second of the season, as she has saved her best outings of the season for postseason time.
• In the final week of the regular season, the Newark, N.Y., native did not allow an earned run or walk in 23.0 innings and pitched 37.1 consecutive scoreless innings before Saint Louis scored against her in the A-10 championship game.
• Balschmiter recorded shutouts of Boston College, Fordham and La Salle in her three starts the last week of the regular season while also posting her second save of the season in game two against Fordham with two innings of one-hit ball.
• Balschmiter held opponents to .078 batting average and fanned 27 batters.
• She set a new career-high with 16 strikeouts against La Salle on May 6. It was the most strikeouts by a UMass pitcher not named Danielle Henderson and set a new UMass Softball Complex breaking her own mark of 15 set in last year's NCAA Tournament game against Lehigh (10 innings).
Balschmiter Hits 500
• Brandice Balschmiter's strikeout of La Salle's Laura Dezolt May 6 was the 500th of her career. She now has 542 career k's which is already third-place all-time at UMass and she is not even done with her sophomore season.
• Balschmiter reached the 500-strikeout mark faster than UMass' "k" queen Danielle Henderson.
• The gold-medal winning Olympian Henderson compiled 1,343 strikeouts in her illustrious career.
• Balschmiter ranks 23rd in the nation in ERA (1.31), 76th in strikeouts per seven innings (7.3) and 11th with her 27 wins.
Hot Behind The Plate
• Freshman Jessica Serio is about as hot as they come right now. Serio was batting just .125 April 29, when the Minutewomen hosted George Washington, but has knocked that up to a career-high .242 by hitting .500 (11-22) in this stretch of seven games.
• The Barrington, R.I. native has a .621 on-base percentage during the last 10 games with three doubles and four RBI.
Lovin That Home Cookin
• UMass has currently reeled off 32 straight wins at home, the longest active streak in the nation. This includes three wins in the NCAA Tournament last year and this year's A-10 Championship.
• The last loss for the Minutewomen at the UMass Softball Complex was a 2-1 defeat to Charlotte on April 9, 2006. UMass has previously held a 73-game home winning streak. That was stopped by Saint Joseph's in the 2004 A-10 Tournament.
• The Minutewomen are 135-9-1 (.934) all-time at the UMass Softball Complex. That includes a 69-4 (.945) against league foes and 3-0 in the NCAA Tournament at the UMass Softball Complex. Here is a statistical breakdown of how the Minutewomen have fared all-time at the UMass Softball Complex.
AVG: .348 (1230-3537)
Opp. AVG.: .161 (547-3388)
Runs: 905 (6.2/game)
Opp. Runs: 167 (1.2/game)
Home Runs: 97 (0.67/game)
Opp. Home Runs: 17 (0.12/game)
Molinari Swiping Her Way Through The Records Books
• With 20 stolen bases this season, senior Candice Molinari now needs just six more thefts to tie Tracey Osier for the all-time record of 103. Molinari, who has 97 in her career, swiped two bases in the first game of a doubleheader at Saint Joseph's on April 22. That snapped a stretch of 11 games that the speedy centerfielder has gone without stealing at least one base.
• Molinari has been flirting with the .400 mark all season and is now back over it at .401. She saw her average dip as low as .378, but has used a current 18-game hitting streak to get back near .400.
• Only eight players in school history have ever hit .400 in a season, most recently Aisha Franke in 2003 (.403). This recent streak by Molinari is a season-high but she had a career-best 20-game hitting streak last season.
• Moinari has the 53rd-best batting average in the country and is 67th in stolen bases per game (0.41).
Mollica Heating Up
• Sophomore Whitney Mollica has been heating up lately, right as the Minutewomen begin postseason preparations.
• Mollica has hit safely in 10 of her last 13 games at a .382 (13-34) clip. She has a 1.217 OPS with three doubles, two home runs and 15 RBI.
• Mollica has also stepped up her defense, committing just two errors in the last 15 games while making some amazing plays at the hot corner.
• Mollica is now hitting .294 on the season with seven doubles, four home runs and 30 RBI.
• Mollica is tied with senior Amanda Acampora for sixth-place all-time at UMass with 16 home runs.
• The Windham, N.H., native set a UMass and A-10 record with 61 RBI last season while hitting .394. A second-team All-American, Mollica became the first player in the history of the A-10 to be both Player and Rookie of the Year in the same season.
Steady Salato
• Sophomore Samantha Salato went 3-for-6 with a triple and three RBI during the A-10 Championship and has now batted .500 (7-14) in the last six games.
• Salato has quietly hit .320 from the seven-spot in the UMass order while compiling a .850 OPS with seven doubles, two triples, three home runs and 23 RBI.
• Salato, a native of Toms River, N.J., batted .339 as a freshman with eight extra-base hits and a .610 slugging percentage.
Ack Piles Up The Long Balls
• Senior designated player Amanda Acampora capped off the regular season with a mammoth home run on Senior Day that cleared the UMass Softball Complex' outer fence.
• It was her ninth round-tripper of the season and moves her into a seventh-place tie on the school's single-season chart.
• The Orange, Conn., native is now tied with Whitney Mollica for sixth-place all-time at UMass with 16 home runs.
• She is hitting a career-best .294 this year with 33 RBI and a .548 slugging percentage to go along with her nine home runs.
Taking One For The Team
• Anyone around the UMass Softball program, knows that defense and small ball wins championships. From the leadoff spot to the No. 9 spot in the order, you better be ready to bunt and that goes for the power hitters in the middle.
• Sophomore Whitney Mollica has shown that she can bunt with the best of them and now ranks 14th in the nation with 18 sacrifices.
• Junior Stacy Cullington is second on the team with eight sacrifices.
Sortino Closes In On 1,000
• UMass Head Coach Elaine Sortino is closing in on another milestone, her 1,000th-career win.
• Sortino is looking to become the seventh coach in NCAA softball history and the sixth in Division I to record 1,000 career wins.
• Now in her 28th season at UMass, Sortino has compiled a 973-417-5 (.699) record at UMass.
• She ranks among the top 10 of coaches in both wins and winning percentage and is a 2004 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee.
• Sortino has never had a losing season at UMass while compiling 20, 30-win seasons, six over 40 wins and one 50-win campaign.
• She has been A-10 Coach of the Year eight times, the most of any coach in any sport. She and her staff have also been recognized as the Speedline/NFCA Regional Staff of the Year five times.
• Sortino has produced 19 All-Americans, 10 A-10 Players of the Year, 13 A-10 Pitchers of the Year, seven A-10 Rookies of the Year and 90 All-Conference picks.
Proctor Steady As Always
• Junior left fielder Lauren Proctor is again proving that she is a professional hitter. She is quietly batting .367 and has a career-high 40 RBI while now batting clean-up.
• Proctor has a .941 OPS with a team-best 13 doubles, 33 runs scored, two triples, one home run and is a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts.
• Proctor is now fifth all-time at UMass with a .352 batting average and her 33 doubles rank 10th all-time.
Morin's Moving Up
• Senior Amanda Morin is another player who has quietly put up a stellar season. UMass' leadoff hitter for the last two seasons now, Morin is hitting .307 this year with 43 runs scored, three doubles, three triples, a home run, 22 RBI, a .374 slugging percentage and .369 on-base percentage. • She is also 14-for-15 in stolen base attempts.
• Morin is now sixth all-time at UMass with 143 runs scored, sixth with 209 hits and eighth with 650 at bats.
• Morin has reached base safely in 45 of 50 games this season.
• She is the 36th-toughest person to strikeout in the country. Morin has been fanned just once every 17.9 at bats this year.