University of Massachusets Athletics
Short Of Goal, But Minutewomen's Season Still Success
May 21, 2007 | Softball
May 21, 2007
AMHERST - The University of Massachusetts softball team's goal was its first trip to Oklahoma City and the Women's College World Series since 1998.
But despite falling short of that, it would be hard to characterize the 2007 season as anything but a success.
The Minutewomen (39-14-1) won their 19th Atlantic 10 regular-season championship with an 18-0 record and followed that with a sweep through the conference tournament. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th straight time and the 17th overall.
UMass loses senior first baseman Amanda Morin, center fielder Candice Molinari and designated player Amanda Acampora. Still, coach Elaine Sortino will have an experienced and talented roster coming back.
Brandice Balschmiter won her second straight Atlantic 10 pitcher of the year award as a sophomore, and freshman Bailey Sanders showed potential to be a second outstanding pitcher.
Sophomore third baseman Whitney Mollica struggled at times after being named A-10 player of the year as a freshman, but she finished the season strong and will look to carry that momentum into next year.
Mollica will be in the middle of the batting order with Stacy Cullington and Lauren Proctor, both seniors next year. Cullington had a breakthrough season with a school-record 15 home runs, while Proctor quietly had a strong year driving in 40 runs as the team's cleanup hitter.
Like Mollica, Samantha Salato and Jess Serio both finished the season strong and could play key roles next year along with Whitney Williams, who stood out by hitting .304 as a freshman.
SATURDAY'S GAMES - The Minutewomen advanced to Sunday's regional final with a 7-3 win over Long Island Saturday evening after losing 2-0 to Oklahoma earlier Saturday,
Molinari's two-out, two-run double broke a 3-3 tie with the Blackbirds in the sixth. UMass added two insurance runs in the seventh on a two-run single by Acampora.
Balschmiter labored at times but earned the win, giving up six hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
In Saturday's first game, Oklahoma, the top-ranked team in the country, ended the Minutewomen's overall winning streak at 27 and its home winning streak at 33.
Lauren Eckermann pitched the Sooners to the complete-game victory, allowing four hits and striking out six.
Balschmiter gave up one earned run, seven hits and three walks while striking out four.
SENIOR IMPACT - Molinari leaves with her name all over the UMass record book. She finished the season at .401, just the ninth player in team history to hit at least .400 in a season. She is fourth on the Minutewomen's career list in runs (151) and seventh in hits (209). She holds the second, fourth, ninth and 10th spots on the single-season stolen bases list and finished second in career history with 98 steals.
Morin leaves on a handful of lists as well. She's sixth in runs (144) and hits (212).
Acampora is tied for sixth in career home runs with 16.
MILESTONES - Halfway through her UMass career, Balschmiter has a chance to challenge some of Danielle Henderson's career pitching marks if she stays on her current pace. She already has 61 wins, good for sixth all time and 47 short of Henderson's 108.
Balschmiter will need to increase her strikeouts to catch Henderson, who was at the weekend games. While Balschmiter's 565 career strikeouts are already third in school history, she has a long was to go to reach Henderson's 1,343.
WEATHER REPORT - While the weekend's wet weather did not cause any postponements, Sunday's game started 1? hours late because the field had to be treated after overnight rains.
FRUSTRATED TRAVELER - Before the games were played, Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso was diplomatic about not hosting the NCAA Regional despite her team's strong record and rank. Afterward she was more candid.
"Now that it's over, I was not pleased with us being sent here because I know UMass and Elaine Sortino and their history in the postseason. I was not excited about coming here," said Gasso, who said the tournament's top eight seeds should be guaranteed to host regionals.
"What do you tell your team when you're 52-6 and you just won the Big 12 Tournament and you get shipped off?" Gasso asked. "It was a little injustice, but this experience is going to make us a little better and tougher."
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage including a frequently updated UMass sports blog, go to www.dailyhampshiregazette.com/umsports.