University of Massachusets Athletics
Softball Faces Top Competition At Palm Springs Classic This Weekend
February 20, 2008 | Softball
Feb. 20, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - UMass softball heads to Cathedral City, Calif. this weekend to play five games at the Palm Springs hosted by Oregon State University. UMass opens the tournament Friday against 11-time National Champions No. 5 UCLA at 1:30 p.m. EST and then finishes the day with No. 10 Baylor at 4 p.m. EST. On Saturday the Minutewomen face two-time defending National Champions No.9 Arizona at 1 p.m. EST followed by Fresno State at 3:30 p.m. EST. The round-robin tournament concludes on Sunday as UMass faces Michigan State at 12 p.m. EST to cap things off.
BROADCAST INFO...
Over 30 Minutewomen regular season games will be broadcast online at www.UMassathletics.com through SportsJuice. Media Relations assistant Mike Huff will call the majority of road games while Matt Goldstein and the WMUA 99.1 cast of Zach Claudio, Chris Marovelli, and Mike Wash return to do play-by-play for every home game. In addition, live stats can be followed on the web through GameTracker.
SCOUTING UCLA
The fifth-ranked went 4-1 last week in the UNLV Louisville Slugger Desert Classic. Posted wins over No. 22 Missouri (4-0), South Carolina (6-2), Portland State (7-4) and Wisconsin (4-1). Only loss of the weekend came to Illinois (6-2).
The 11-time national champions return four starters from last year's 37-18 squad, including All-American outfielder Krista Colburn.
The Bruins are hitting a crushing .364 as a team and are led on the year by senior center fielder Ashley Hererra (.586, 4 stolen bases), freshman GiOnna DiSalvatore (.500, 1 HR, 16 RBI) and sophomore first baseman Megan Langenfield (.481, 2HR, 9 RBI).
The UCLA circle may be one of the deepest in the NCAA after owning a 1.38 ERA and an 8-2 record so far this season. Freshman Donna Kerr leads the pack with a 1.04 ERA while striking out 27 with a 3-1 record. Veteran senior Anjelica Selden is close behind with a 1.40 ERA and a 4-1 record while striking out 40 batters faced.
SCOUTING BAYLOR
The 10th-ranked Baylor Bears head into the classic with a 5-1 record after a pair of blowout wins over Prairie view A&M on Tuesday. Head Coach Glenn Moore looks to return the Bears to the WCWS in 2008 after making it to the school's first one ever in 2007.
The Bears are hitting a solid .387 as a team on the season and are led by senior first baseman Jordan Daniels, who was named Big 12 Player of the Week last week. Daniels is hitting .611 with 5 home runs and 12 RBI.
The Baylor pitching staff owns an outstanding .89 ERA as junior right-hander Jenny Isham has yet to surrender a run with her 2-0 record on the season. Right behind Isham is sophomore Kristen Shortridge, who boasts a 2-0 record with her 1.29 ERA.
SCOUTING ARIZONA
With head coach Mike Candrea away for U.S. National Team coaching duties, assistant coach Larry Ray leads the back-to-back NCAA champions who return six positional starters plus All-American and WCWS Most Outstanding Player in senior pitcher Tarynne Mowatt.
The ninth-ranked Arizona Wildcats dropped its first three games of the season to Northwestern (8-5), No. 3 Texas A&M (2-1) and Nevada (1-0) but responded nicely to grab two-consecutive wins in a double-header against Southern Utah (8-0. 11-3).
The Wildcat offense is hitting .273 and is led by senior outfielder Cyndi Duran (.667, 2 RBI), junior third baseman Jenae Leles (.429, 1 HR, 5 RBI) and sophomore DP Stacie Chambers (.400, 2 HR, 2 RBI).
The Arizona circle is led by freshman Lindsey Sisk with a 1.24 ERA and a 1-1 record. The veteran Mowatt currently holds a 3.57 ERA with a 1-2 record while striking out 23 on the year.
SCOUTING FRESNO STATE
The Bulldogs will hit the road for the first time this season after opening the year going 3-1 at the Campbell/Cartier Classic in San Diego. FSU defeated Indiana (10-0), Tulsa (8-1), and UCSB (8-0), before falling to San Diego State (3-2) for their only loss of the season. They now sit at 5-1 on the year.
The young Fresno State squad is coached by Margie Wright, who led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Regionals in 2007.
They are led by freshman Melloh Morgan with a .545 batting average while knocking in five runs. Classmate Caintlin Stiglich is hitting .444 with 3 home runs and 8 RBI of her own.
Morgan is the team's top pitcher so far this season, holding a .51 ERA with a 4-0 record while striking out 37 batters faced.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
The Spartans started their season on a high note after going 4-0 at the Seminole Classic in Tallahassee, Fla. last week. MSU defeated UAB (5-1), Bethune Cookman (14-2), Jacksonville (6-5) and Florida State (3-2) in the tournament.
Michigan State is hitting .349 to start the season and is led by senior Caitlin Mahoney with a .462 average and 6 RBI.
The Spartan circle holds a 1.38 ERA, as freshman Shae Bass leads the way with a 3-0 record and a .82 ERA.
RECAPPING RATON
The Minutewomen went 2-3-0 in their season-opening tournament, the FAU Kick-Off Classic, with wins against South Carolina (2-0) and Florida Atlantic (5-2) while dropping a loss to No. 12 Michigan (0-1), Maryland (1-2), and North Florida (2-3). Junior pitcher Brandice Balschmiter owned a .33 era on the weekend and a 2-1 record after allowing 10 hits in 21 innings while striking out 23. Sophomore Sarah Reeves was an offensive force on the weekend tallying seven hits with three doubles and two RBI. She hit .500 (7-for-14) while junior Samantha Salato hit .313 (5-for-16) with two RBI of her own.
MINUTEWOMEN UPDATE
•After a 0-3 start in which UMass tallied only three runs on thirteen hits, the Minutewomen have rebounded nicely to grab two wins in-a-row. In the two wins, the offense finally found its rhythm scoring seven runs on 14 hits (five of those were doubles).
• All three of the UMass defeats were by only one run. The team has not given up more than three runs to any team yet this season, and the team's only shutout was by No. 12 Michigan by a score of 1-0.
BALSCHMITER ON POINT
The right-handed pitcher has picked up where she left off last season. In the 1-0 loss to No. 12 Michigan, Balschmiter gave up just three hits while striking out nine, retiring the last 11 batters of the game. In the wins against South Carolina and Florida Atlantic, she struckout 14, while giving up seven hits and no earned runs. Her 23 total strikeouts to start the season give her 588 for her career. She is now just nine K's away from passing Kaila Holtz (2000-'03) for second place on the UMass all-time strikeout list. For her strong performance at the FAU Kick-Off Classic, Balschmiter was named Atlantic 10 Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday, Feb. 18.
REEVES "AMPED"
While the offense struggled slightly to start the season, Sophomore Sarah Reeves has brought energy and life to the lineup in her first year as a starter. The first baseman went on a hitting terror with seven of the team's 27 on the first weekend of action. Her three doubles against Florida Atlantic (2/10) tied the UMass record for doubles in a game, and were the most since the 2005 season. Reeves' leads the team in batting average (.500), hits (7), doubles (3) and is tied for RBI with two.
WELCOME BACK BAILEY
After having a rib removed and an artery transferred from her leg to her arm to remove a blockage, sophomore pitcher Bailey Sanders has recovered strong from her off-season surgery. Despite a 0-2 record, Sanders holds a 1.17 ERA with eight strikeouts while giving up just seven hits and five runs (three unearned). Had it not been for three errors by the defense against North Florida, she could very well be 1-1 on the season.
GOING BACK-BACK TO CALI-CALI
Senior's Stacy Cullington (Encinatas, Calif.) and Lauren Proctor (La Jolla, Calif.) will return to their home state of California to play games for the third-straight season. Proctor, who has been a consistent hitter her whole career, has a .355 batting average with 3 RBI, 3 runs and one stolen base in 10 collegiate games played in the "Golden State". Cullington hasn't fared as well in her home setting with a .111 average, but does have a home run to go with 3 RBI.
SORTINO CLOSES IN ON 1,000
UMass Head Coach Elaine Sortino is 23 wins shy of becoming the eighth coach in NCAA Softball History and seventh in Division 1 to record 1,000 career wins. Entering the 2008 season, Sortino compiled a 975-419-5 (.699) record through 28 years at UMass.
She ranks among the top 10 in both wins and winning percentage and is a 2004 National Fast pitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee.
While at Massachusetts, Sortino has never had a losing season and enjoyed 20, 30-win seasons, six, 40-win seasons and one 50-win season.
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 91 All-Conference picks.
UP NEXT - THE NFCA LEADOFF CLASSIC
Following its road trip to California, the Minutewomen will travel to Columbus, Ga. to take apart in the NFCA Leadoff Classic, Feb. 29-March 2.
UMass will face Florida State (11 a.m. EST) and DePaul (1:30 p.m. EST) on Friday, and Texas A&M (4 p.m. EST) and Auburn (6:30 p.m. EST) on Saturday. On Sunday, the Minutewomen will conclude pay with a match-up against Mississippi State at 12:30 p.m. EST.
SEASON TICKETS ON SALE FOR FIRST TIME IN SCHOOL HISTORY
For the first time in school history, season tickets will be sold for University of Massachusetts softball games.
Ticket packages are available now and can be purchased by calling 866-UMASS-TIX.
Softball season tickets are $65 for GA chairback seats, $40 for GA adult bleacher seats, $35 for GA senior/faculty/staff bleacher seats, and $25 for GA youth bleacher seats.
