University of Massachusets Athletics
Softball Continues Road Trip With Under Armour Showcase
March 13, 2008 | Softball
March 13, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass softball team will head to Clearwater, Fla. this weekend for the USF Under Armour Classic before beginning the regular season slate with a double-header at South Florida on Monday (March 17). The Minutewomen will face Radford (1 p.m. EST) and Florida International (6 p.m. EST) on Friday and Indiana (1 p.m. EST) and Rutgers (4 p.m. EST) on Saturday in pool play. On Sunday, UMass will play in the championship round against an undetermined opponent. The Minutewomen open regular season play on Monday with a tilt against South Florida at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. EST in Tampa, Fla.
BROADCAST INFO
Over 30 Minutewomen regular season games will be broadcast online at www.UMassathletics.com through SportsJuice. Media Relations assistant Mike Huff and play-by-play commentator Matt Goldstein will call all the action at the USF Under Armour Classic in Clearwater, Fla.
SCOUTING RAFORD
•The Highlanders have a 12-5 record after the cancellation of last weekend's Buzz Classic due to heavy rains and tornados in Woodstock, Ga.
•Radford returns seven starting positional players after finishing third in the Big South conference last year, recording a 44-27 overall record.
•The pitching staff, comprised of hurlers Ashley Taylor and Rebecca Whalley, holds a 1.84 ERA. Taylor leads the way with 69 strikeouts and only 12 walks.
•The Highlanders are hitting .257 as a team, led by sophomore catcher Sarah Himan (.438 average, 21 hits, 15 RBI) and senior left fielder Cassie Rhodes (.333 average, 4 home runs, .647 slugging percentage).
SCOUTING FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
•The Golden Panthers hold an 8-18 record coming into the USF Under Armour Classic.
•Florida International returns seven starters from last year's squad that held an overall record of 22-35 and went 10-16 in the Sun Belt conference.
•The FIU circle is led by sophomore Kasey Barrett, who maintains a 2.81 ERA, with all eight Golden Panther victories and 66 strikeouts.
•Senior shortstop Monique White leads the team offensively with a .380 batting average, 30 hits, 12 RBI, and three home runs. She is closely followed by junior infielder Carolina Rojas, who maintains a .353 average with 8 RBI and a .451 slugging percentage.
SCOUTING INDIANA
•The Hoosiers went 3-2 in the USF Under Armour Invitational last weekend.
•Indiana returns six starters from last year's roster, eager to improve from a 21-34 record. Head Coach Stacey Phillips is in her fifth season, looking to bring her team back to its 2006 status, where the Hoosiers set school records in home runs, strikeouts by IU pitchers, and fewest errors.
•The pitching responsibilities are split among senior Jennifer Moore, junior Monica Wright, and freshmen Sara Olson and Alyssa Maiese. Olson maintains the best record at 2-1, fanning 16 batters in 18 innings. Wright has retired 17 batters in 34 innings, making six starts.
•Indiana's offense stems from senior third baseman Jennilee Huddleston (.341, 14 hits, 6 RBI) and junior catcher Emily Bergeson (.297, 11 hits, 2 home runs, .595 slugging percentage).
SCOUTING RUTGERS
•Led by second year coach Jay Nelson, Rutgers is off to a 6-8 start. The Scarlet Knights return seven starters from last year and the top three win leaders from their pitching staff.
•The pitching staff consists of junior Chrissy Yard, sophomore Nicole Lindley, and freshman Katye Hamlin. Hamlin holds a 3-2 record, with an ERA of 2.08 and 16 strikeouts in 30.1 innings. Lindley remains undefeated this season, appearing in five games, striking out 12 and maintaining a 3.85 ERA.
•The Scarlet Knights are hitting .287 as a team, led by junior catcher Kim Hodges (.400, 10 hits, four RBI) and junior outfielder Amanda Heller (.391, nine hits, five RBI).
SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA
•USF is off to a 15-8 start, after finishing second last season in the Big East, recording an overall record of 44-22. They are receiving votes in the Coaches Association Poll.
•The Bulls are hitting .260 with 20 doubles and eight home runs as a team. They are led by junior Britta Giddens (.397 batting average, two home runs, eight RBI, six stolen bases) and senior Kit Dunbar (.375, 21 hits, two stolen bases).
•The main hurler for the Bulls, senior Courtney Mosch, maintains an 11-3 record, with an ERA of 1.33. She has also fanned 47 batters and holds her opponents to a .175 batting average. Freshman Capri Catalano has also pitched 33.2 innings, winning three games, making two saves, recording an ERA of 1.04, and striking out 58 while only walking 14.
RECAPPING THE LEADOFF
UMass went 2-3 in the Leadoff Classic, highlighted by a stunning 4-1 upset over second-ranked Texas A&M on Saturday. The Minutewomen fell 6-0 in game one of the classic to Florida State, followed by a 2-1 heart-breaking loss in eight innings to #19 DePaul. On Saturday, the team rebounded strongly to stun #2 Texas A&M. The Aggies were the highest ranked opponent UMass has defeated since the 2002 season in which the Minutewomen knocked off #2 Stanford 3-1. Following the A&M win, the Minutewomen topped Auburn 6-3 as Bailey Sanders grabbed her second win of the season. After holding onto a 2-0 lead heading into the top of the seventh inning UMass gave up three runs to fall 3-2 to #18 Mississippi State.
Sophomore Sarah Reeves led the Minutewomen offensively on the weekend, going 5-for-14 (.357) with a double and five RBI. Reeves had a hit with three RBI in the win over the Aggies.
NO NEED TO WORRY
The 6-9 record and .218 team batting average are nothing to worry about in UMass land. The Minutewomen
started the 2007 season 11-11-1 with a .286 average before going on a 27-game win streak leading up to
NCAA Regionals.
Despite the 6-9 record, the Minutewomen own a low1.55 ERA, down from last year's 2.55 ERA at the same time of the year.
The Minutewomen have also faced nine current top-25 ranked teams, holding a 2-7 record in those games. UMass has not lost by more than two runs to any ranked opponent this year, and have lost by just a run to three of them. (#12 Michigan 1-0, #18 Miss. State 3-2, #19 DePaul 2-1 (8))
BALSCHMITER ON POINT
The right-handed pitcher has picked up where she left off last season. With a 4-5 record, the junior ace holds a 1.15 ERA with 75 strikeouts and two saves on the year. All five loses were to nationally ranked opponents (No. 12 Michigan, No. 5 UCLA, No. 9 Arizona, #18 DePaul, #19 Miss. State), however Balschmiter has 41 strikeouts in those games and hasn't given up more than three earned runs to any opponent this year.
She was dynamite in a 13-inning 4-2 loss to No. 9 Arizona (2/23) as she struckout 10, while giving up just two earned runs to the NCAA defending national champions. The 13-innings pitched were a career high for Balschmiter. She was also terrific in the 4-1 win over No. Texas A&M (3/1), giving up just one run on nine hits while striking out five.
With three strikeouts in a relief appearance against No. 10 Baylor, Balschmiter moved into second place on the UMass all-time strikeout list with 597.
"B" GRABS SECOND A-10 PITCHER OF THE WEEK HONOR
UMass junior pitcher Brandice Balschmiter earned her second Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week honor on Monday March 3 for her outstanding performance at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. The right-hander gave up just one run on nine hits with five strikeouts in a 4-1 upset win over No. 2 Texas A&M.
DIRTY WORK
Starting all 15 games behind home plate this season, sophomore catcher Jessica Serio has done it all for the Minutewomen. Serio boasts a .293 batting average and is tied for second on the team in doubles (3) and runs batted in (5). Defensively, she has picked off five runners on nine stolen base attempts and given up just two passed balls. Serio has also tagged three runners in some bang-bang plays at home plate.
REEVES "AMPED"
Sophomore Sarah Reeves has brought energy and life to the UMass lineup in her first year as a starter. The first baseman leads the team in batting average (.302) and RBI (7), and is in second in doubles (4) and hits (13).
She 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 was clutch against second-ranked Texas A&M, with a three-RBI single in the bottom of the second inning to lead UMass to the 4-1 win.
ABOVE THE NORM
In twelve starts on the year, sophomore centerfielder Carly Normandin has made her place count in the lineup. Norm was hitting .304 with a home run and 4 RBI, including a 240 ft. blast against No. 5 UCLA heading into the Leadoff classic. Since being moved to the leadoff spot, she has been in a 0-for-15 hitting slump but will look to get back on track at the Under Armour Classic.
Normandin has done well on the defensive end as well with a couple of amazing diving catches in the outfield. The Gardner, Mass. native started only nine games total in her 2007 freshman campaign and is already three games passed that mark.
SORTINO CLOSES IN ON 1,000
UMass Head Coach Elaine Sortino is 19 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.
PROCTOR NAMED LOWES SENIOR AWARD CANDIDATE
Senior outfielder Lauren Proctor (La Jolla, Calif.) has been named as a candidate for the 2008 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. On Tuesday, 30 candidates were announced for the Senior CLASS Award that honors the nation's best college softball players who also excel in the classroom and make an impact in their respective communities. A national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in late March 2008. Those ten names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote that will include coaches, media and fans. The award winner will be announced and recognized at the 2008 NCAA® Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
UMASS SOFTBALL HOME OPENER GAME TIME HAS BEEN CHANGED
The UMass softball home opener against Dartmouth on March 26 has been changed to a 2 p.m. EST start. The game was originally scheduled for 3 p.m. Season-ticket packages are still available and can be purchased by calling 866-UMASS-TIX.
UP NEXT - A-10 CONFERENCE (FORDHAM/ LA SALLE)
Following the road trip to Florida, the Minutewomen will head to the Bronx to open up A-10 Conference play with a double-header against Fordham on Thursday, March 20 at 12 p.m. EST and 2 p.m. EST.
The Minutewomen will then head to Philadelphia for a DH with La Salle on Saturday March 22 at 12 p.m. EST and 2 p.m. EST.
