University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
St. Bonaventure
Balschmiter Blanks Bonnies As #22/18 Softball Wins, 4-0
March 27, 2009 | Softball
March 27, 2009
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AMHERST, Mass. - It was a scoreless pitching duel between Brandice Balschmiter and Sherri Thompson for much of Friday afternoon at the UMass Softball Complex before the #22/18 UMass softball team got the bats going, scoring two runs in the fourth inning and one each in the fifth and sixth to give the Minutewomen a 4-0 victory over St. Bonaventure in the home opener. While Balschmiter provided the pitching, Michelle Libby provided the hitting, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and drove in three runs. The Minutewomen (14-6, 3-0 A-10) host the Bonnies (2-15, 0-3 A-10) again on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for noon.
Balschmiter (11-4) scattered four hits, all singles, and one walk while striking out nine. The victory gives her 103 for her career, moving her to within five wins of Danielle Henderson's UMass record and into a tie for 35th in NCAA history. The senior right-hander is also the NCAA's active wins leader.
UMass finally got on the board in the fourth inning, when after Whitney Williams walked and advanced on a Whitney Mollica sacrifice, Sarah Reeves reached on an error by the second baseman to put runners on the corners with one out. Pinch-runner Jordan Storro stole second to give UMass two runners in scoring position for Samantha Salato, but her fly ball to left wasn't deep enough to score the runner from third. With two outs, Libby ripped the 3-2 pitch to right-center for a double that scored both runners and gave UMass a 2-0 lead.
Freshman Kyllie Magill led off the fifth inning with a double to center field and was promptly driven in on a single to center off the bat of Carly Normandin, increasing the lead to 3-0.
UMass tacked on another insurance run in the sixth. Salato led the inning off by reaching on an error and Libby then struck again, doubling to right-center, scoring Salato all the way from first base with the Minutewomen's fourth run.
Balschmiter retired 10 of the last 11 batters she faced, including two strikeouts in the seventh.
Kathryn Pazda led the Bonnies with two hits.
The win increases UMass' Atlantic 10 winning streak to 41 games. Elaine Sortino's Minutewomen have not lost a conference game since falling at St. Bonavenure, 5-3, on May 5, 2006.
