University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Rhode Island
#21 Softball Sweeps URI In Home Twinbill
April 27, 2010 | Softball
April 27, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. - Katie Bettencourt and Sarah Reeves each went a combined 4-for-6 at the plate to lead No. 21 UMass softball (31-7-1) to a doubleheader sweep of Rhode Island (17-28), 9-2 and 3-1, on a blustery Tuesday afternoon at the UMass Softball Complex. Sara Plourde reached several milestones in picking up both victories in the circle as the Minutewomen improved to 11-0-1 in Atlantic 10 play and the Rams fell to 6-8.
Plourde (30-5) allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits and two walks while striking out nine in game one, and then pitched all seven innings in game two, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning before allowing an unearned run on two hits. She walked two and struck out seven in the game, running her nation's best total to 440.
Plourde's seventh strikeout in game one was her 431st of the season, moving her past Danielle Henderson in 1998 for second-most in a single season in UMass history. Henderson's 1999 season total of 465 sits in first-place. Plourde's ninth and final strikeout of game one was the 500th of her career, joining Henderson (1,343) and Brandice Balschmiter (1,218) as the only pitcher's in school history to reach the milestone. The two victories also allowed Plourde to join those same two UMass pitching legends as the only Minutewomen to have 30 wins in a season. Blaschmiter's 34 wins last season is the school record.
Bettencourt was 3-for-3 in game one, hitting a two-run home run to the opposite field in the bottom of the fourth inning. It was the sophomore's sixth home run of the season.
Reeves was a perfect 4-for-4 in game one with two singles, a double, a triple, and two runs scored. Combined with a hit in her final at-bat on Saturday in St. Louis, the senior recorded a hit in five-straight plate appearances, coming within two of the school-record she tied earlier this season of seven (Jackie Gaw in 1980 and Chris Ciepiela in 1986).
Michelle Libby led the offense in game two by hitting a two-run home run in the second inning, her seventh of the season, following a double by Meghan Carta. The Minutewomen tacked on the third run in the fourth inning when pinch-runner Cyndil Matthew scored on a successful first-and-third double-steal.
With one out in the seventh, Melissa Wilson singled up the middle to break up Plourde's no-hitter and later scored with two outs after another single up the middle and two UMass errors. With the bases loaded, Plourde got Amanda Sbei to fly out to left to end the game, 3-1.
In the third inning of game one, UMass sent 10 batters to the plate, collecting six runs on five hits, two bases-loaded walks, a RBI groundout and a sacrifice fly to blow the game open. After URI got two runs back in the top of the fourth, Bettencourt's homer made it an 8-2 game. She then drove in the ninth run of the game in the sixth inning on a single after Reeves led off the inning with a triple.
The Minutewomen return to action on Thursday when they continue their regular season-ending 10-game homstand by hosting UConn at the UMass Softball Complex for a 5 p.m. game.
