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· Massachusetts is scheduled to open the home portion of its 2015 season this weekend against George Washington, beginning Friday with a doubleheader at Noon. The Minutewomen are slated to play 11 of their next 14 at Sortino Field. Additioinally, 11 of its next 14 games are against Atlantic 10 competition
· Live video and stats of every UMass home game are available online at UMassAthletics.com. Additionally, live stats and a live audio broadcast are available for every remaining road game in 2015. Scouting UMass
· UMass (6-15, 1-5) comes into the contest following a 16-6 win in 5 innings at Yale on Wednesday.
· The Minutewomen are hitting .267 on the year which ranks sixth in the 10-member league. They have increased their team batting average by 27 points over the past five games. UMass has hit .250 in A-10 play.
· UMass had hit 10 home runs in its first 8 games; went eight games without a HR; and has 10 in the last five games..
· UMass has posted double-digit hit totals five times this season, including twice in the last five games.
· UMass has turned a double play in four of the last five games, including three of its last four A-10 games .
· Senior SS Quianna Diaz-Patterson ranks eighth in the country in batting avg. She is 7-for-17 with two walks and two HBP as the leadoff batter, reaching base 11 times in 21 games (.524 OBP).
· Senior 1B Bridget Lemire has homered in three of the last five games. In the last five games she is hitting .429 with nine RBI, six runs, a 1.071 slugging pct. and a .467 on-base pct.
· Freshman INF Gianna Hathaway had seven hits in her first 34 at-bats (.206 avg.) and has hit safely in her last five at-bats, including a pair of solo HRs at Saint Joseph's on Sunday. In the last two games, she is 5-for-5 with two RBI, five runs, a double and two home runs.
· Junior C Olivia Godin is hitting .556 with three doubles, a triple and four RBI in the last four games. She was hitless in her previous five games. She had a single, double and triple in the win at Yale on Wednesday.
Scouting George Washington
· George Washington (16-13, 0-4) won a pair of midweek games, defeating UMBC 6-3 and Cornell 8-7. The Colonials are winless in four A-10 contests, losing weather shortened series' to La Salle and St. Bonaventure.
· GW ranks fourth in the A-10 with a .291 batting avg, and is tied for second with 45 doubles and first with nine triples. The Buff and Blue have hit 15 HRs. 
· GW has a strong defense that is third in the league and 50th nationally with a .966 fielding pct. The team has also turned 16 double plays to rank 10th nationally and first in the A-10.
· The Colonials lead the A-10 and are eighth in the country in steals, with 2.4 per game and 70 total. Five players have at least 8 steals over the team's 29 games.
· Senior Victoria Valos ranks second in batting avg. for the Buff and Blue with a .373 mark, and has hit a team-best .591 in the eight games since conference play began on March 22, with 13 hits, six runs scored and three home runs .
· In the circle, freshman Sarah Costlow has shouldered the bulk of GW's innings, tossing 116.0 frames en route to an 11-11 record, while sophomore Paige Kovalsky claims a 5-0 mark in 58.1 innings of work. She earned both victories earlier this week. Series With George Washington
· The Minutewomen are 20-2 all-time against the Colonials, having posted 12 shutouts.
· The teams did not play Washington, D.C. a year ago as their series was rained out.
· The last time the teams met in Amherst, the Colonials swept a pair of games, 4-3 and 8-0, on April 21, 2013.
· UMass won all four meetings in 2012 as it claimed wins of 8-0 and 2-0 in D.C. before taking a 5-2 win on the second day of the Atlantic 10 Championship, followed two days later with the dramatic 3-2 walk-off home run from Kyllie Magill to win in the championship game. StriKe Out Cancer Game Set For Next Saturday, April 11 Against Fordham
· The UMass softball program will participate in the NFCA's StriKe Out Cancer program against this season. The team will spotlight next Saturday's doubleheader against Fordham as a day for honoring those lost to cancer and the fight against the disease. Fans wearing pink to the game will receive the group admission rate of $2. Preseason Poll
· Massachusetts was picked to finish fourth in a vote of the league's 10 head coaches during the preseason polling period. Fordham earned all 10 first place votes and was a unanimous top pick, followed by Saint Louis and Saint Joseph's, ahead of the Minutewomen. Dayton, George Washington, George Mason, La Salle and St. Bonaventure rounded out the poll. A-10 Championship
· For the 10th time in school history, UMass will play host to the Atlantic 10 Championship Tournament, May 6-9 at Sortino Field. The format features six teams in a double-elimination bracket, with the first and second-place teams based on regular-season winning pct. receiving day one byes.
· Tickets will cost between $3-$8 per day or you can grab a 4-day tournament pass for $12 (youth) or $24 (adult). Students of Atlantic 10 Conference schools are free to all games with a valid ID.
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 $3-$8 | UMass students free w/ valid ID
 Live Video ($)
 Sat. Game One | Sat. Game Two | Sunday Game
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