Softball Opens Atlantic 10 Tournament Wednesday Against Saint Joseph’s

University of Massachusetts Softball Information
Opening Round	#3 Massachusetts (19-30 Overall) vs. #3 Saint Joseph's (22-21 Overall)
Date \| Time	Wednesday, May 11 \| 2:30 p.m.
Location	Fairfax, Va. \| George Mason Softball Complex
Watch	ESPN+
Live Stats	SideArm Live Stats
Tickets	Ticketmaster
Twitter	@UMassSoftball
Instagram	UMass Softball
Facebook	UMass S oftball

AMHERST, Mass. - The no. 6-seed UMass Minutewomen begin Atlantic 10 Championship play on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. against no. 3-seed Saint Joseph's in Fairfax, Va. The opening game of the postseason for the Minutewomen will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Back In The Postseason
UMass is back in the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time since the 2019 season. The Minutewomen fell in extra innings to no. 3-seed George Washington in their opening game before defeating no. 6 Saint Louis 7-5. In its history, UMass has won the A-10 Tournament championship 23 times and last won the tournament in 2012.

Against The Hawks
The Minutewomen picked up a series win over the Hawks in late April at Sortino Field. UMass began the series with a 2-0 win behind a shutout performance in the circle from Jessie DiPasquale as the junior struck out seven with four hits allowed. DiPasquale and the Minutewomen secured the series with a 3-0 win in game three while Kendra Allen and Jules Shields each drove in a run.

All-Rookie Team
Julianne Bolton was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team on Tuesday afternoon. The freshman finished the regular season with 94 strikeouts to rank eighth in the A-10 in the category while picking up 66 strikeouts in 13 league appearances. The righty finished conference play with a 5-5 record and a 3.85 ERA. Bolton posted eight or more strikeouts in five starts, including four in conference play.

Kendra Gets On Base
Kendra Allen led the Atlantic 10 in walks on the year with 32 while finishing tied for third in the league with 31 RBI. The senior ranks 41st nationally and second in the A-10 in walks per game with 0.65 and finished her junior season ranked sixth nationally in the category. Allen led the conference in on-base percentage a year ago at .535 and hit .341 on the year.

Bella Among A-10 Leaders
Bella Pantoja ranks inside the top-10 in the Atlantic 10 in multiple categories and led the Minutewomen this year in eight offensive categories. The sophomore scored 31 runs to rank sixth in the A-10 while her 50 hits ranks tied for ninth in the league. Pantoja also took a league-leading 166 at-bats and finished with the 10th-most stolen bases with 11.

Bringing The Heat
Jessie DiPasquale finished the year with the fourth-most strikeouts in the Atlantic 10 with 113 in 143.1 innings pitched. DiPasquale ranked second in the league in strikeouts looking with 35 and finished with the fourth-most wins in the A-10 with 10. The junior posted a 6-3 record with a 1.58 ERA over her last 10 appearances with two complete game shutouts during the span.

Welcome Home, Coach
Danielle Henderson returned to her alma mater as the sixth head coach in program history in June. Henderson was a three-time All-American, four-time All-Atlantic 10 selection and the only four-time Atlantic 10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player in league history during her time as a player at UMass. The 2009 UMass Hall of Fame inductee led the Minutewomen to four NCAA Regional appearances and a pair of Women's College World Series appearances in 1997 and 1998. She added an Olympic gold medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Henderson was the associate head coach at UMass in 2014 before taking the head coaching job at UMass Lowell, where she was twice named the America East Coach of the Year.

Atlantic 10 Championship Schedule (Tournament Central)
Wednesday, May 11
Game 1: #4 Saint Louis vs. #5 Dayton | 12 p.m.
Game 2: #3 Saint Joseph's vs. #6 UMass | 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 | 5 p.m.

Thursday, May 12
Game 4: #1 George Washington vs. Winner of Game 1 | 12 p.m.
Game 5: #2 Fordham vs. Winner of Game 2 | 2:30 p.m.
Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4/5 (Lowest Seed) | 5 p.m.

Friday, May 13
Game 7: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 | 12 p.m.
Game 8: Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 4/5 (Highest Seed) | 2:30 p.m.
Game 9: Winner of Game 8 vs. Loser of Game 7 | 5 p.m.

Saturday, May 14
Game 10: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9 | 12 p.m.
Game 11: If necessary, immediately following game 10

Scoreboard

Softball Opens Atlantic 10 Tournament Wednesday Against Saint Joseph’s

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Players Mentioned

Kendra Allen

Julianne Bolton

Jessie DiPasquale

Bella Pantoja

Jules Shields

Scoreboard

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