Massachusetts Hits The Road For Houston Classic

University of Massachusetts Softball Game Notes & Information
Tournament	Houston Classic
Dates \| Times	vs. Nicholls - Friday, Feb. 16, 2024 / 5 a.m. at Houston - Friday, Feb. 16, 2024 / 7:30 p.m. vs. Northwestern State - Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024 / 12 p.m. vs. UTSA - Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024 / 5 p.m. vs. Nicholls - Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024 / 10 a.m.
Location	Houston, TX. (Cougar Softball Stadium)
Live Stats	Live Stats
Tournament Central	Coverage/Results
Twitter	@UMassSoftball
Instagram	UMass Softball
Facebook	UMass S oftball

AMHERST, Mass. - The University of Massachusetts softball team turns its attention to Texas, facing Houston, Nicholls, Northwestern State and UTSA from Feb. 16-18 at the Houston Classic.

Last Time Out:
The Minutewomen come into the weekend after going 2-3 in their season-opening tournament, the Bash in The Boro. Massachusetts claimed two victories in Statesboro, Georgia, defeating host Georgia Southern (1-0) and Radford (7-2) in back-to-back games. Junior Julianne Bolton highlighted the weekend as she recorded her first career complete-game shutout and home run in the victory over Georgia Southern. Bolton pitched 15 total innings over three games, holding a 0.93 ERA and tallying 12 strikeouts.

2023 Rewind:
Massachusetts comes into 2024 after earning a 16-34 record a season ago. The Minutewomen return 13 players from the 2023 campaign including eight who played in over 30 games. At the plate, Massachusetts brings back Chloe Whitter who led the team in batting average (.315) and senior Bella Pantoja who paced the Minutemen in home runs (3) and runs batted in (24). On the rubber, Julianne Bolton comes back to Sortino Field after leading the pitching staff in innings pitched (112.0) and appearances (27.0).

Scouting The Field:

Houston - The event host, Houston is coming off a successful opening weekend at the Houston Invitational. The team posted back-to-back run-rule wins on Opening Day, defeating Colgate (10-0, five innings) and Indiana State (13-1, five innings) before notching a 6-1 win against Indiana State and a 6-3 victory against Rutgers.

Nicholls - The Colonels enter the weekend after a 4-2 start, winning the last three games of the Mardi Gras Mambo. The Colonels opened the tournament with a run-rule victory over Green Bay before falling to North Dakota, 4-2, on Friday. Nicholls bounced back with a Saturday sweep of Providence and UT Arlington before knocking off Montana on Sunday.

Northwestern State - The Demons come into Texas holding a 3-4 record, including two victories at the Texas State Tournament. In the final four games of the weekend tournament the NSU staff of Kenzie Seely, Maggie Darr, Ryleigh Denton and Aly Delafield did not allow more than two earned runs in a single game. The staff pitched their way to a 1.55 ERA over the final four games, but suffered a pair of close, low-scoring losses.

UTSA - UTSA is still looking for its first win of the new campaign after suffering multiple tough losses at the Texas State Tournament. Junior Sophie Campbell and senior Kenzie Schultz delivered a pair of standout performances, as Campbell hit .357 with four RBIs and a double across contests with Texas State, Northwestern State, Southern Illinois, Kennesaw State, and Creighton

Looking Ahead:
The Minutewomen move on to the Gamecock Invitational where they will face James Madison, South Alabama and South Carolina from Feb. 23-25 in Columbia, South Carolina.

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Players Mentioned

Julianne Bolton

Bella Pantoja

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University of Massachusets Athletics