University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Weekly Sports Notebook
 |  UMass rowing earned its ninth Atlantic 10 Championship over the weekend. |
April 26, 2004
AMHERST, Mass. -
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Baseball 13-15 (5-7 Atlantic 10)
UP NEXT: Apr. 27 Quinnipiac 3:00 pm
Apr. 29 Boston College 3:00 pm
May 1 at Rhode Island * (DH) 12:00 pm
May 2 at Rhode Island * 12:00 pm
May 4 Siena 3:00 pm
May 6 at Northeastern 3:00 pm
* Atlantic 10 Conference game
LAST WEEK:
Apr. 21 vs. Northeastern % L, 3-4
Apr. 22 vs. Harvard % L, 4-7
Apr. 24 FORDHAM L, 3-4
Apr. 24 FORDHAM L, 9-14
Apr. 25 FORDHAM L, 1-14
% Baseball Beanpot Classic - Campanelli Stadium (Brockton, Mass.)
NOTEBOOK: UP NEXT: UMass baseball looks to shake off this past weekend's stunner against Fordham as it welcomes Quinnipiac and Boston College to Lorden Field. The Minutemen are undefeated at home this year against non-conference opponents, and following the contests in Amherst, they will head to Rhode Island for a telling three-game weekend series against the Rams.
A LOOK BACK: The Minutemen had a tough week posting five losses to secure the seasons' longest losing streak. A heartbreaking 4-3 loss against Northeastern in the semifinals of the Baseball Beanpot Classic started off the week, and was followed by a 7-4 decision to Harvard. In the NU game, the Minutemen were charged for a dubious balk in the bottom of the eighth inning. With runners on first and third, the first base umpire's called allowed the winning run to score. Against Harvard, UMass trailed 4-1, but rallied to tie it, 4-4, in the top of the seventh. But it was all for naught as the Crimson used a walk-off three-run home run to end it. In their Atlantic 10 home-opening series against Fordham, the Minutemen were whacked by Fordham losing all three games, 3-4, 9-14 and 1-14 giving the Rams their first ever sweep of UMass on the baseball diamond.
CHECK THIS OUT: UMass holds a 3-0 record in the all-time series against Quinnipiac that began in 2000, and a 29-17 lead the all-time series against Boston College that began in 1904. The Eagles went on to win last week's Baseball Beanpot Classic defeating Northeastern in the championship game, 6-2.
In the Atlantic 10 race for the playoffs, UMass is still very much in the thick of things.With the top six teams, regardless of what division their in, advancing to the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn., UMass currently stands one game out of sixth place. In other A-10 action this weekend, Fordham is at Saint Joseph's, George Washington is at La Salle, Richmond is at Xavier, Dayton is at Duquesne and Temple is at Saint Bonaventure. For complete standings check out the A-10 website at "http://www.atlantic10.org/sports/baseball/". Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field
UP NEXT: Men's and Women's Track and Field will be back in action next on Saturday and Sunday, May 1 and 2 as they head to Richmond V.A. to compete in the Atlantic 10 Championships
LAST WEEK: Men - UNH Invitational 4th of 6 teams; Women - UNH Invitational 2nd of 5 teams.
CHECK THIS OUT: Senior Kate Markopoulos recorded her third consecutive victory in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as she clocked a time of 11:33.42 ... Junior Christina Huff won the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes in times of 12.19 and 25.69, respectively ... Junior Joe McCormack won the 100-meter dash in a time of 10.69, his first appearance in the event this season ... Sophomore Ryan Corbett won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:52.82, a new season best, it was also his first time competing in the
Softball 24-13 (7-1 Atlantic 10)
UP NEXT: Massachusetts (24-13, 7-1 A-10) will play six games this week, all at home, as it looks to wrap up its 16th straight A-10 regular season championship. The Minutewomen will host Rhode Island on Thursday, Fordham on Saturday and then Quinnipiac on Sunday in non-conference play. The games against URI will start at 3:00, while both weekend twinbills will begin at 12:00. Game one against Fordham will be televised live on CSTV, while both Rhode Island games will be broadcast on the Internet through the UMass Sports Radio Network.
April 29 Rhode Island * (DH) 3:00 PM
May 1 Fordham* (DH) on CSTV 12:00 PM
May 2 Quinnipiac (DH) 12:00 PM
LAST TIME OUT:
April 21 at Uconn L, 4-3 (9)
April 23 Maine W, 8-5
April 25 at Temple* (DH) W, 8-6/L, 2-1
* Atlantic 10 Conference game
UMass split four games last week. The Minutewomen began the week with a 4-3 loss in nine innings at Uconn. They were out-hit 18-6 in the game marking the most hits allowed by a UMass team in a single game. UMass then returned home for an 8-5 come-from-behind win over Maine on Friday. The Minutewomen trailed 5-3 into the sixth, but rallied for five runs in the inning to claim their 65th straight home win. On Sunday, the Minutewomen split a doubleheader at Temple. In game one, UMass overcame a 5-0 deficit to win 8-6, but dropped the night cap, 2-1.
CHECK THIS OUT: What Sophomore Jinx: After a solid freshman campaign in which she hit .308 with eight home runs and 27 RBI, sophomore Katie Jo Kelley has already topped that this year. Kelley, who has played third base, designated player and catcher this year, is fourth on the team batting .287. She has a team-high 13 home runs (which is a single-season record at UMass) and 33 RBI. She also has two doubles and a triple while compiling a .713 slugging percentage and a .411 on-base percentage. As of April 18, Kelley ranked third in the nation in home runs per game (0.38) and 20th in slugging percentage.
Solid At The Top: While UMass has used 17 different lineups in its 27 games this year, junior Hilary Puglia may have found her niche in the leadoff spot. The Stoneham, Mass., native hit in the top spot for the final four games of the NFCA Leadoff Classic and batted .462 (6-13). Puglia, who moved from second base to shortstop this season, is now first on the team with a .347 batting average this season. She has eight doubles, two triples, four home runs, 24 RBI, 20 runs scored and is 8-13 in stolen base attempts. She has compiled a .551 slugging percentage and a .383 on-base percentage. Puglia has reached base safely in 20 of her last 21 games (recording at least one hit 19 times), posting a .423 (30-71) average over that stretch. She has all four of her home runs, 19 RBI and a .704 slugging percentage as well in that time period.
Complete Turn-Around: After starting the season slowly, junior pitcher Kelli Arnold has worked out the kinks and is pitching like she was last season when she went 13-6 with a 1.58 ERA. In her first five outings this year, the Kalama, Wash., native went 0-2 and allowed 19 earned runs. Since then, she has gone 13-3 with a 1.13 ERA and a save. She had a string of 39.1 straight innings without allowing an earned run snapped in the seventh at BU on April 12. Arnold established a new career-high by striking out 10 La Salle batters in an 8-1 UMass win on March 27.
Turning Two: Through its first 37 games, UMass has already turned a school-record 17 double plays. The Minutewomen had just seven twin-killings all of last season in 49 games.
Conference Domination: UMass has won 72 of the last 74 regular season Atlantic 10 Conference games. UMass pitchers have allowed just 23 earned runs since the 2002 season. That is 272.2 innings for a 0.59 ERA. At the plate, Massachusetts has been just as dominant. They have batted .359 since the 2002 season while opponents have hit just .140.
Women's Tennis 8-11 (Fourth in the Atlantic 10)
UP NEXT: The University of Massachusetts women's tennis team fell to Temple in the third-place match at the Atlantic 10 Conference championships ending its season. The Minutewomen finish out the year with an 8-11 record and in fourth place in the final conference standings.
Final Conference Standings: 1. Richmond 2. Xavier 3. Temple 4. Massachusetts 5. George Washington 6. Duquesne 7. Dayton 8. Fordham 9. Saint Joseph's 10. La Salle 11. Rhode Island 12. St. Bonaventure
LAST WEEK: The University of Massachusetts women's tennis team fell to Xavier this afternoon in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. After falling in the doubles, UMass was able to regain two points in the singles, but came up just short of the Musketeers.
At #1 doubles, junior Stephanie Price and senior Jafra Depontes fell by a score of 8-1, while freshman Christine Liehr and sophomore Dorothy Iwanowicz were taken down, 8-5 in the #2 slot. The #3 doubles went unfinished, as Xavier had already won the doubles point. In the singles matches, Depontes was successful at the #4 spot, winning 6-3, 6-3, while Iwanowicz won the #5 match, 6-4, 6-2. At #1 singles, Liehr was taken down, 6-3, 6-0, as was junior Sasha Edelstein at #3, 6-1, 6-0. Sophomore Jana Bartoloni was then defeated at #6, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6. The #2 match featuring Price went unfinished, as the match had already been won.
Men's Lacrosse 6-6 (1-1 ECAC)
UP NEXT: UMass is at No. 6 Syracuse, on Saurday, May 1.
LAST WEEK: The Minutemen to No. 7 Georgetown, 12-10, on April 24 at Harbin Field.
CHECK THIS OUT: The Minutemen and Georgetown have played five times in the series. The total margin of victory is 10 goals, and neither team has won by more than three goals in the series... The Georgetown-UMass lacrosse game has determined the ECAC champion the last four years... Sean Morris netted a career-best five points and a career-high four assists, which also equals a UMass-team high for the season. Morris now has 18 points (5 g, 13 a) on the season. His 13 assists is five more than he had in 14 games last season, and he has seven assists in his last two games and 12 in his last four... UMass' six losses are the most since 2000. UMass has lost only seven total games the last two seasons and nine in the last three combined... The Minutemen are now 0-5 when allowing an opponent 10 goals in a game... The Minutemen were outshot by the Hoyas, 49-27. It marked the second time in 12 games that UMass has been outshot. Over the last three years, UMass has been outshot by Georgetown by a combined 163-97 (55.3 to 32.3 per game).
Women's Lacrosse 5-9 (3-3 Atlantic 10)
NOTEBOOK: UP NEXT: The women's lacrosse team returns home from a successful Philadelphia trip which saw them take two conference wins on the road. On Friday they will host Saint Bonaventure on Senior Day in the final scheduled game of the season, as they try to keep their conference tournament hopes alive.
LAST WEEK: The Minutewomen won both of their conference road games this weekend, taking down St. Joseph's on Friday, 13-11, and LaSalle on Sunday, 15-14 in double-overtime ... Senior captain Tracey Drown scored five goals and tallied one assist in each of the wins. She netted the game-winning goal in the win over LaSalle and assisted on the game-winner vs. St. Joseph's ... Hope Zelinger also performed well over the weekend, scoring a total of nine points. In Sunday's win over LaSalle she hit the back of the net four times and assisted on three goals. She also scored two goals in Friday's win over the Hawks.
CHECK THIS OUT: The Minutewomen are now 3-3 in the conference and remain in contention for a conference tournament bid. A win over the Bonnies on Friday would all but assure UMass a spot in the A-10 Tournament, hosted by Saint Bonaventure, in Corning, N.Y. The top four teams make it in, and with a win over SBU, the Minutewomen could do no worst than tie for third in the A-10 with George Washington (the 3-3 Colonials are at 1-4 Saint Joseph's on Friday) and Saint Bonaventure (hosts 0-5 La Salle on Sunday). If there is a two-way tie for third with either George Washington or Saint Bonaventue, UMass is guaranteed a spot in the tournament. If UMass, GW and Saint Bonaventure are all tied at 4-3 the deciding tiebreaker (as UM, GW and SBU are all 1-1 against each other) goes to the team with best record against the team at the top of the standings. UMass' 12-11 win over No. 1 seed Duquesne would give the Minutewomen the nod.
Rowing (2004 Atlantic 10 Champions)
UP NEXT: May 1 at Syracuse, w/Villanova 8:00 am
LAST WEEK: April 24 Atlantic 10 Championship 1st Collingswood, N.J. on the Cooper River
NOTEBOOK: Up Next: The UMass women's rowing team heads to Syracuse to take on Syracuse and Villanova. It is a big race for the Varsity Eight, as it looks to gain a spot in the NCAA Championship. A win over Syracuse puts the Minutewomen in good position.
A Look Back: The Minutewomen won their ninth consecutive A-10 title. They won three of eight events - the Quad, the Varsity Four, and the Varsity Eight all won their races. Jim Dietz was named the A-10 Coach of the Year for the sixth time.
Check This Out: The Atlantic 10 has sponsored rowing championships the last nine years and Massachusetts has won all nine.