May 15, 2008

Amherst, Mass.-Four student-athletes from the University of Massachusetts Softball team have been named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Northeast Region teams it was announced Wednesday in voting conducted by head coaches. Junior Brandice Balschmiter, sophomore Carly Normandin and freshman Lindsay Maroney earned first-team, honors while junior Whitney Mollica received second-team accolades. Each All-Region pick across the country is now eligible for NFCA All-American status which will be released during the Women's College World Series later this month.

Balschmiter earns her third straight first-team All-Region honor a week after collecting her third straight A-10 Pitcher of the Year award and A-10 Tournament Most Outstanding Performer. She is 28-6 with a .54 ERA. Balschmiter has appeared in 38 games, making 32 starts and completing 30 of them. She has recorded 18 shutouts and thrown five no-hitters, two of those being perfect games. Balschmiter is holding opponents to a .141 average. She has allowed 114 hits and just 34 walks in 234.2 innings pitched while striking out 281 batters. Her perfect games came in an 8-0 win over George Washington (Apr. 4) and a 12-0 win over Dayton (April. 20), putting her one perfect game away from tying the UMass all-time record of three held by Danielle Henderson. She has had 13 double-digit strikeout games, including a UMass record for strikeouts in a five-inning game with 14 against Temple. Balschmiter has won in each of her last 23 starts which is the 12th longest streak in NCAA history, and just had a string of 78 consecutive scoreless innings pitched snapped in the A-10 Championship Semifinals. The scoreless innings streak was the 10th longest in NCAA history. Balschmiter leads the nation in ERA and is 15th in wins.

Normandin receives her first ever first-team All-Region honor. The sophomore center fielder has compiled a .333 average thus far with 23 runs scored, 44 hits, 13 doubles, three triples, six home runs and 36 RBI. She has an outstanding .614 slugging percentage and a .397 on-base percentage. Normandin has had 14 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games. She tied the UMass record for consecutive hits with seven, stringing those over three games (4/20-4/23).

Maroney receives her first ever first-team honor in her rookie campaign. The freshman is batting .374 this year with 21 runs scored, 34 hits, eight doubles, four home runs and 25 RBI. She has a .593 slugging percentage and a .420 on-base percentage as well as stealing 7-of-9 bases. Maroney is hitting .372 with runners in scoring position, but even more impressive is her .500 (17-for-34) two-out average with 16 RBI.

Mollica rounds out the UMass awards as a second-team pick after being named to the first-team two years ago. She is hitting .329 with 24 runs scored, 52 hits, five doubles, one triple, five home runs and 28 RBI. She compiled a .468 slugging percentage, .376 on-base percentage, 10 walks and is a 4-for-5 in stolen base attempts. She has a team leading 110 assists on the year, and turned six double plays for her third base spot. Starting every game of the season, Mollica has recorded 12 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games. She is eigth all-time in school history in batting average (.344) and fourth in home runs (20).

Massachusetts is hosting a regional for the third straight year May 16-18 at the UMass Softball Complex. The Minutewomen (39-11) are seeded second in the Amherst regional and will face third-seeded Princeton (25-22) Friday at 5:00 PM. Stanford (46-12) is the top seed in the region and No. 12 national seed. The Cardinal, who are ranked No. 8 in this week's USA Today/NFCA top 25 poll, will play fourth-seeded Lehigh (38-15-1) at 2:30 PM. Tickets for the Amherst Regional can be purchased at the Mullins Center Box Office, by calling 1-866-UMASS-TIX or at the ticket booths outside the UMass Softball Complex. All-session general admission tickets are available for $27 for adults and $13 for UMass students and children 18 and under while all-session chair-back seats are available for $30. Singe day tickets are available for $10 for adults and $5 for UMass students and children 18 and under while single day chair-back seats are available for $12.