Softball Overpowers Michigan State, 5-1, at Palm Springs Classic

Feb. 24, 2008

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - Home runs by juniors Whitney Mollica and Samantha Salato pieced with another masterful pitching performance by Brandice Balschmiter lifted the Massachusetts Softball team to a 5-1 win over Michigan State to close out play at the Palm Springs Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. on Sunday afternoon. The Minutewomen's second-consecutive win moves them to 2-3-0 on the weekend, 4-6-0 overall.

Sophomore catcher Jessica Serio was the offensive leader for UMass on the weekend, as she went 7-for-13 (.538) with four RBI and two doubles in the three-day tournament. Classmate Carly Normandin had a break-out weekend of her own going 5-for-16 (.313.) with four RBI and two doubles, including a home run against No. 5 UCLA.

The Minutewomen dropped three cutting-edge losses to start the tournament, including a 4-2 nail-biting fall to No. 5 UCLA, a 6-4 drop to No. 10 Baylor, and a 13-inning 4-2 thriller to NCAA defending champion No. 9 Arizona. The Michigan State win was the second-straight for UMass, as it edged Fresno State 4-3 in yesterdays afternoon cap.

It was a season-high game against the Spartans, as the Minutewomen came out swinging with an 11 hit, two home run and four double performance. The 11 hits combined with 10 against Fresno State were 21 more than the team had in the three previous losses.

Normandin got things started for the Minutewomen in the top of the third with a one out RBI-double to the wall in left center that sent home Williams from third. Williams led off the inning with a double of her own to center before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt by Mollica.

The Spartans fought back in the next inning when Balschmiter gave up her first home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth to Spartan catcher Caitlin Mahoney, as she sent a fastball over the left field wall to even the score at one apiece.

UMass went back up by one in the top of the fifth on a 2-out RBI double to center field by senior second baseman Stacy Cullington.

Williams hit her second double of the game on a two-out double to right center in the top of the sixth. Mollica tacked on two more runs on the next at-bat as she drilled a 2-run home run over the left field wall for her first blast of the year.

Salato added an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a lead-off homerun to left field. The junior right fielder's first bomb of the year gave UMass a 5-1 lead.

Balschmiter had another strong outing in the circle as she gave up just one run on six hits while striking out 10. The junior righty fanned 29 batters on the weekend as she moved into second place on the UMass all-time strikeout list against Baylor on Saturday with 597. Balschmiter runs her overall record to 3-3 with a .94 ERA on the season.

The Minutewomen return to the diamond at the NCFA Leadoff Classic next weekend in Columbus, Ga. UMass will open on Friday with Florida State at 11 a.m. EST and No. 17 DePaul at 1:30 p.m. EST.

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