University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Saint Joseph's
Minutewomen Rally To Soar Over Hawks 4-1
April 12, 2008 | Softball
April 12, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - After falling behind 1-0, the UMass softball team (23-11, 10-0 A-10) scored three runs in the sixth inning for a 4-1 victory over St. Joe's (7-16, 3-5 A-10) on Saturday afternoon. Junior pitcher Brandice Balschmiter struckout 5-of-7 batters faced in two innings of relief to grab win number 16 on the season. The win was the 998 of head coach Elaine Sortino's career as she will look for number 999 and 1,000 on Sunday against Temple at 12 p.m. EST.
Sophomore Whitney Williams went 1-for-3 with 2 RBI and junior Whitney Mollica went 2-for-4 to lead the Minutewomen offensively.
St. Joe's struck first in the top of the first inning on a double deep center field that brought in a runner from first base for the 1-0 lead.
UMass fought back in the bottom of the second. With two-outs and junior Carly Morin on first, sophomore Carly Normandin sent a double to the wall in left field scoring Morin to tie the game at one apiece.
St. Joe's would put on another threat in the top of the sixth. After a leadoff walk and a single by Brooke Darreff, Balschmiter came in to replace sophomore starter Bailey Sanders in the circle. St. Joe's loaded the bases on the next at-bat after an error by Whitney Williams at short stop. Balschmiter turned up the heat on the Hawks, striking out the next three batters in a row to get out of the jam leaving all three runners stranded on the base.
UMass returned the favor loading the bases in the bottom half, but came out on top. With three runners on and two outs, Williams took a 0-2 pitch to right center scoring pinch runner Michelle Libby from third and Morin from second to put the Minutewomen up 3-1. Senior Lauren Proctor kept the scoring streak alive on the next at-bat with a single to center field that brought in Normandin from third. UMass used three runs on three hits to take the 4-1 lead heading into seventh inning.
Balschmiter grabbed the 77th win of her career to move her into a tie for second place on the school's all-time wins list. (T-2 Holly April, '89-`92).
Despite being pulled in the fifth inning, Sanders gave up just one run on two hits with three strikeouts in the outing.
UMass returns to the diamond on Sunday with a double-header against Temple starting at 12 p.m. EST.
