Saturday Results

UMass lost to Michigan 3-0 and beat FAU 6-1. Sara Plourde of UMass and Jordan Taylor of Michigan matched up in a high profile pitchers duel in game 1 of the day and it was a pretty good one. Plourde threw a 4-hitter and struck out 12 in 7 innings, but 2 of those hits were solo HR. The UMass defense also let her down committing 2 errors which led to another Wolverine run. Jordan Taylor had the Minutewomen fooled all day and allowed just 1 hit and struck out 10. Jordan Storro had the lone hit for UMass against Michigan. Game 2 went much better for UMass as the bats finally heated up and pushed out 10 hits and scored 6 runs. One of the breakout stars at the plate for UMass was Stephanie Mayne who reached base all four plate appearances including two basehits and an RBI. The big blow of the day was a 3-run HR by Katie Bettencourt, which blow the game wide open. Meg Carta and Kyllie Magill also added two hits in the offensive output. Plourde struggled with her control a little bit walking 5, but she only allowed 3 hits and she struck out 12 Owl batters.

Jocelyn Dearborn

Fordham beat Indiana 2-0 and DePaul 9-3. The Rams added two more wins after snapping a four game losing streak yesterday. Coach Orchard seems to have figured out a system that works with her two pitchers, starting Chelsea Plimpton before closing with Jen Mineau. Mineau has been very good out of the bullpen, though her strikeout and walk numbers are up so I'm not sure what to make of her performance so far. Maybe she has become a smarter pitcher who is not reliant on strikeouts? Gabby Luety is becoming a force in the middle of the Rams lineup as she drove both runs home in the game vs. Indiana. In game 2, it was the Nicole Callahan and Jocelyn Dearborn show, as those two combined to go 7-8 with 4 RBI. It was nice to see the Fordham offense break out against a solid DePaul team, but Coach Orchard is still searching for her lineup. The runs finally came, but when will the HR come.

Charlotte lost twice to Eastern Kentucky 12-4 in 5 innings and 6-5. After having a very good day yesterday, nothing seemed to go right today for Charlotte. Kalie Lang and Katie Watkins couldn't make it through 5 innings again and once again the 49ers were looking up at a very lopsided number on the scoreboard. Game 2 was even more frustrating, as the 49ers were up 5-0 heading into the top of the 7th and they allowed 6 runs to EKU and to lose. Katy Hackett finally struggled in that last inning, but otherwise she had a solid game. Charlotte really needs to take it one step at a time and play for each out and each pitch tomorrow to bounce back from this rough day. The offense once again put runs on the board though there were not any HR on the afternoon. Sophomores Nikki Gayle and Chelsea Stamey were responsible for 2 rbi in the 1st game and Kalie Lang had the other. In game 2, Tenaya Tucker, Chelsea Ingersoll, and Briana Gwaltney had solid days at the plate as well. Charlotte's defense struggled today committing 4 errors, that will need to improve tomorrow.

St. Louis lost 3-2 to Georgetown and beat Florida Gulf Coast 2-0. Julian Austin took the tough luck loss in game 1 against Georgetown, but she is proving to be quite the pitcher for St. Louis. The Billikens had 6 hits, but they were only able to score two runs. However, the 4 errors that St. Louis committed are an unacceptable number. Coach Connoyer cannot be pleased with that number. In game 2 vs. Florida Gulf Coast, Hannah Huebbe had the FGCU hitters fooled as she threw a 3-hitter with 8 SO. Thankfully, FGCU did not make Huebbe pay for allowing 9 free passes. So it was a solid performance for Huebbe, but there is definitely still room for improvement. The offense put up 5 hits, including a HR by Kristain Burger, a 3B by Tori Holland, and a 2B for Rachel Falletto. The Billikens have a rematch against the Hoyas tomorrow and I think they are going to come out swinging.

St. Joseph's beat Bucknell 8-5 and James Madison 3-2. The Hawks bounced back in style picking up two wins on the day and they showed off some offense and good pitching. Erin Gallagher picked up two wins on the day and bounced back very nicely from a rough day on Friday. Taryn Ashway also improved on her performance from yesterday. The top of St. Joe's order gave their opponents fits all day with their speed and bat control. St. Joe's came through with the clutch hits today including ones by Dana Bienek, Taylor Korpita, and Lindsey Williams. The Hawks committed 5 errors against JMU, but against Bucknell the defense recovered for a flawless game. St. Joe's success comes from doing all of the little things right on defense and at the plate and it appears as though they are finally getting back to that. The Hawks will get a rematch against Coastal Carolina tomorrow

Dayton lost 4-1 to Seton Hall and 5-0 to Elon. The Flyers started their season and they got off to a mediocre start. The pitching was okay and the bats put up 6 hits in each game, but they will need to do better tomorrow. If the Flyers can only put up one run against these two teams, it may be a long year for Dayton especially in A10 play. One bright spot was the relief pitching of Alysha Isaacson who tossed 4 scoreless innings. I think she may have done enough to deserve a start tomorrow for the Flyers. On offense, Kathleen Maloof and Dana Trotta each had multi-hit games, but the rest of the team couldn't string hits together. The Flyers need to show some power at the plate as only one 2B at the plate is not going to cut it. The 3 errors that Dayton committed won't help either.