Sara Plourde named NFCA Player of the Week

Sara Plourde

Well, we called it. Sara Plourde had an incredible week for UMass and she was honored by the NFCA today, being named the NFCA's Player of the Week. Plourde was literally unhittable this week, going 3-0 with 1 save, while not allowing a single hit in 17.2 IP. Plourde was also mowing down hitters striking out a grand total of 39 hitters. It was one of the most dominating weeks in A10 history and it will be interesting to see whether Plourde can keep dominating opposing hitters.

Junior pitcher Sara Plourde of Massachusetts has been named as the NFCA National Player of the Week for games played Mar. 28-Apr. 3, 2011.  

Plourde turned in one of the more remarkable performances of an already incredible career last week, as she managed to go 17.2 innings without giving up a single hit. For the week, she was 3-0 with a save, including two no-hitters, 39 strikeouts and just seven walks. In addition, Plourde turned in a 0.00 ERA and unbelievable opponent’s batting average of .000. 

The Bristol, Conn., native struck out 16 batters each in of her two no-hitters against Saint Louis and Dartmouth. She then returned in the second game of each doubleheader to pick up a relief win against Saint Louis and the first save of her career against Dartmouth. Plourde’s stretch of 17.2 hitless innings broke the previous program record for hitless innings, which was set in 1983. 

Plourde is currently 11-10 on the season with a 1.51 ERA and an Atlantic 10-leading 244 strikeouts. After going 4-0 last week, the Minutewomen are currently 13-14 overall and 5-3 in league play. This week, Massachusetts will take on Connecticut and Boston University in mid-week non-conference contests, before returning to A10 action against St. Bonaventure this weekend.