The UMass softball team, whose resurgence a year ago brought them within a game of an Atlantic 10 Tournament championship and trip to the NCAA Tournament, appears to have picked up where it left off.
“Ending the way we did was huge for us,” said coach Kristi Stefanoni. “We’re experienced even though we have only two seniors which is strange.”
UMass is 11-10 entering Saturday’s 1 p.m. doubleheader with La Salle at Sortino Field. It’s the Minutewomen’s home and conference opener.
Even in years when the Minutewomen would eventually be nationally ranked and dominating the Atlantic 10, slow starts were common because they were playing southern foes who had spent much more time outdoors practicing.
Each of the last two years UMass was 8-14 over a similar time frame.
UMass dropped three of its first four games in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the Tiger Classic at LSU, but since then it’s 10-7.
Jena Cozza is off to a torrid start. The senior shortstop from Wantagh, New York, is hitting .492 with nine home runs and 25 RBIs. That’s a home run every seven at-bats.
Cozza’s slugging percentage of 1.079 is second in the nation. Her .610 on-base percentage is fourth in the nation. Her batting average is 10th nationally and her .43 home runs per game is tied for eighth (ranks are through Wednesday’s games).
“She’s grown as a hitter since she’s been here,” Stefanoni said. “It’s her senior year. She wants to win an Atlantic 10 championship and she’s going to bring everyone along with her. Watching her you can just tell she’s a totally different player because of how motivated she is.”
Junior Kaycee Carbone is off to a hot start of her own hitting .368 with five home runs and 23 RBIs.
In the circle freshman Kiara Oliver has adapted quickly. She’s 6-2 with a 2.94 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 64 innings.
“She’s so competitive. We were up 12-1 against St. John’s and she gave up a home run and was so mad at herself,” Stefanoni said. “We told her ‘Sometimes you’re going to throw a really good pitch to a really good hitter and they’re going to hit you hard.’ She has a passion and a competitive fire in her that I haven’t seen in a pitcher here in a really long time.”
Oliver joins senior Meg Colleran (3-4, 3.76 ERA), who hasn’t had to shoulder nearly as much of the pitching load that she did a year ago. Sophomore Quinn Breidenbach (2-4, 4.15) has also started five games.
Stefanoni is still determining how she’ll distribute innings in conference games.
“Having three potential starters when conference play rolls around is a nice change,” she said. “Normally we’ve been riding just Meg. I think all three will be able to offer something this season. They’re so difference. They’re really working well together as a staff. It should be fun to watch all three get in for a conference series.”
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage