Temple University Athletics
Softball Suffers A-10 Tournament Loss, 8-0, Against UMass
5.10.07 | Softball
May 10, 2007
Temple vs. Charlotte Radio Broadcast
Atlantic 10/UMass Tournament Central
AMHERST, MA - The fourth-seeded Temple softball team (18-20) managed just three hits en route to falling 8-0 to first-seeded Massachusetts (35-12-1) on day two of the Atlantic 10 Softball Tournament at the UMass Softball Complex. Senior All-America candidate and the A-10 Player of the Year Adrienne Repsher broke up sophomore pitcher Brandice Balschmiter's no-hitter in the fourth inning as she was just one of four base-runners for the Cherry and White all afternoon.
Balschmiter, named the A-10 Pitcher of the Year for the second time in two seasons, tossed all five innings for the Minutewomen and struck out seven en route to her 13th complete game shutout this season.
Temple junior pitcher Brianna Dairy (7-5) lasted two-plus innings after surrendering four runs, all earned, and three hits. Freshman Ashley Smuda came on in relief before allowing seven hits and three earned runs.
The Cherry and White posed threats to Balschmiter's shutout in both the fourth and fifth innings, however, two runners in scoring position turned fruitless. Repsher was left stranded at second in the fourth before junior Natalie Wagner and freshman Shannon James, following back-to-back base-hits, were left aboard in the fifth inning.
The Minutewomen, boasting a perfect 18-0 A-10 mark heading into the postseason, jumped on the Owls early and never looked back. In the first inning, senior Candice Molinari scored on a fielder's choice and junior Stacy Cullington crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly.
UMass added three more runs, pushing its lead to 5-0, with three runs on four hits and one Temple miscue in the fourth inning. Molinari, junior Lauren Proctor and freshman Whitney Williams collected two hits apiece as eight different Minutewomen scored.
Molinari's one-out RBI single in the fifth inning, scoring Williams, was the game's winning hit.
The Cherry and White will look to keep their conference championship hopes alive today at 4:00 p.m. as they'll meet fifth-seeded Charlotte, for the second time in two days, in an elimination game. Fans can listen live or follow the game via's CSTV's GameTracker.
