April 28, 2005

Minutewomen Host La Salle... Massachusetts (26-14-1, 9-3 Atlantic 10) continues its season-long, eight-game homestand by hosting La Salle (12-30-1, 2-8 A-10) Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. This will be a critical pair of games for UMass as it jockeys for position in next month's Atlantic 10 Tournament. UMass is coming off a pair of come-from-behind wins against Harvard on Tuesday. In game one, the Minutewomen scored four runs in the sixth inning for a 4-1 win. KJ Kelley had a RBI single and then freshman Stacy Cullington hit a two-out, three-run, game-winning home run. In the second game, the Minutewomen scored twice in the sixth to tie the game at three. Cullington then scored the winning run from second on an error.

There's A New Home Run Queen... With two solo home runs April 13 at UConn, junior KJ Kelley set a new record for home runs at UMass. Kelley's blast in the first inning was her 27th all-time breaking the mark of 26 held by Scooter Wheeler and Brandi Cross. Kelley has nine home runs this season which leads the team and is third in the Atlantic 10.

Mo's On Fire... Sophomore Amanda Morin has broken out of a slump in a big way recently. The Worcester, Mass., native went 0-for-2 with a walk in game two against NC State April 24 to snap her career-high 15-game hitting streak, but is still putting up some impressive numbers. In the last 18 games, Morin is batting .415 (22-53) with 19 runs scored, a double, two triples, four home runs and nine RBI. In this stretch, she has a .736 slugging percentage and a .456 on-base percentage.

Kelley Getting On Base... Junior KJ Kelley has been on a tear of late and now has her average up to .376 to lead the Atlantic 10. Kelley, who reached base safely in 11 consecutive at bats from April 22 at St. Bonaventure until April 24 against NC State, has hit .463 (19-41) in the last 16 games with 10 runs scored, four doubles, five home runs, 16 RBI and 11 walks. During this stretch, Kelley has compiled a .927 slugging percentage and a .593 on-base percentage.

Tid-Bits... LaFogg's 176 strikeouts leads the A-10 ... Jenna Busa's 99 k's are good for third ... At home this year, UMass is out-hitting its opposition, .340-.173, and out-scoring them, 93-37 ... Candice Molinari leads the A-10 and is fifth in the country with 26 stolen bases ... her 26 thefts are already the third-most in a UMass single-season ... her 47 career stolen bases places her in an eighth-place tie all-time ... Hilary Puglia has reached base safely in 36 of her 39 games this year ... UMass ranks 23rd in the nation with a .455 team slugging percentage and are 25th with 1.56 stolen bases per game ... Kelley's .64 walks per game average is good for 11th in the country while her .743 slugging percentage is 21st ... UMass has nine multi-home run games this year, a new school record ... Busa was 2-for-3 at the plate against Harvard and had her first career hit.