UMass Boston softball swept their doubleheader against Endicott College April 17, taking their third straight, and marking head coach Natalie Ardagna’s 300th career win with the Beacons.
“I just feel really fortunate to be able to have coached enough games to get to 300 wins, and to be able to do it here at UMass Boston,” said Ardagna, following her 301st victory.
In her 18th season at the helm, Ardagna says she’s usually confident in her teams, “but it’s about them having confidence in themselves.” Certainly, the Beacons have good reason to be.
UMass Boston is 24-3-1 overall, having won seven more games and scored 26 more runs than the next closest LEC opponent.
Their 24th win was also their 11th shutout victory this year, which is as many complete games Beacons pitcher Jacqueline Cherry has thrown this season. She nabbed her 11th in the second half of the double header against Endicott, throwing seven innings with just four hits, four strikeouts and no runs allowed.
Cherry’s 11 CGs lead the LEC, and so does her ERA of 1.29. She’s second in the conference in strikeouts, with 77, and opponent batting average at .195. Cherry has eaten innings all season, throwing for 76.0 already — third in the LEC — after just 25.0 a year ago. She shows no signs of slowing down yet, but there’s a lot of wear on the tires at the front of their rotation.
The same is true for Bri Melchionda, the 2024 LEC Pitcher of the Year, but her situation is a little different. Melchionda has logged 57.2 innings pitched so far, as well as 61 plate appearances in which she’s hitting almost .500 — and she’s done it before. In 2024, Melchionda finished with 113.1 innings pitched, and over 70 PAs. Steady she has been, second in the LEC with an ERA of 1.46 and looking for her first playoff win.
The Beacons’ pitching staff has been incredibly impressive from their durability to their stuff. Nonetheless, there’s a lot of miles. Melchionda and Cherry have combined to start 19 of UMass Boston’s 28 games.
At the plate, the Beacons have backed their staff more often than not. They’ve still got seven qualified hitters in terms of plate appearances, hitting above .300 with Amari English just missing the ledger — at .299, she’s slumped lately but has produced over the season, and her 29 RBIs are second on the team.
Mary Matthews, Lauren Miner and Ella Deslisle have all hit the ball hard, especially in the last couple of weeks. Miner and Matthews are both slugging above .500, smacking the ball with a lot of barrel. Deslisle, the catcher, has struck out just once.
The Beacons get on often, and are equally as dangerous on the bags. They’ve stolen 95 bases this season, and have been caught just four times. Sofie Richland is 24/25 and Miner is 20/20. Matthews has taken an extra base on all of her 14 attempts as well.
The Beacons are still rolling, despite slipping a bit in conference. Their numbers are still dominant and they’ve won in just about every way. Whether it’s a mercy rule shutout or coming back after being no-hit through five innings, the Beacons have faced and overcome adversity, while having plenty of experience playing with the lead.
However, they sit second in the Little East behind Southern Maine because of a halted game April 9, which is currently counted as a tie. Rhode Island College gave up a late lead to the Beacons who forced extra innings and put a runner on first in the bottom of the eighth, only for the game to be halted due to darkness. They’ve got a 5-2-1 LEC record, to the Huskies 6-2.
UMass Boston hasn’t won a playoff game since 2019, but they just might have their best team in a while. Coach Ardagna is “definitely optimistic” for the rest of the season, as the Beacons are primed to host a tournament game in less than a month’s time.
