Graduate pitcher Jacqueline Cherry steps up to bat during a game. Photo sourced from Beacons Athletics.

UMass Boston Softball is off to a stellar start. The team has won 12 of their first 14 games, several of them by a good margin. The Beacons recently matched up for doubleheaders against Bridgewater State University and Emmanuel College [1].

According to Beacons Athletics, the first game of the doubleheader was tough for the Bears. Hayley Krockta and Lauren Miner gave the Beacons a quick 2–0 lead in the first two innings. Then, in the third inning, the wheels came off for the Bears. Bri Melchondia’s triple and Ella Delisle’s single led to a four-run rally that put the Bears down 6–0 in just three innings of play [2].

It wasn’t until the sixth inning that the Bears put points on the board with three runs of their own, but the Beacons got two of those runs right back in the second half of the inning. The Bears couldn’t get anything going in the seventh, solidifying an 8–3 victory for the Beacons [2].

The second game came around, and the Beacons were not finished. Things started a bit better for the Bears, as the game was tied up 3–3 in the first two innings. However, that hope was short lived, as the Beacons once again rallied in the third inning. Lauryn Bethea and Krockta started things off, followed by Mya Perron and Amauri English. The four of them contributed to a total of seven runs, putting the score at 10–3 [2].

The Beacons got one more run in the sixth inning, and that was the only other run scored for either team [2]. The Beacons put the beatdown on the Bears even harder at 11–3. These games extended the Beacons’ winning streak to 10 games, but that streak was interrupted soon after [1].

Against the Saints, the Beacons found themselves tied at 2–2 in the fourth inning. The Saints took a three-run lead. The Beacons couldn’t get anything going, resulting in the Saints extending their lead with three more runs in the sixth, the score now at 8–2. Despite three runs in the Beacons’ final inning, it wasn’t enough to take back the lead and they lost 8–5 [3].

The second game of the doubleheader was postponed, so unfortunately the Beacons couldn’t get their revenge. However, there is no reason to panic over one loss. The Beacons are clearly one of the top teams out there, and they haven’t shown any concrete reason to doubt them going forward. With more doubleheaders coming up, the Beacons will have plenty of opportunities to remind people who they are and pick up right back where they were, dominating the competition [1].

Sources:

1. https://beaconsathletics.com/sports/softball/schedule
2. https://beaconsathletics.com/news/2024/3/22/baseball-softball-scores-19-runs-in-doubleheader-sweep-of-bridgewater-state.aspx
3. https://beaconsathletics.com/news/2024/3/25/emmanuel-saints-snap-the-beacons-10-game-softball-win-streak.aspx