Saturday, May 7
Amherst, MA
12 PM
George Washington University
at
Massachusetts
Softball Closes Regular Season at UMass
5/6/2022 9:19:00 AM | Softball
Buff & Blue make final preparations for postseason
After clinching the Atlantic 10 regular season title last weekend on its home field, GW softball is set to make final preparations for the conference championship this weekend at UMass.
The Buff and Blue will face the Minutewomen in a Saturday doubleheader beginning at noon before playing a single game on Sunday at noon. All three contests are set to be broadcast via ESPN+.
LAST TIME OUT:Â GW wrapped up its second straight conference regular season crown by winning its series vs. Saint Louis on the Mount Vernon Campus.
The Buff and Blue got it done with a memorable doubleheader sweep last Saturday. After claiming the first game 3-1 behind a gem from Sierra Lange, they won the second game in epic fashion with Alexa Williams blasting a walk-off, three-run homer for a 6-3 victory.
On Senior Weekend, the veterans fittingly led the way. Lange earned a pair of wins and led the team in hits (six) and runs scored (three), and Alessandra Ponce set a program record with her 55th career double and drove in three runs.
ROAD WARRIORS:Â GW has won a program-record 10 straight road games, including a perfect 9-0 mark in A-10 play. The Buff and Blue haven't dropped a contest in an opponent's stadium since Feb. 25 at Liberty.
GW has been dominant in this run, outscoring its opponents by a score of 89-21. The club has batted .358 with 43 extra-base hits (29 doubles, one triple and 13 home runs) along the way.
Lange has led the way in the circle and at the plate. The graduate student from Plano, Texas is hitting .500 (16-for-32) with 15 runs and 10 RBIs, boosted by three doubles and three homers, and she's also 6-0 with a 1.40 ERA, 33 strikeouts and a .218 opponents' batting average across 35 innings.
Maddie Spell (.450/.633/.600 slash line), Maggie Greco (.444 average with 11 RBIs) and Williams (.395 with nine extra-base hits and 17 RBIs) have also shined offensively during this streak.
SIERRA'S SURGE:Â Lange has equaled a career high with a nine-game hitting streak, posting a scorching .593/.676/.815 slash line thanks to 16 hits and nine walks.
Lange has reached base at least twice in every game, including three multi-hit efforts last weekend vs. Saint Louis. GW's leadoff hitter reached base in all five plate appearances in last week's run-rule win at Delaware State with two singles and three walks, and adding in three at-bats on April 24 at URI and two more last Wednesday vs. Mount St. Mary's, she had a run in which she reached base 10 consecutive times.
Lange has now boosted her season batting average to .361 with an A-10 leading 40 runs scored. She has also stolen five bases over the past nine games to boost her season total to 19, a career high that ranks third in the conference.
In addition to her offensive excellence, Lange is 5-0 with a 2.01 ERA and 29 Ks in 31 1/3 innings pitched during her hitting streak.
DOUBLE-DIGIT DOUBLES:Â Four members of the Buff and Blue - Ponce, Williams, Hannah Eslick and Mia Parker - have 10 or more doubles this season.
With 15 two-baggers, Eslick leads the A-10 and ranks among the top 25 in the country. She needs one more to crack the program's all-time top 10 for a season.
As a team, GW has 75 doubles in 43 games to rank among the top 10 nationally in doubles per game at 1.74. The program record for a season is 104 across 62 games in 2019.
SCOUTING THE MINUTEWOMEN:Â UMass enters the weekend ranked fifth in the A-10 standings at 12-9 after dropping two of three at Dayton last weekend.
Bella Pantoja is among the A-10 leaders in hits with 49 through 46 games, and Jessie DiPasquale paces the staff in wins (10) and ERA (3.52 in 143 1/3 innings).
UP NEXT:Â The A-10 Championship runs next Wednesday-Saturday at George Mason with the top six teams in the conference standings competing in a double-elimination tournament.
The Buff and Blue will face the Minutewomen in a Saturday doubleheader beginning at noon before playing a single game on Sunday at noon. All three contests are set to be broadcast via ESPN+.
LAST TIME OUT:Â GW wrapped up its second straight conference regular season crown by winning its series vs. Saint Louis on the Mount Vernon Campus.
The Buff and Blue got it done with a memorable doubleheader sweep last Saturday. After claiming the first game 3-1 behind a gem from Sierra Lange, they won the second game in epic fashion with Alexa Williams blasting a walk-off, three-run homer for a 6-3 victory.
On Senior Weekend, the veterans fittingly led the way. Lange earned a pair of wins and led the team in hits (six) and runs scored (three), and Alessandra Ponce set a program record with her 55th career double and drove in three runs.
ROAD WARRIORS:Â GW has won a program-record 10 straight road games, including a perfect 9-0 mark in A-10 play. The Buff and Blue haven't dropped a contest in an opponent's stadium since Feb. 25 at Liberty.
GW has been dominant in this run, outscoring its opponents by a score of 89-21. The club has batted .358 with 43 extra-base hits (29 doubles, one triple and 13 home runs) along the way.
Lange has led the way in the circle and at the plate. The graduate student from Plano, Texas is hitting .500 (16-for-32) with 15 runs and 10 RBIs, boosted by three doubles and three homers, and she's also 6-0 with a 1.40 ERA, 33 strikeouts and a .218 opponents' batting average across 35 innings.
Maddie Spell (.450/.633/.600 slash line), Maggie Greco (.444 average with 11 RBIs) and Williams (.395 with nine extra-base hits and 17 RBIs) have also shined offensively during this streak.
SIERRA'S SURGE:Â Lange has equaled a career high with a nine-game hitting streak, posting a scorching .593/.676/.815 slash line thanks to 16 hits and nine walks.
Lange has reached base at least twice in every game, including three multi-hit efforts last weekend vs. Saint Louis. GW's leadoff hitter reached base in all five plate appearances in last week's run-rule win at Delaware State with two singles and three walks, and adding in three at-bats on April 24 at URI and two more last Wednesday vs. Mount St. Mary's, she had a run in which she reached base 10 consecutive times.
Lange has now boosted her season batting average to .361 with an A-10 leading 40 runs scored. She has also stolen five bases over the past nine games to boost her season total to 19, a career high that ranks third in the conference.
In addition to her offensive excellence, Lange is 5-0 with a 2.01 ERA and 29 Ks in 31 1/3 innings pitched during her hitting streak.
DOUBLE-DIGIT DOUBLES:Â Four members of the Buff and Blue - Ponce, Williams, Hannah Eslick and Mia Parker - have 10 or more doubles this season.
With 15 two-baggers, Eslick leads the A-10 and ranks among the top 25 in the country. She needs one more to crack the program's all-time top 10 for a season.
As a team, GW has 75 doubles in 43 games to rank among the top 10 nationally in doubles per game at 1.74. The program record for a season is 104 across 62 games in 2019.
SCOUTING THE MINUTEWOMEN:Â UMass enters the weekend ranked fifth in the A-10 standings at 12-9 after dropping two of three at Dayton last weekend.
Bella Pantoja is among the A-10 leaders in hits with 49 through 46 games, and Jessie DiPasquale paces the staff in wins (10) and ERA (3.52 in 143 1/3 innings).
UP NEXT:Â The A-10 Championship runs next Wednesday-Saturday at George Mason with the top six teams in the conference standings competing in a double-elimination tournament.
Players Mentioned
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