May 11, 2009

AMHERST, Mass. - Atlantic 10 champion and #24/20 UMass softball (38-8) will host a NCAA Regional for the fourth-straight year as #3 overall seed Washington (41-10), Cornell (42-11), and Sacred Heart (25-26) will travel to Amherst for games on May 15-17 at the UMass Softball Complex. In the first round on Friday, the Huskies will play the Northeast champ Pioneers at 5 p.m., while the Minutewomen will face the Ivy League champ Big Red at 7:30 p.m.

The NCAA Tournament 64-team bracket was announced on ESPNU on Sunday night at 10 p.m. The NCAA Regionals follow a double-elimination format, with first round games on Friday and running through the regional finals on Sunday.

On Saturday, head coach Elaine Sortino's Minutewomen routed Saint Joseph's, 11- 0, in five innings to win their fifth-straight Atlantic 10 Championship and receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that comes with it. UMass has won 14 out of the last 15 A-10 titles and 21 overall. This season is the 20th time overall and 14th year in a row that UMass has received a NCAA Tournament berth.

UMass is led in the pitching circle by four-time A-10 Pitcher of the Year Brandice Balschmiter. With a 31-4 record in 2009, she now has 123 wins in her career, ranking first all-time at UMass and tied for ninth in NCAA history. This season, Balschmiter has a national-leading 20 shutouts and has posted a 0.91 ERA.

UMass' offense, led by A-10 Player of the Year Carly Normandin, has already set a school record with 66 home runs this season, smashing the old mark of 56 set in 2005. The Minutewomen are hitting .306 as a team and average 5.63 runs per game. Normandin, leads the A-10 with a .426 batting average, while senior Samantha Salato broke a school and conference record with 16 home runs so far this season.